Having a father can be hard. Being a good one might be even harder. The call-out for the double homicide, when it comes, is a strange one: two men gunned down in a motel room, no witnesses, no real clues. Even stranger, the men were enemies, and no one seems to know why they were in that motel room together. And stranger still, people won't stop calling John-Henry Somerset, telling him he needs to find some answers-preferably nice, easy ones-fast. Hazard and Somers set out to learn what happened, but they quickly find themselves mired in shifting factions: the ultraconservative political machine of the Ozark Volunteers; a liberal activist group protesting the local gun show; a reclusive fundamentalist church; even a hint of Mexican drug cartels. The further they press their investigation, the clearer it becomes that the killer-or killers-wants something, and they'll stop at nothing to get it. As Hazard and Somers struggle to find the truth, they face trouble at home as well. Their foster-son, Colt, has received a letter from his estranged father, the same man who attacked Colt and Somers in their home. Worse, Colt seems open to more communication, which leaves Hazard grappling with his fears for Colt and his helplessness against a world that seems to be conspiring to take his foster-son away. But when a pair of gunmen come after Hazard at home, two things are crystal clear: he's going to get to the bottom of these murders, and he'll do anything to keep his family together.
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4 primary books5 released booksHazard and Somerset: Arrows in the Hand is a 5-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2021 with contributions by Gregory Ashe.
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4.5
This is a Hazard-centric outing. As the tittle suggests we continue to unravel the knotty skien that is parenthood, dealing pretty exclusively with fathers. Almost every character from murder victims to possible murderers, from Colt to Hazard, are coping (mostly not well) with that oft fraught relationship.
About the mystery itself there isn't much to say and the dead are of no great loss to anyone. One of the twists was clear to me from the get go but I wasn't mad about it. The case is a canvass for the author to continue his exploration of Wahredua politics (which IMO is a stand-in for current America) and the ever maturing relationship between John-Henry & Emery. I like that he isn't heavy handed, he allows even the most villainous of villains moments of grace and humanity and there are some interesting, but not farfetched developments among some of the recurring cast of characters.
Becoming Colt's father makes Hazard to revisit/reevaluate his thoughts & feelings about his own father. It's progress even if it's at tortoise speed. Life has its own pace. Meanwhile we have Colt who's the walking, talking stereotype of a teenager, emotions like a pinball machine. My first thoughts were:
*1Super glad to not be regularly around teenagers
*2I wouldn't never have gotten away with that behavior
*3how does Hazard love this virtual stranger so much in such a short time?
*4has Colten forgotten what/who Danny Lee is?
and then I remembered what it was like to be in that limbo age where you're not one thing or another, that those initial formative years mark us indelibly whether we admit it or not, like it or not, logic has no sway. Fifty year-olds are still talking about their parents when they go to therapy. As for Hazard's love, who knows? Maybe Colt, who looks so much like him (and not just physically) is a chance to save the boy he once was and all the boys like himself who've been ill used by a cruel world.
Overall I liked how we get to see the MC growing and learning from their mistakes and how they're becoming a true family. Beautiful
