"The Black Arrow"--A Review

By John Geltemeyer
[Posted exclusively to WarOnGuns with permission of the author]

I don't put out too many book reviews, because to be blunt, I'm too damn busy to read any more.

This is the first book I have cracked and read to completion in two years.

I'm talking about "The Black Arrow" by Vin Suprynowicz.

Now I've always enjoyed Vin's writing style. "Send in The Waco Killers," although depressing as hell, was engrossing and well written. Mentioning depressing, I started to read his "Ballad of Carl Drega." I feared that If I had read it to conclusion I would have had to draw a warm bath and slit my wrists. I just couldn't stand to read one more tale of government thugs mowing down some innocent and getting medals for it.

"The Black Arrow" however is anything but depressing.

The tale and plot are almost comic book style, yet the writing ranges from elegant to disturbing.

His characters are like larger than life Ayn Rand - like characters with a third dimension and sound reasons for their actions. You care about their outcomes.

The year is 2030 and Amerika is pretty damn totalitarian. The book opens with immediate flash of action. It grabs you hard enough that you actually want to read the following flashback that explains why some Errol Flynn look alike is shooting government officials from rooftops with a bow and arrow.

The use of a bow has two good effects. First it's dramatic. Second, even though I like my guns, sometimes libertarian writers can get techno geeky when they write technical specifications about guns into a story. Yes, there are guns and they do get used in many action scenes, but there's no 3 page tech spec break downs about the arms being used.

Each chapter is filled with very familiar background characters. They are familiar because they and their stories are ripped from the headlines and Vin's earlier books, with just a dash of fictionalization. However, unlike reality, many of the thugs suddenly end up with a foreign object or two ramming through their body and bringing final justice for their acts.

This isn't like any other libertarian fiction I've read. Even the bad guys have deep, if not twisted character. They are not two dimensional cutouts that wreak mindless destruction upon the populace. They have backgrounds that make them what they are. Some are just rotten people. Some die in confusion saying "..but, we were just trying to keep people safe...."

The book has intrigue and romance. Love triangles and combat. Bad guys and good guys.

There's a few points where the dreaded libertarian talking head character almost appears to be surfacing. However at the point you are wondering if you got suckered in for a crappy ending, Vin suddenly rewards you with mayhem on the people who most deserve it.

If you like a good story, libertarian / freedom movement morality, romance, character building and bad guys biting the dust; then this is your book.

Those of you who live close by might be thinking, "hey I'd like to borrow that book you were talking about." And I'll say "Hell no, go buy your own and support Vin, he deserves monetary compensation for this."

I'm curious what women will have to say about the romance parts. They seemed somewhat overdone at first, but I thought they actually fit in well with the comic book style of the action flow.

Anyway, get out there and buy the damn book.