Book Review: Backlash: Venom and Vengeance from ‘Nam

Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski

A vengeful ghost from the past comes knocking…locked and loaded.

In the fifth installment of the JadeAnne Stone Mexico Adventure thrillers, Jackman Quint reckons with his past as his former commanding officer in Vietnam centers Quint and everyone he loves in his sights. Who will be left standing after vengeance runs its wicked course? 

Picking right up after Coyote (Book 4 in the series), Quint says goodbye to his daughter, JadeAnne, at the airport as she returns to California with her new boyfriend and German shepherd. After tentatively reestablishing their relationship—waylaid by his dishonorable discharge and years of incarceration for drug trafficking as a soldier in the Vietnam War—he is hopeful of a future with JadeAnne, urging her to join his growing investigation firm in Mexico City, Mexico. 

But Quint has bigger problems than missing his daughter: his ex-CO Chuck Nader is hot on Quint’s trail to eliminate him and anyone else that stands in the way of his vengeance. He even threatens to take away the one person Quint loves more than any other: JadeAnne. Quint’s criminal history with Nader haunts him, just as the nagging question of why Nader wants to kill him escapes an answer. Reviewing what happened in 1974 with Nader, Quint feels he is the one who has a grudge:

“This was how Nader operated in ‘Nam. Preyed on the weak, the ignorant. The young. Getting them to do his dirty work like transporting drugs. Quint wondered what Nader had done to get all these kids to join him in his vendetta.” 

Quint and his crew of young Mexican hackers and investigators get to work in a violent game of cat-and-mouse, tracing Nader’s movements and supplying Mexican Ambassador Tony Garza with proof of his illicit arms dealing south of the border, “a dark no man’s land of terror sucking the light of the city into its depths.” With the help of the Rafiq brothers, his brilliant young hacker Chucho, and several other familiar faces of the series, Quint doubles down on settling the score with Nader once and for all.

Bounding from one intense gun battle to the next and weaving in the chaos of Mexican politics and gruesome cartel justice, the book vividly captures a captivating atmosphere in sprawling Mexico City. As Quint looks forward to JadeAnne’s imminent return, the clock is ticking to provide Mexican Ambassador Tony Garza with the proof of Nader’s complicity in illegal gun running. A bright splash of blossoming love with Rosi, the alluring yet tough human rights activist, energizes the fifty-six-year-old investigator to seal the deal on Nader before he can hurt anyone else. 

Backlash is a thoughtful, action-packed entry into the JadeAnne Stone series, but it is missing much of JadeAnne herself, relegated largely to phone conversations. An overabundance of dialogue somewhat mars a solid plot, and at times I wished for more introspection and exposition. Still, the action is on point and Quint’s backstory a revelation for fans of JadeAnne’s journey. Fans of the series will be glad to read this one.

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