Open Carry
Marc Cameron

U.S. Marshal Arliss Cutter is a born tracker. Raised in the Florida swamplands, he honed his skills in the military, fought in the Middle East, and worked three field positions for Marshal Services. When it comes to tracking someone down—or taking someone out—Cutter’s the best. But his newest assignment is taking him out of his comfort zone to southeast Alaska. Cold, dark, uninhabited forests often shrouded in fog. And it’s the kind of case that makes his blood run cold . . . the shocking murder of a Tlingit Indian girl.

But the murder is just the beginning. Now, three people have disappeared on Prince of Wales Island. Two are crew members of the reality TV show, Fishwives. Cutter’s job is to find the bodies, examine the crew’s footage for clues, and track down the men who killed them. But it won’t be easy, because the whole town is hiding secrets, every trail is a dead end—and the hunter becomes the hunted . . .

It seemed to be just many people to keep up with. Just too much going on.

U.S. Marshal Arliss Cutter has moved to Alaska to be closer to his late brother’s wife and children. He is called to investigate missing persons cases (and soon the grisly murder of a Native American girl) in a town with no shortage of suspects and conflicts. There are drugs, crime bosses, reality TV crew members making a nuisance of themselves, and various quirky personalities including a resourceful mute girl and a woman living on a boat while studying orcas. The natural richness of the Alaskan setting is described to excellent effect. Marshal Cutter is half action hero, half all-around good guy, teaching his young nephews basic life skills acquired from his own grandfather in between beating up bad guys and undertaking scuba excursions to investigate crimes. It is a hard to resist Spenser-esque tough-guy-with-a-good-heart combination. Some of the machismo is a bit overdone: Cutter's ex-wives are stereotypes who just didn’t get his interest in boats, etc., which begs the question of why he married them if they were so uncool with his various manly preoccupations. The action is well paced, and the ending is a satisfactory triumph of good over evil. The local characters, including Cutter’s colleague Lola Teariki, and Alaskan setting make the reader look forward to a sequel.

Grumpy's Man-Rule twenty—“ Let no guilty man go free.”

Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Arliss Cutter requested a move from Florida to Alaska to be near his brother's widow and children. The countryside is totally new to him but he's been in some form of law enforcement for years.

This first book in a new series by this author about Cutter takes him and a deputy U.S. Marshal under his supervision to Prince of Wales Island - a large island sitting on the Inside Passage across from Ketchikan and Wrangell in southeastern Alaska. They are after a scumbag who walked away from parole after serving a shortened sentence for sexual assault and kidnapping. It's their job to bring him back to serve the rest of his prison sentence.

I liked this book but thought it would have been even better if the author didn't try to pack so many story threads and characters into it. There's the wanted man, more than one murder, the sister-in-law, a reality television show being filmed on the island and much more happening. It was confusing at times keeping track of everyone.

But the author did tie it all together in the end and there were also beautiful descriptive passages about Alaska, a state I happen to love. So I do recommend this book to anyone that wants to think about the thriller they're reading especially if you love our 49th state.

I received this book from Kensington Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

5 stars

The book opens with Millie Burkett, a Tlingit Indian girl running for her life through the woodsy forest. She is also the first murder victim…

In an exciting and action-packed first chapter, opening in Alaska, we have US Marshall Arliss Cutter and his team of DEA, Marshalls and Alaska police officers taking down a drug dealer named “Donut.” Wow! Arliss is new to Alaska; from his Florida home. So the town and most of his teammates are new to him. With his background in Afghanistan and the service, he is very good at hunting and tracking - people.

In another scene, a crime boss named Ernesto Camacho is “vacationing” on his ship, also in Alaska. Camacho is a very bad guy who has a bodyguard named Garza and his pack of henchmen.

Carmen Delgado who works for a reality television show is also in town. They are filming a new reality show originally titled “Homeport,” it is now called “Fishwives.” She pitched the idea to the network and they bought it, but changed it so much it is now a mere shadow of the written version. She and her cameraman are on a scouting expedition without their guide and bodyguard. Not a good idea.

When people begin to disappear from Prince of Wales Island, Cutter is assigned to look for them and discover what happened to them. He begins his search by interviewing the people who knew them and worked with them. But there are many secrets in the little village, and no one seems to be telling the truth – or at least not the whole truth.

This is a very well written and plotted novel. The writing was smooth; the transitions almost flawless. I really like Marc Cameron’s style. The book has action, punch and is succinct which adds to the drama in the story. I have read other works by Mr. Cameron and have enjoyed them as well. I am very much looking forward to the next book in this series.

I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books/Kensington for forwarding to me a copy of this remarkable book for me to read, enjoy and review.