The Terror of Living by Urban Waite

By Air...By Sea...By Land...all play a part in how the story unravels in Urban Waite's debut novel about a drug deal gone awry and the bloody aftermath that ensues.  Phil Hunt and his wife Nora are attempting to live a quiet life in the Pacific Northwest on a horse farm.  Hunt usually succeeds and manages to stay out of trouble -- except for the occasional drug smuggling gig.

When a helicopter drop over the Washington State forest doesn't go as planned, Hunt quickly finds himself on the run from Drake (a deputy sheriff with something to prove as a result of his father's criminal past) and Grady (a hit man with a penchant for butcher's cutlery, out to kill him).

Waite does an effective job turning up the heat as this cat-and-mouse tale unfolds.  The story draws quite a bit from Cormac McCarthy's NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Waite goes on to mention him in his acknowledgements), but creates his own boundaries and establishes a believable sense of place.

I am looking forward to see what Waite serves up next.

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