BRUTUS NATION 3

A fiery onslaught and a devastating accident rock a nation in this third installment of Kyzer’s crime-thriller series.

Early on in this novel, Tommy Lorenz executes a very specific attack in downtown Athenia City. While masked, he uses a flamethrower to torch a local store, which ends in a fatality. Upon hearing of the incident, Tommy’s twin brother, Jimmy, a wildly popular livestreamer, rightly guesses that his sibling is responsible, but doesn’t know where he currently is or what his motivation was. Not long afterward, elsewhere in the Athenian Union, a serious road accident results in “raging fires and smoke-covered skies.” It turns out that there’s more to these incidents than there initially appears; indeed, there’s a good chance that other seemingly unrelated events—one region wants to build a pipeline; three prisoners make a daring escape; a degenerate gambler loses millions—are, in fact, connected. Jimmy just wants to find his brother, if he can, and get some answers. At first, Kyzer’s brisk novel feels like a string of disjointed subplots, but they’re each entertaining on their own; a standout is an interrogation scene featuring gruff but charming Hieronymus “Old Man” Kelski, whom authorities suspect of harboring the escaped convicts. Although this somber tale is rife with deception and betrayal, it’s also frequently tongue-in-cheek. For example, its fictional pop-culture nods (which sometimes include footnotes) are delightful, whether they’re referencing a decades-old TV show or a classic comedy duo. Moreover, Kyzer’s series entry offers a scathing take on commercialism, as when a newscaster recites a promotional ad immediately after a tragic story, or when names of organizations, drinks, or weapons are registered trademarks. Most of the characters and subplots tie together by the final act, but in dizzyingly fun and unpredictable ways.

A lively cast of shady characters headlines this energetic tale.