I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but the old axiom says nothing about titles. The only reason I picked up Kllrs by Phil Bowie was because there were no vowels in the title I was in the mood for a little escapism fun and guessed that Kllrs would be a suspenseful book with violence and murder. I was right.

John Hardin is a hard working, descent man with a past. He's coerced into helping a BATF agent find his brother, who is being held by the outlaw biker gang Satan's Ghosts. Motorcycles, airplanes, and a psychotic mastermind make Kllrs a fast-paced thriller.

Mr. Bowie has wonderful descriptions of riding motorcycles and flying Cessna airplanes that made me feel like I was right there. The story follows the fairly worn path of the thriller storyline, complete with evil mad genius, but the ending was a fun surprise.

This is Mr. Bowie's third book with John Hardin. While I hadn't read the first two books, I had no problem getting a feel for the characters. Reading this book was like befriending someone halfway through their life: you know something happened to them before you came along and if that history is important, they reveal it to you bit by bit. When the background information was parceled out, I didn't get bogged down with unnecessary detail. Instead, I got just enough information to move the story forward, and enough to make me curious about the other books.

I had a few nit picks that kept me from giving this book an extra quill: the characters had an annoying habit of referring to drinking water as staying hydrated; Kitty Birdsong was set up to do some amazing things in the book, but then nothing materialized; and one of the Native Americans characters bordered on the stereotypical sage who passes his wisdom to the white man and teaches him to run in the woods with moccasins.

However, what really bothered me was the info-dumping, stilted nature of the dialogue. Instead of being a smooth, easy way to deliver information, I was jarred out of the story because of how unnatural these people seemed when they spoke.

All in all, Kllrs by Phil Bowie is a good adventure for your morning commute or day at the beach. There is violence, but none of the descriptions are gruesome. You can have the vicarious thrill of flying a Cessna and still be home in time for dinner.

Reviewed by Cam Robbins
© May 2009