3 out of 4 stars
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The Excoms is the first novel in the eponymous series of action thrillers by Brett Battles featuring an eclectic group of professionals skilled in trades both legal and illegal. It begins with the formation of ‘The Committee’, a secret organization made up of powerful people who, though belonging to diverse backgrounds, are aligned in their intent to do good. The Committee’s first task is to recruit a team of highly competent field operatives in order to take its operations forward.
Ananke, Dylan, Rosario, Liesel, and Ricky are individuals who possess the requisite skills but are stuck in hopeless situations from which they need to be rescued if they are to be of any use to the Committee. The Committee does exactly that and offers these excommunicated operatives a generous compensation, as well as a total clean-up of the mess they are in, in exchange for their services. Naturally, the offer, though dubious, is accepted by these desperate individuals who are staring at certain death—or something very close—and have nothing to lose. What follows is the action-packed assignment of the five-member field team, the success of which is imperative for the survival of the Committee and, more importantly, that of the team members themselves. Added to the mix is a set of people who are resolute on thwarting the efforts of the Committee by any means.
What sets this novel apart from many other thrillers is the concept of the Committee—a group of the rich and powerful whose mission is to ‘provide help where it is needed but would otherwise not be given’; such altruistic groups are seldom encountered in the world of fiction. While the plot of this novel is fairly simple, the author has executed it very well—with an interesting cast of characters, entertaining dialogues, and impressive locales. The story is nicely paced and the action moves along without ever slowing down. Hugely aiding the tempo of the narrative are the bite-sized chapters which entice the reader to gobble up more and more of them. The book seems to have been professionally edited and I could find hardly any errors.
Understandably, this being the first novel in a series, there are some loose ends in the story that seem to have been kept by the author for development in the subsequent books. Likewise, the backstories of certain characters are detailed whereas those of others are sketchy. Disappointingly, there is very little information about the antagonists, the people who are working against the Committee, which renders a sense of incompleteness to the story. Also, there are some references in this novel to the author’s other series, the Jonathan Quinn series, which do not make much sense to readers unfamiliar with that series.
Read as a standalone work, The Excoms is somewhat disappointing due to the issues I have detailed above. However, it shows a lot of promise as the inaugural episode of an exceptionally good series. I would rate it a decent 3 out of 4 stars, and recommend it to those who are looking for a series of well-plotted, fast-paced action thrillers.
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The Excoms
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