Author Skelton knows how to plot a book, especially one in which the hero, in this case an ex-member of an elite shadow operation, wakes up next to his dead girlfriend and finds himself on the run, pursued by the police and homicidal maniacs. The combination of breakneck action and espionage/mob strategies reminded me of Robert Ludlum, and The Janus Run almost breaks out into that elite category. Almost but not quite, for the writing style is choppy and the blur of action numbs one after a while, something that definitely shouldn’t happen with such a thriller. Not everyone in the extensive cast of characters work as well as protagonist Coleman Lang but I was swept up within the New York City hunt and chase scenes, and enjoyed much of the darkly flavored dialogue. An enjoyable race to the end but oh, how good it could have been!
Book, movie/show, and album reviews
