The Night Ranger by Alex Berenson is a fictional book in the John Wells series. This is the seventh book in the series, however it can be read as a standalone novel.
Four college graduates volunteer at a refugee camp for Somalis in Kenya. After a few weeks they go on a vacation and disappear. The hijackers demand huge amounts of ransom from the families.
One of the kidnapped girls is a friend of John Wells’ son. As a personal favor he travels to East Africa to track the four Americans. Wells has to navigate complex African local politics, complex American national politics as well as deal with the thugs on the ground in order to try and rescue the volunteers.
I'd been introduced to Alex Berenson’s writing and the character John Wells in the first book The Faithful Spy, which I enjoyed very much. I haven’t read the other books in the series but I did get my hands on The Night Ranger which I also enjoyed.
The book is a fast read with plenty of action (much of it plausible) and a great plot which managed to surprise me a few times. The story manages to weave both the complexities of politics as well as everyday life in Africa into a smooth narrative.
The book ended abruptly, not in mid-sentence, but it’s almost as if the author was trying to wrap things up as neatly as quickly as possible. The ending did not deter me from enjoying the book, but I thought I should mention it.
I like the character of John Wells very much. He is a simple man who is complex at times (much like many of us). Wells is not a super-man--he does get hurt, he makes mistakes, has complex relationship with co workers and has to make choices which are the lesser of two evils.
The Night Ranger is another exciting book from Berenson’s pen. The settings, descriptions and characters make a great thriller with a fast narrative difficult to put down. Slowly but surely Alex Berenson is cementing himself as one of the top authors in his genre.
- 400 pages
- Publisher: Putnam Adult
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 039915972X
Buy this book in paper or electronic (Kindle) format.
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