Revenge by Mark Young

When a trained killer threatens ex-cop Travis Mays - and those Travis loves -he finds a skilled adversary and an unexpected fight.

After a high stakes gamble ends in personal tragedy, Travis walks away from years of training and a highly successful law enforcement career. Determined never to look back, he starts a new life and a new career, teaching criminology at the university and building a cabin in the idyllic Idaho Mountains. He hires a beautiful river guide, Jessie White Eagle from the Nez Perce tribe, to guide him safely down the Lochsa. The turbulence of the whitewater, however, is just the beginning of his troubles. Travis finds himself in the crosshairs of a killer - calling himself Creasy - bent on revenge.

This fast-paced thriller takes readers on a wild ride down Idaho’s whitewater rivers, along the historic Lolo Trails once tread by the Nez Perce nation, and onto the city streets of California. Tighten your helmet. This ride never stops until the last shot is fired and the final body falls.

Just when you thought you figured it all out, you’re thrown for a twist. 

Revenge follows ex-detective, Travis May. As bodies keep piling up the clues all seem to point to the case that caused Travis to leave the force. As they rush to figure out who the killer is, Travis is faced with the ghosts of his past. 

I loved this story from the beginning. First off, I love a good mystery and Revenge delivered on that. Even though I thought I had it all figured out, the author threw a curve ball in the end and added a completely different layer that I did not see coming. I had to read the sentence a few times to confirm that my eyes were not playing tricks on me. 

Secondly, Revenge is one of the few self-published novels that I found refreshing to read. Sometimes, self-published books are littered with mistakes and continuity errors - possibly due to lack of proper editing - however, Revenge read as though it had a good editor. I did notice two things, but they were so minor I got past them without being pulled out of the narrative. 

Finally, I enjoyed the way the narrative moved from one point of view to the next. You got to see the killer’s moves without revealing too much for you to know who the killer is, at least until it was necessary. 

[review of copy from author]