A review by quilly14
Down River by John Hart

3.0

Adam Chase, called by an old friend for help, is back in his home town five years after being accused of murder there. But after he shows up, people he cares about are getting hurt.

I found this at Bookman's about a year ago. I knew I'd read Hart's The Last Child, and I vaguely remembered enjoying it, so I snagged this one.

What we have here is a compelling thriller with one major flaw: the protagonist is annoying as hell. Adam Chase is the ultra-competent action movie hero type that always knows what to do. While there isn't a ton of action in the book, Chase goes charging into every bad situation and always comes out ok, just like Arnold in his heyday. Rather than take the clues he finds to the police, he "handles it" himself.

That happens often enough in fiction, but for some reason I just didn't buy it here. It might be because the book was in first person. It felt like I was listening to some drunk at the end of the bar tell me about the crazy adventures he's had.