No Reason to Kill by Chris James

[Nigel Gordon]

A new Chris James story, that is a reason to celebrate at any time. This one though is in a very different style and voice to what you normally expect from Chris. From this first chapter it appears that Chris has not only mastered the style he has also got the voice that goes with it. I look forward to seeing where it is going.

[dude]

With Chris and Cole posting stories at the same time... be sure to update your body count regularly!

[Lugnutz]

Don't update the body count. Make it a surprise.

[JamesSavik]

MRE == Meals wRetched to Eat

[Cole Parker]

OK, couldn't wait, just started reading this and read it the end of what is posted. Great writing, great plot. Reminds me very much of Thomas Perry, and believe me, from me, that's a great compliment.

Am ready for the rest of the story now!

C

[Lugnutz]

The latest has "The Jackal" written all over it.

[Nigel Gordon]

I will not say that this is one of the best of Chris's stories, because it is not, it is clear at times that he is finding his feet in what for him is a new genre. However, despite that, it is a good story, well plotted and well told and of a quality that is much higher than a lot of the same genre writing you find in airport bookshops.

'No Reason to Kill' marks a departure in style and genre for Chris. It is a story I would recommend readers to read. I hope we see more of Chris writing in this genre in the future, this story shows he has great promise at it.

[Rutabaga]

The story proves that readers can be engaged by a "hero" whose actions are morally reprehensible.

The outcome of the story leaves me unsettled. Though some of the baddest bad guys were foiled and/or terminated, others seemingly survived and thrived. Overall it leaves me with the same dissatisfaction as the outcome of the recent movie "Arbitrage" with Richard Gere, which was a pretty forgettable movie overall but was distinguished (to me) by the fact that the characters never really ended up paying the consequences for their unethical and immoral actions. In that regard perhaps it reflects real life but it's not what one expects in a film. At least in "No Reason to Kill" there seemed to be a form of redemption which was utterly absent in "Arbitrage."

So, all in all, an engaging story with an unsettling ending.

R

[Lugnutz]

He's leaving the door open for a sequel. That's my take on it anyway. It seemed anticlimactic otherwise.

[Chris James]

My thanks to all of you for reading the story, and the insightful commentary.

Remember the days when gay characters in stories were considered reprehensible by virtue of their sexuality? Then to redeem the story the author had to kill off the characters, those bad and evil gay men...what hogwash. I wanted a hero, perhaps an anti-hero, like Michael who ends up redeeming himself. I could not develop a more complex character, and on top of that I threw in Viktor.

I cannot apologize for the ending because Luggie is right, I do have a sequel in mind and left the story open for it. Several parts of the storyline are incomplete, I would have to address that. But a sequel is harder to write than the original and I need time to think of an appropriate storyline to bring these characters....well, most of them...back to life. Have patience, I will come up with something.

But as a post script: I have several other stories in the pipeline that I cannot ignore...No Reason to Kill part Two will have to wait a while.

[Cole Parker]

This story was great! I really enjoyed every chapter of it. Yes, it has some moral compromise, but the ambit of these characters reeked of that. Such seems the standard these days when we no longer see our own government as a organization of principle and righteousness. When we no longer can hold our heads up as Americans as we could in the past, as torture and off-shore prisons and assassination are now part of our policy, well, this story seems to fit with the way the world works these days.

Plus the story was full of creative imagination and ingenuity that really sparkled. The ending was much different from what we get with this sort of story, and it's hard to do that. I think Chris is to be extolled for this work.

C

[Lugnutz]

This just goes to show that the lead doesn't always get the guy/girl.

[JamesSavik]

Now that was... just cool.

Length was a bit short but, it didn't wander around desperately searching for a plot like so many novels I've read lately.

You would think some of the publishers were paying by the word these days with the 800-900 page books out there.

[Merkin]

The world is what the world is, and this story was a great take on our contemporary circumstances, tailored to fit our own particular genre. Nice job, Chris. I'm sure that crawling on top of all those buildings to compute those shot angles was not a lot of fun for you.

[Chris James]

No crawling around on rooftops for me, Merkin, but I did the Google view of those buildings. Authors are generally good liars, stretching the truth to fit the fiction in a story. Not sure how many of us were around for the Blitz of London, but Mihangel did a great job of making us believe. For that matter I am not sure how much cow-punching time Cole has under his belt but his ability at describing a Texas ranch is just wonderful.

I chose Washington D.C. for part of the Kill story because I lived there for a number of years. Always best to describe what you know or be prepared to fake it. I have not been to Montana, credit research for those scenes. Imagination, folks, that's what all of us seem to have in common and it brings the fiction alive.

[Nigel Gordon]

Google is a great asset to authors.

[Lugnutz]

Google is a great asset to authors.

It's how I found the gas station in my story and the area.