Right from the opening page, Blank Slate grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until you reach the final scene. In between, there is everything from drug cartels to human trafficking to the Russian mafia and the CIA, and in the middle of it all is a man with no memory who’s not quite sure which side he’s really on.
Kyle Jackle doesn’t remember why the Russian mafia wants him dead. He doesn’t remember why the CIA is chasing him. He doesn’t know how he knows so much about high powered automatic, state of the art weapons or and he doesn’t remember how he knows how to use them. He has no recollection of where he got that beautiful sailboat he apparently owns or even how to sail it. What Kyle does know is that does seem to have all of these skills, somehow, and a lot more. And, he has to get the people chasing him before they get to him. Oh, and Tasha, the gorgeous Russian blonde helping him, certainly isn’t making matters any worse, just more curious.
Zach Hamric has written a very fast-paced, exciting story that we can only hope is turned into a movie at some point. He uses great detail in both the sailing scenes and the very vivid shootout scenes. The characters, both the good and the bad, are very believable and easy to relate to. The bad guys are as evil and untrustworthy as any you’ll ever find.
The only thing keeping this from being a 5-star review is the jumping from first person to third person point of view. I found it to be very abrupt and at times I had to go back and re-read the paragraph to re-acquaint myself.
Overall, a terrific read. I am looking forward to the sequel. I can’t wait to see how much more Kyle Jackle retains of his memory, and what scrape he and Tasha get themselves into, and out of, next.
