The Contractors by Harry Hunsicker

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Harry Hunsicker's latest thriller, The Contractors.

Jon and his partner, Piper, have been planning a big takedown. They're contractors working on commission for the DEA, which means the bigger the bust the bigger the payday. Word on the street is that a big shipment will be coming through Dallas and Jon and Piper know where and when. But in the midst of the job two unexpected twists arise. The first is a woman named Eva Ramirez. Jon and Piper soon learn that Eva was to be a witness in a case in West Texas before she went missing. The government wants her, the cartels want her, and Dallas PD wants her as well. The second twist is the arrival of another group of contractors and these guys not only want the bust for themselves, they're willing to play dirty. By the time backup arrives the drugs and the rival contractors are gone, there are two dead bodies, Eva and Piper are missing, and Jon and Piper are on the hook for the murders. 

I will give this to Harry Hunsicker, he knows how to put together a real page turner!

Throughout it all I did find that there were a lot of elements of The Contractors that were over the top. The bad guys are really bad, the good guys are pretty quirky, and the storyline itself is straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster. But it's kind of ok. First off this really is the sort of plot that you want to see on the big screen. Lots of special effects and explosions, that sort of stuff, and Hunsicker does a great job of putting the reader right in the midst of the action. Second, the story moves along at such a great pace that by the time you really start to consider how slick Sinclair is, how stereotypical the corrupt law enforcement folks are, and how cheesy Piper comes across (she came across cheesy to me, sorry) you're onto the next big action twist and you just don't care. Or at least I didn't.

The Contractors is fun. That's it. It's fun. I liked Jon Cantrell. And yeah, I kind of liked Piper as well. I REALLY loved the Texas setting as a whole. All caps, REALLY. I've driven these highways, I know these areas, my family is from there. It really brought The Contractors to another level for me as far as enjoyment. So yeah, you might think the book is a bit cliche, and yes it is somewhat predictable, but The Contractors is undoubtedly highly entertaining and pretty great escapist, action fiction (exactly what I needed this week).

Rating: 3.5/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Harry Hunsicker and his work, visit his website here. You can also like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.