When I heard Rifle Season being compared to C. J. Box's Open Season, I knew I had to read it, and I'm happy to say it surpasses the hype. Kelly wastes no time transporting readers into the middle of a deadly game of cat and mouse beginning with the chilling prologue and ending with the final incredible shot. His descriptive narrative brings scenes to life as both breathtakingly beautiful and life threatening at the same time. An insane pace is propelled by a tone of malice and the fear of time running out. In-depth characterizations are spot on, relatable, and believable. Mason's anguish and despair can be felt in the beginning as can his stone-cold determination and rage throughout. The author nails the essence of who he is and what he'll do to save those he loves as he struggles to hold it together. The same holds true even for the villains in this story. They're professionally written, despicable, and yet convincing. As the story unfolds, the stakes are raised with every shocking plot twist until the violence explodes on the page leaving readers to figure out if anyone survived.
Author Pat Kelly scrutinizes the age-old tradition of hunting and man's moral rights as it pertains to the sport as well as his coexistence with nature in Rifle Season. Themes of revenge, forgiveness, redemption, and justice are evident throughout this well-written, masterful thriller. The author does an excellent job highlighting man's conservancy of nature and wildlife in a chilling battle of the fittest. Rifle Season reads like it's written by an expert, well-seasoned author with several titles under his/her belt making it hard to believe this is Kelly's debut novel. I hope there will be many more books in the series. Nature and hunting advocates will devour this book as will fans of fast-paced, explosive, second-chance thrillers. Rifle Season will be one of my top five reads of the year.
At rock bottom, Mace descends into a haze of Tito’s and sativa when two strangers seek him out. They wave enough cash under his nose to convince him to help them up into the mountains he knows so well on the opening day of Colorado’s rifle season. An innocent enough request, and the perfect cover for the trip’s true to assassinate an infamous warlord. All at once, Mace goes from unwitting to unwilling accomplice and it will take all his now dusty skills to outfox his patrons in their deadly game.