Hit List

Jack Heath (author)

PanMacmillan: Australia: 2010; 256pp

ISBN:9780330425841

Genres: action, adventure, crime

Issues: ethics, friendship

Teenage thieves with heart, Ash and her tech-head friend Benjamin find and return - for a fee - precious items that have been pinched from museums. Their controller is the powerful Mr Buckland whose status is best described as ‘presumed dead'. On their latest gig Ash finds herself crossing paths with the infamous ‘ghost', a merciless killer whose only goal is to fulfill the request of the highest bidder. When the Ghost puts a price on Ben's head, the pair knows they've got a serious problem - especially as they're in the process of trying to rescue one Alice B, who's being held prisoner.

Corruption in high places, military mercenaries and ruthless corporations - is it possible that Ash and Benjamin are in over their heads? How can they rescue Alice B when she's locked deep inside the world's largest intelligence gathering facility? And can Ash live with her increasingly uneasy conscience as she realises that her choices are risking her best friend's life, not to mention her own?

Hit Man is an action novel with a difference. Readers will find the page-turning narrative, dramatic escapes, close calls and thrilling adventures expected of this genre but Heath's characters are more interesting, more believable - and more unexpected - than is usual. Ash's background is conservative: she's a high-achieving student who loves her father. Benjamin's a geek and proud of it, gentle and compassionate. Rather like Robin Hood on steroids, Hit Man is as much about the characters as their adventures, making the novel much more satisfying to read. Also worth noting is that Heath avoids using the colloquial language (especially in dialogue) that many action writers feel is essential but which too often dates their work. Heath even dares to use a much broader vocabulary than is common to the action genre, with well-crafted sentences and descriptions that avoid cliché and carry a hint of humour. Hit Man has the adrenaline rush that readers demand but skilful writing and a sly wit make it a story for a wider audience.

E.g.:
The noise of the bit striking the sandstone was like the clanging of a demented school bell. (P9)

As a plan, it sure beat pretending to be a rock until the snipers came back. (P28)

Ash's stomach lurched as the wheels lifted off the ground. The walls roared and vibrated, and Ash wondered if this was what the inside of a microwave sounded like. (p125)