Title: Crossing The Red: A Bear Kotah Novel
Author: Arch Gibson
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-52450-390-1
Pages: 319
Genre: Thriller / Fiction / Action & Adventure
Reviewed by: Joe Kilgore
Pacific Book Review
A man’s search for inner peace, the bonds of family, ancient traditions and modern dangers—they all intertwine in this adventure-filled thriller set in the American Southwest. What begins as a tough tale one might ascribe to the Elmore Leonard oeuvre, eventually morphs into high tech twists and turns more often found in Tom Clancy novels. This combination of grit and gravitas is one that author Gibson employs nimbly and well.
Bear Kotah, a man of Comanche heritage, has put his military career behind him, but he is having a difficult time separating himself from what he saw and did in Iraq and Afghanistan. As if his struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are not enough, he is soon entangled in conflicting emotions when he tries to bind up old wounds with his estranged family—a family made up of brothers, cousins, a grandfather, and a love- interest he’s never truly gotten over. They are trying to get the land they need to make a go of a buffalo ranch in Oklahoma, and just as he’s beginning to make inroads, a killing ignites a long-simmering feud between him and an old nemesis, Ramiro Jenkins, who has far more dastardly plans in mind than simply impeding the Kotah’s ranch expansion.
Following a series of events, Bear finds that Ramiro has been stockpiling dangerously lethal armaments, but even as he tries to destroy them and alert the authorities, the villainous Ramiro kidnaps Bear’s family and heads to the Texas Gulf Coast where he plans to lead a terrorist assault against vital energy facilities. Soon readers are swept into a frighteningly credible scenario that begins to unfold as the southern part of the United States comes under attack.
Gibson fills his pages with military and weapons jargon that sounds authentic. His descriptions of strategies, tactics, attacks and counterattacks, definitely have the ring of truth. But the author doesn’t let geopolitics and guided missile gadgetry overwhelm the human elements of his story. Bear’s fight to rescue his family and eventually find his own place in the world remain top of mind even as the multipronged assault on oil refineries, bridges, and Coast Guard installations ring in readers’ ears.
This novel has a strong plot, memorable characters, a swift pace, and a bit of a surprise ending you may or may not approve of—but chances are you’ll quite enjoy dashing through engaging pages to help you make that decision.
