(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch)
This book immediately reminded me of the movie, “A Simple Plan” with Billy-Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, and Bridget Fonda. In Quick Fix, the main character, Kyle, a military veteran injured from an IED, is in dire financial straits and is convinced by his unscrupulous friend Ryan to participate in a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme that is of course like the proverbial, taking candy from a baby.
Wrong! What starts out as a sure-fire thing, quickly devolves into a spiral that has Kyle, Ryan, and several others trying to stay one step ahead of the Irish Mob, the Mexican Cartel, and Bolivian Mercenaries.
This book is non-stop action from the very beginning, and J. Gregory Smith does a great job of creating believable, and mostly likable characters. What he also excels at is vividly painting the various tough Philly neighborhoods where the novel is set. The dialogue is crisp and believable.
The book appeared to slow down for me at about the ¾ point, but by the end had accelerated to a rapid clip and the denouement was satisfying without being contrived or patronizing. My only other issue with the book is the formatting. Paragraphs are extremely short (1 or 2 sentences) followed by white space, and then another clipped paragraph. By the end of the book, I had gotten used to it, but I feel that longer paragraphs could have brought more depth and engagement for the reader.
All and all, a very good and worthwhile read.
