Review of "You Can Run: A Kramer and Shadow Action Crime Novel Book Two," by Greg Smith

Review of

You Can Run: A Kramer and Shadow Action Crime Novel Book Two, by Greg Smith 

ISBN 9781530669745

Three out of five stars

 I am a fan of the military/crime thriller and this one has a fundamental difference from others that gives it a lot of potential. Captain Kramer is a U. S. Marine and Shadow is his extremely intelligent canine sidekick. In the previous book the team of two was temporarily assigned to the FBI to aid in tracking down Vladiron and Shelley Harper, the leaders of a powerful international criminal organization. While their plans were foiled in the first book, the two crime bosses survived and it is time for round two of their deadly dance.

 What I disliked about this book and some others in this genre is that the plot simply goes beyond what is reasonable in depicting the capability or influence of the main character. In this case, a multi-million dollar jet is essentially sacrificed and several lives put at risk for what amounts to very little gain. The people that should have more sense acquiesce to the will of Kramer, they simply look at his face and agree to what he wants to do. It was just too much for me, following that plot line took too much suspension of disbelief. Furthermore, Vladiron proves to be too much of a super-villain and a bit stupid, no one that reached his position where he orders people captured and sometimes killed would operate on such emotional whims.

 Other than that, the book moves along fairly well and keeps the reader’s interest. It would have been a better book if what is equivalent to mind tricks perpetrated by Kramer was not part of the plot. They really were not necessary, simple alterations in the timeline would have eliminated the need for Kramer having such a powerful influence over others. 

This book was made available for free for review purposes.