Strong at the Break by Jon Land **Review**

Strong at the Break
by Jon Land
Forge Books/Tom Doherty Associates Book 2011

The recipe for this intriguing mystery – thriller – cops and robbers joyride are simple enough. Assume that you had a fascination with the future potential politics of the extreme right wing, including the Tea Party. Assume further that you were a student of the Texas Rangers. In your mind, you imagined what a fourth generation, female Ranger would be like, with the name of Caitlin Strong. You were also perverse enough to imagine that Caitlin was in love with an infamous gunslinger (Cort Wesley) with a history of secretive commando activity when in the U.S. military, more recently being the hired gun of Texas drug runners combating their Mexican rivals.

As if this were not enough combustible elements, assume also that Caitlin’s father brought to justice a Bible-thumping preacher who had his own sect in which he abused young girls (and lusted after boys). She saw him bring down the pervert, whose own son was splattered with his father’s blood.

Roll the clock forward 30 or so years. Billions of dollars are diverted from Iraq reconstruction to the coffers of the dead preacher’s son, who builds an army to save America from the clutches of the liberal left. The monies are invested in drug smuggling through an Indian reservation on the Canada-U.S. border, as young girls are stolen in Mexico to breed a generation of children from the son of the preacher.

Finally, Cort Wesley’s young son runs off after his own girl-friend, who had been saved from white-slavery in the previous story in the Caitlin Strong series. Of course, he is captured by the current generation of bad guys who have built a fortress in West Texas with the neo-can money stolen from Iraq, including indulgence from the U.S. military and political establishment.

Can Caitlin Strong save the day, as had her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather?

In Strong at the Break, Jon Land treats us to a phenomenal read. I read it at the beach (Rosemary Beach in the Florida Panhandle) and was barely able to put it down to sleep, eat, and love. Mr. Land sent me an advance copy. I loved the first two books in the series, and carried this review copy for a week or so until I could read it, hoping that it would be like its two prequels, Strong Enough to Die (2009) and Strong Justice (2010), which I loved and reviewed with adoration. I was not disappointed.

Mr. Land has a phenomenal skill in blending a view of current political movements, with the border history of the Texas Rangers and the dynamics between two professional killers, one with a badge and one without. He also throws into the mix a Mexican army commander and a Mohawk warrior who is a centurian in his own life, living long enough to engage his favored traps to undermine a modern cavalry attack on the ice.

I am an adopted Texan (living here for 20+ years, in the cities of Dallas and Houston, and the country of East Texas). There is a distinct personality that reflects Texas culture. It is not easy to capture. Quintessential Texas reflects confidence, pride, readiness to fight and defend, with love of family and country. Jon Land captures it perfectly. He may be a Yankee in terms of where he lives, but this old boy has the real cow stuff, marinated in crude, on his heels.

You will be fascinated with these characters, as I am. In each of the prior two reviews, I closed with the declaration that I am ready for more. Damn! Bring it on, Jon. I am Strong at Heart and ready for the next adventure. I can imagine Cort Wesley emerging from a brutish Mexican jail, only to be sucked into the vortex of Caitlin’s war against Chinese determination to corner the market on Texas sunshine and wind to be exported across the world, all financed by export credits from a Leftist Washington Administration in the name of Green Freedom.

A movie producer will find these characters and make a fascinating series of big screen smash hits. We have in Jon Land’s books a real heroine who makes James Bond look flimsy and imaginary, Jason Bourne a sniveling coward, and Indiana Jones a whimsical counter-point.

You will love them as I do (with movies and video games to come).

I double-dog dare you (to quote an ancient Texas philosopher) to read Strong at the Break without searching for the prequels.

Strong at the Break will not be released until June 2011, but you can prepare by reading Strong Enough to Die (Forge Books, Tom Doherty Associates 2009) and Strong Justice (Forge Books, Tom Doherty Associates 2010).

Warms, Cym