The elevator pitch for the Van Shaw series is Jack Reacher if he were brought up with Parker as his Granda. An ex-Army Ranger who grew up as a burgeoning thief under the tutelage of his Grandad Dono, a career thief. In this fourth instalment, Van heads for the small town of Mercy River, where his Army buddy, Leo, has been locked up for the murder of the local gun shop owner with the evidence solidly against him.

Initially this one errs more on the Reacher side (or what I imagine that is, having never actually read one) with Van arriving in a small town stirring up trouble in order to find out the truth behind the murder. In amongst this is the fact that Mercy River are hosting a Ranger Rally for serving and former Army Rangers celebrating their status with booze, competitions and other shenanigans in support of raising money for veterans in need of treatment and care for the physical and psychological ailments they're suffering. I struggled with some of this and wondered how such a thing could conjure up the page count that it did.

I shouldn't have been so downhearted though as through the machinations of the plot, which also worried me when I easily guessed from the offset a certain plot point, the Parker side of the Van Shaw coin is brought to bear. It is skillfully done how we get here and from there the pace of the story picks up and makes the last third really enjoyable.

This instalment didn't include a subplot from Van's youth as the other books have, which have always been as, if not more, enjoyable than main plot. Not sure if these will return, but the combination of the mystery with this element always gave the earlier books an emoitional core and an easier way to play off the split character traits.

So I clearly know which side of Van I enjoy following more, but with the next instalment due in July I will be sure to continue following his adventures.