Dead Man’s Dust by Matt Hilton - Book Review

            In Dead Man’s Dust, Matt Hilton’s first book introduces Joe Hunter, a man in the military who has training in the martial arts.   A man who is a gun for hire, he is asked to track down the whereabouts of his brother, John, by his ex-wife. 

   

           John is a deadbeat who ran out on his second wife and kids because he is in debt to a mobster.   And if that isn’t enough, John’s problems only get worse when he crosses paths with a serial killer named Cain.   

           If there is one thing you could say about Hilton, he can develop his characters.  Besides John, there is the serial killer Cain, who adds a chill to the story.  I like the way Hilton put a twist into the character of Cain.  I thought it made him an even more dangerous character as a result.  

            Part of me felt that the meeting between John and Cain seemed convenient.  What followed after that was an interesting game of cat and mouse between the two characters.  I thought that as a result, Cain had taken over the story more than Joe Hunter.  I wasn’t happy about that since I was interested in Hunter’s character.  

            There are comparisons drawn between Jack Reacher and Joe Hunter.   I thought that since Hilton spent so much time with John and the serial killer, it took away from the story for me and I couldn’t see a comparison between Reacher and Hunter.  

              I’m not someone who is a fan of reading about serial killers and if anything, I was glad that Hilton allowed me to use my imagination when Cain had murdered people.   There were some chilling scenes with John and Cain but I thought it also built the tension and suspense even more. 

              Yes, there was a lot of action and the ending was very exciting and unpredictable since it’s expected that Hunter and Cain will have their confrontation.   Once we learn more about Cain, that confrontation seems even more exciting than ever. 

               If there was a problem with the book, it was the expectation that Hunter was as entertaining as Jack Reacher.  That didn’t come across in this story due to the fact that the point of views switched and much of the novel was more about Cain instead of Hunter and his sidekick, Rink.   

               All in all, I enjoyed this book and I’m anxious to read other books in this series, hoping to see more of Hunter.  More than half the reviews on Kindle gave this book 4 stars.  I agree and give this book four stars as well.  

Ron Hummer