Comes a Horseman by Robert Liparulo

What: Two FBI agents stand alone against the rise of an Anti-Christ wannabe

A woman is attacked in her home by wolves, then beheaded. It is the latest in a long string of serial killings with no apparent connection other than their method of death. The victims have nothing in common, so why were they targeted? And with no common thread, how could anyone hope to guess the killer’s next move? Two FBI agents, Brady Moore and Alicia Wagner, must try and find the pattern to prevent the next murder from taking placeâ€"but when they find who’s really pulling the strings, what hope do they have?

Robert Liparulo has done a great job with Comes a Horseman. The movie rights to the book sold before it was even published (read the InFuze interview with him elsewhere on this website), and as you read it you can easily see the potential for an incredible action flick. Though the novel can drag in some places and become incredibly frustrating in a few (I’ll explain in a minute), the plot isn’t something I’ve seen tackled lately. There are bad guys galore in this novel, each progressively more terrifying. One in particular, a hyena-like psycho, torments a priest with such vivid description you can almost hear noises in your own house as you read.

The main villain of the story, Luco Scaramuzzi, is a charismatic, devious man with delusions of world domination. What makes him unique among the other great villains of our time? He wants to be something besides a dictator or serial killer. With the release of the Left Behind series, I’m hesitant to use this term: Anti-Christ (please don’t stop reading the review because of it…it’s not another one of “those� novels).

The difference is that Luco knows he’s not the Anti-Christâ€"but he’ll kill to make others believe he is. This sets up an interesting premise, as Liparulo makes Luco such a dastardly charming baddie you almost hope he wins. I can’t recall the last time I actually rooted so much for the bad guys.

And therein lies the weakness in this book: the bad guys are more interesting than the heroes. Brady Moore is a recently-widowed single father trying to deal with his wife’s death, his job, and his concern for being a good parent to his son, Zack. Brady is definitely not a Rambo-like hero ready to take the fight to the killers. Instead, he’s more of an introspective kind of guy for the most part. But when finally forced to act, he is capable of it. Liparulo gets extra credit for the inventive way he gets Brady out of certain death when the wolves and their keeper try to kill Brady in his own house. I never saw that one coming, and it’s just one more thing that keeps the book fresh in many ways.

Unfortunately, Brady has a flaw that makes his character almost grating: despite several confrontations where extreme prejudice is warranted, he conducts this same tiresome inner conflict whenever he has someone in his sights. Even after costing the life of a former agent and almost losing his partner Alicia, he still just won’t shoot. It gets so frustrating that by the time he confronts Luco you don’t even have to wonder if he’s going to stop him.

Alicia Wagner, on the other hand, is a fighter. She’ll kick, claw, shoot, and maim anyone necessary to save her life and stop the killings. She still has those nagging self doubts and inner turmoils (including growing feelings for her partner), but she’s tough enough to keep going despite them. She was the perfect contrast to her partner.

All in all, this is an incredible novel and a real page-turner. It doesn’t get bogged down in dozens of plot threads, choosing instead to keep to a central theme while throwing surprises at you left and right. The procedural parts are fascinating. As Alicia investigates a crime scene, Liparulo describes it in such detail you can easily feel like you’re there with her. Though the ending is rather abrupt, it sets the stage perfectly for a sequel. Despite a few minor problems, Comes a Horseman is a winner.

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