Ace investigative reporter and frequent AT contributor Jack Cashill and co-author Mike McMullen have published a novel,  The Hunt.  Although it's billed as "a political thriller," it's really more about just plain good guys versus bad guys, although these bad guys are Chechen jihadis, Mexican drug cartel henchmen, and homegrown America-hating radical anarchists.  The good guys are true-blue Americans (the term "true-blue" coming from the days before the media, in their little practical joke, turned the traditional designations of "red" and "blue" upside-down).

I don't read much fiction these days (that doesn't include what The New York Times, The Kansas City Star, and just about any Democrat campaign materials present as "facts").  But because this particular work of fiction was written by two friends of mine, I made the exception.

In the spirit of full disclosure, be advised that I'm well acquainted with both authors.  Jack Cashill's name should be familiar to most American Thinker; Mike McMullen, on the other hand, is a first-time author.  Although I know him as an avid outdoorsman, I had no idea of his knowledge of weaponry and combat, nor of his abilities as a wordsmith.

I think the last "adventure thriller" I read was another book that I clearly felt, while reading it, should be made into a movie.  That book was The Monkey Handlers by G. Gordon Liddy.  From the beginning of The Hunt, I saw similarities in the two books, not just in the way the rhythm engaged me, but in the way that both seemed to have been written by guys who know what they're talking about.

I might have actually enjoyed The Hunt even more if its premise had been left to be discovered, rather than being laid bare on the book's back cover.  But giving potential readers an idea of what to expect is hardly a spoiler.  There's plenty of suspense — and action! — left.

A father takes his two teenage sons elk hunting in Colorado, only to discover they are the ones being hunted.

Tony Acero, a Mexican-American veteran of four combat tours, has a problem on his hands. His undersized thirteen-year-old son Luke is floundering at his new Kansas prep school. To save the young teen from his downward spiral, and to cheer up older brother Matt, Tony proposes to take both sons on a confidence-building elk hunt in Colorado.

Meanwhile in Boston, rootless young brothers, Pel and Moom Adams, are plotting a Colorado expedition of their own. Radical anarchists, the brothers have contracted with a trio of hardened Chechen terrorists to carry out a plot that will shake America to the core. They plan to shoot the plane carrying the president out of the sky as it descends into Aspen for a G-8 Summit.

The two parties collide in a remote Colorado valley. The terrorists are determined that Tony and his sons will not leave the valley alive.

If you're like me, you'll reach a point in reading The Hunt (somewhere around three quarters of the way through) where it might be wise to cancel your appointments and hold your calls and just go ahead and finish the book.  Because, if you put it down, you're likely to find yourself distracted from whatever you're trying to get done instead, wondering what's going to happen to Tony and his sons.  And I don't think it's a spoiler to let you know now that the good guys prevail!

The Hunt by Jack Cashill and Mike McMullen is a trade (large format) paperback published by Permuted Press and is available from all the usual sources.

Stu Tarlowe has contributed over 150 pieces to American Thinker.  His personal pantheon of heroes and role models includes Barry Farber, Jean Shepherd, Long John Nebel, Aristide Bruant, Col. Jeff Cooper, Rabbi Meir Kahane, and G. Gordon Liddy.