LitPick Review
The Reluctant Reckoner by J. Lee tells the story of an accountant who was picked by a gang to carry out an illegal mission. It explains his struggles to protect his daughter and his life from these wicked hands. Mark Richter is an accountant at Lafferty & Sons accounting firm. He has been working there for over 23 years. One day, he received an e-mail from an unknown person, and then he was called in by Larry, the firm's principal accountant, to explain an abnormal transaction which had never occurred before. Mark, on his part, was so shocked since he had never experienced this before. After a while, the situation cleared when the transaction was successful and the mail mysteriously disappeared! But Mark still wondered what could have gone wrong. Later, he got a phone call from an unknown number, and the caller requested to meet him. When he did not agree, the caller threatened him by telling Mark they could frame him for extortion of money just like they created the false transaction in his firm. When Mark heard this, he had no choice but to agree to meet with the stranger. On meeting the stranger who is called Tom, he was blindfolded and taken to their hideout where he met with the leader. He was given a mission by the leader to carry out an unlawful task and failure to do so could endanger his life and that of his daughter. Would Mark comply to save himself and his daughter?
Opinion:
The Reluctant Reckoner is an action-filled book. Each action in the book, such as shooting and killing, made my heart beat faster, especially when it was innocent ones being targeted. The plot was well-written, and the dialogue was realistic. The plot was also fast-paced, and it made use of high stakes in which the characters were put in critical situations such as the task imposed on Mark to carry out by the gang. Lastly, the plot was unpredictable considering the shock I felt when Mark's close friend was killed. I did not actually expect that and I felt a bit pained since his friend was providing Mark with some information and devices to use. Overall, the plot was very creative.
Apart from the plot, I appreciated the characters. They were well-developed and relatable. For instance, when Mark was warned to keep his mission a secret for the safety of himself and his daughter whom he cherished, he found it difficult to tell Ron Mitchell, a member of the FBI, when asked. He did what anyone who valued their child's life would have done. The characters expressed various emotions such as the fear that engulfed Mark when he thought of the danger that lie around his family. Then there is the anger, Ron Mitchell, the FBI agent, displayed when Mark was not co-operating with him. Mitchell was also described as hot-tempered in the book. Not only did the characters express emotions, there were also some personality traits which I appreciated. For example, Sam, Mark's friend, was a reliable character and Mark saw him as someone he could depend on, while Mark was an honest and trustworthy man. There were other emotions and personality traits noted, and they assisted in the building of these complex characters.
