BOOK REVIEW: "Kill Zone" by Zeke Mitchell

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They say to never judge a book by its cover, but many readers still do and sometimes—just sometimes—it pays off. For example, when I saw the cover of Zeke Mitchell’s Kill Zone, with its assault rifle and flame-kissed fonts, I judged that it would be a hard-hitting action novel with a serious ‘80s vibe and that’s exactly what I got.

You remember back in the '80s when noble one-man-armies like The Executioner rampaged against the evildoers, killing them mercilessly? When Chuck Norris and others of that Uzi-toting ilk stormed across the silver screen putting buckets of bullets into scumbags? Yeah, so does Zeke Mitchell and he expertly captures the vintage spirit of those old action-adventure series, writing in the same "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" zone that made those books such (not) guilty pleasures. Seriously, if this novel had been written back in the glory days of the genre and then turned into a movie, the producers would have immediately called Schwarzenegger and offered him the starring role. (Well, unless it was being produced by Cannon, who probably would have settled for Michael Dudikoff.)

The plot is minimal, just enough to hang a series of ceaseless action sequences on, and our stone-cold yet honorable protagonist (Matt Thorn) wastes more villains in this book than all the Rambo movies combined (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration ... but just a slight one). The carnage count is wildly absurd in all the right ways. Everywhere Thorn turns, there are bad guys popping out of the woodwork to waste him ... only to get wasted themselves instead. Sure, the thugs are piss poor shots while the hero rarely misses, but that's all part of the genre. You want realism, stick to Schlindler’s List or something. Me, I just kept on grinning as I watched (read) one enemy gunman after another get chopped to bits by auto-fire.

The level of graphic violence merits mention. This ain’t no PG-13, watered down, sissified action. This is hard-R stuff, with exploding heads, ripped flesh, splattered brains, popped-out eyes, gushing blood, and enough body parts to fill a butcher shop. None of that “the enemy target clutched his chest and fell to the ground” bloodless bullcrap here.

Bottom line, Kill Zone is a great kickoff to what should be a killer action series. If you enjoy nonstop shoot-‘em-up action, then prepare to be impressed. This one is all guns 'n' guts and loaded with so much auto-fire action, I could practically smell the cordite seeping out of my Kindle.