In one small town in America, 64 people are shot by snipers. There are no demands, no clues, no warnings. Then, six days later it happens again in another town. Police Officer Mike Gallagher’s daughter is among the first victims of these paramilitary attackers, and with the support of his department he investigates to bring to justice the murderers, and the mysterious power behind them.

This story has the seed of a great idea, but there are serious problems with this book and one part where if it wasn’t on a kindle I would have thrown it at the wall. It has some great action scenes but also major plot issues, unlikeable and sometimes idiotic characters, and plot threads that vanish or are never followed up

Despite its definite political overtones to a British citizen, the main bad guy’s motivations and actions are quite amusing (I can’t say why without spoiling it), and the international consequences have been completely overlooked. One announcement the bad guy makes would have had everyone from Mossad to Canada, the KBG and SAS sending assassins.

The understanding of investigation procedure is extremely flawed: a policeman whose daughter is one of the first victims is not only on the case but leading it, there’s a severe lack of understanding of ballistics science and large scale investigations, and the hero keeps getting witnesses killed. The competency of the bad guys varies as the plot requires.

Overall, it has got some good action scenes, and the sniping sequences are disturbing, but watching the hero make bad decisions with utterly predictable consequences gets old fast. For American readers who want action scenes and republican politics, this would be good. For the rest of us? Well, I’ll pass.