I enjoyed reading Gray Justice.

            Premise: Ex-special-forces soldier, Tom Gray, wants vengeance for his son’s death, and the eventual suicide of his wife, at the hands of a car thief who is a repeat offender. Gray’s ultimate goal is to change the British judicial system which allowed such repeat offenders to walk free with minimal punishment. To get justice, Gray commits an act of terrorism. He threatens to release a chemical weapon on his fellow citizens if the government doesn’t listen to the public’s demands to change the judicial system. In an additional plot twist, foreign terrorists seek to kill Gray so no one can stop the chemical weapon from being released.

            I found the premise a bit unrealistic. Governments do not deal with terrorists. Gray tries to offset this policy by seeking public support for his actions. He sets up a website where the public can vote for his proposed policy changes. I had to wonder how many people would really support a terrorist who is threatening to kill them. Still, I found the premise imaginative and original. It kept me reading.

            Grammar: A reader will find some grammatical errors, but nothing I found too distracting. American readers should note the author is British, so some of the words are spelled differently. Some POV chances in mid-paragraph are confusing. I knew this was a debut novel, so I overlooked these problems. Hopefully, a good editor and proofreader fixed these in subsequent books.

            Character Development and Descriptions: I found Tom Gray’s motivations harsh and inconsistent. One the one hand, he loved his wife and son so much he’s willing to endanger other lives. On the other hand, he doesn’t notice his wife’s emotional state before she commits suicide. He even goes to work the morning of her funeral. I was left wondering if Gray valued human life at all. He admits not caring about his own. I attributed Gray’s harshness and violent attitude to the fact that he was a soldier who’d seen his share of death.

            Eight characters were also introduced as loyal friends who help Gray with his scheme. These characters are not developed. They seem convenient in helping the story along. Their appearance at the scene when the foreign terrorists attack seemed a miraculous chance. Even then, they’re of little help. The story could’ve either used them better or done without them.

            I found the foreign terrorists stereotypical. The head terrorist was definitely intelligent, evil, and easy to hate. Yet the subordinate terrorists were portrayed as untrained, even stupid. Wouldn’t a terrorist organization have at least sent in members with experience shooting guns? This leaves the window open for their plan to fail. The story would have been more thrilling if the terrorists had been well organized and appeared invincible.

            Physical and scene descriptions were used only enough to get through the story. I like to visualize the characters and feel the story environment. I still couldn’t describe Tom Gray by the end of the book. The only thing I remember about the English countryside is that it was rainy.

            Flow: The writing was well constructed and organized. Events flowed naturally from one event to the next. The action was fast paced, short, and concise. The story moves along without irrelevant distractions, and keeps the reader intrigued. It gets a little bogged down with explaining Gray’s website functions, but computer geeks will love it. Those that aren’t computer savvy will find the explanations helpful, even educational.

            Would I give this book a five-star rating? No. It’s a good book, but not a great one. Something must differentiate the good from the great. I only rate a book five stars if I would read it again and again. I won’t be reading Gray Justice again, but I’ll read the sequels. This book showed an imagination and intelligence I enjoyed. No doubt the sequels are even better.