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Dying for Revenge

Review

Dying for Revenge

Following the action-packed SLEEPING WITH STRANGERS and WAKING
WITH ENEMIES, both of which were released in 2007, Eric Jerome
Dickey has written DYING FOR REVENGE. The final book in the trilogy
continues Gideon's story, a man who was taught to kill at a young
age by the woman who raised him. His anger and near-hatred for her
is partly what drives him, but now Gideon is conflicted between his
need to protect her and her son, and his anger over how she abused
him when he was a boy.

Gideon's main problem is a woman who had hired him years ago to
kill her husband. Because he knows her secrets and failed to carry
through on their agreement, she now has a hit on him and will do
anything to cut his life short. The fact that she is a very
prominent politician in Detroit adds spice and intrigue to the
storyline. The public sees her as a beloved political figure, but
Gideon knows the real person behind the mask. She has money and
power, and her men will do anything she asks them to do ---
whatever it takes to dispose of Gideon and help her exact revenge
upon him by threatening the lives of those he holds dear.

"Detroit," as she is referred to by Gideon, has hired a man
known as "El Matador" and his wife, two professional killers, to
get the job done. Unfortunately for El Matador, his wife has a
personal problem: an obsession with clothes (especially with
expensive shoes) and a compulsive need to spend money. Her fixation
on the movie premiere of Sex and the City has compromised
their job, and they constantly remain one step behind Gideon as
they pursue him and try to find a way to trap and exterminate him.
She cannot stop thinking of her next shopping spree or her favorite
show. It is this obsession that has prevented them from finishing
the job, and Gideon continues to elude them. But she also makes
other mistakes that are just as costly and that begin to anger and
frustrate her husband.

In between the violence and the action, Gideon is still
obsessing over his past as he did in the previous two novels. He
feels troubled by the existence of the young boy who is now the
center of Catherine's life, and at the same time he has a need to
put to rest the childhood that continues to haunt him. Is this
child truly Catherine's son, and is he going to have the same life
that Gideon had? Gideon refuses to let that happen and keeps trying
to understand her relationship with him. Catherine tells Gideon
that she has changed and is not the prostitute she used to be years
ago. Gideon isn't convinced and believes that the boy is in danger,
just as Gideon was years ago when he lived with Catherine.

The novel takes the reader from the U.S. to the island of
Antigua. The beautiful tropical setting makes a great backdrop for
the heated action scenes that nearly bring an end to Gideon and
Hawke, a woman who shared a brief past with him and is back to help
Gideon bring down "Detroit" and end this chase once and for
all.

There is a lot of violence in DYING FOR REVENGE, probably more
so than any of Dickey’s previous books. I didn't have a
problem with that or think it was overdone. However, others may not
agree. There is plenty of dark humor as well as violence and sex;
while there are lulls in the action, it doesn't stay quiet for
long.

The reader gets to know Gideon well in this third novel. While a
professional hit man, he does have a heart and a soft side but
doesn't let that get in the way of his job. Readers may want yet
another Gideon installment because there are still plenty
of questions that need to be answered. While DYING FOR REVENGE was
not my favorite Eric Jerome Dickey book, it is still worth the
read.

Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton ([email protected]) on January 21, 2011

Dying for Revenge
by Eric Jerome Dickey

  • Publication Date: October 6, 2009
  • Genres: Fiction
  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: NAL Trade
  • ISBN-10: 0451227530
  • ISBN-13: 9780451227539