Book Details:
Book Title: The Cleansweep Counterstrike by Chuck Waldron
Series: A Matt Tremain Technothriller Book 2
Category: Adult Fiction, 312 pages
Genre: Thriller / dystopian
Publisher: Bublish Inc.
Release date: April 21, 2018
Tour dates: Aug 13 to Sept 21, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (Adult language)
Book Description:
In this sequel, Matt Tremain is back, facing an even deadlier threat. Deceit and intrigue lie hidden behind the collapse of Operation CleanSweep. It’s time for revenge.
Instrumental in exposing the evil behind Operation CleanSweep—a diabolical “cultural cleansing” plot masterminded by Toronto billionaire Charles Claussen—investigative blogger Tremain now faces the madman’s desire for vengeance. Claussen intends to settle the score personally by luring Matt into a deadly trap.
But the clock is ticking for Claussen, too. Fraternité des Aigles, The Brotherhood of Eagles—a shadowy group that secretly financed Claussen’s Operation CleanSweep—wants answers and their money back. Consumed with rage, Claussen risks everything to get to Matt before the Brotherhood gets to him. Tremain is once again partnering with a police detective, Carling. Knowing they are being lured into a possible trap, they decide to face their nemesis, Charles Claussen.
Across four continents, Claussen sets traps, pursues Tremain, and continues to execute his signature brand of global chaos. When his fiancé’s life is on the line, can Tremain stop Claussen’s madness and still avoid getting killed?
To read reviews, please visit Chuck Waldron’s page on iRead Book Tours.
My Review
Wow, this plot twist was definitely interesting! Just as Matt thought that Cleansweep was done for good, it turns out that Claussen managed to escape. Even though the military surrounded his buildings and arrested many people after the news report’s release, he managed to slip away. He still wants to get revenge on Matt for ruining his plans, so Matt has to track him down while simultaneously watching his back for any of Claussen’s attacks.
I have to say, the government in this novel is rather weak. They simply sort of thought “oh Claussen is dead that totally isn’t another person’s body” and left it at that. They never really assisted Matt and his friends as they tried to find Claussen, even though Claussen should have been an international enemy due to the horrible crimes he both committed and tried to commit. It was the incompetence of the government to actually go after Claussen that allowed him to go after Matt and his friends again. He should have been too afraid to show his identity to be able to plot to kill people.
Seeing the story from Claussen’s POV allows the readers to truly connect with this character, but I still felt that he was rather two-dimensional in some ways. Sure, he was evil and knew lots of ways to be evil. He was determined to get to Matt and the others, no matter how many other people he had to kill to get there. But, I really wanted the true reason why he started Cleansweep. We know that he wanted to rid society of “undesirables,” but why did he want to do so. Usually, that sort of hatred does not just stem out of nowhere. It has to come from a past event that made him decide to start eliminating people. This would have been the PERFECT opportunity to discuss why he became a villain, to make his character less morally black or white and more morally gray. Nevertheless, most of the time the story just told what Claussen was planning to do before he did it.
I loved how this story continued to include the stories of side characters. I grew to love several of these side characters and liked them more than some of the main characters. Even an 80-year-old man in a boat seemed to have more personality than Claussen. These characters truly made the story for me, and I appreciated every bit of story time that was spent discussing them.
Overall, I liked this book a lot more than the CleenSweep Conspiracy. It drew me in faster, maybe because I had a prior connection with the characters, and I was able to finish the entire novel in one sitting. There was a lot more suspense, and even though the POV changed in quite a few instances, I was still able to keep track of characters and keep track of what was going on in the story.
I would recommend this book to lovers of dystopian thrillers.
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Chuck Waldron is the author of four riveting mystery, thriller and suspense novels and more than fifty short stories. Inspired by his grandfather’s tales of the Ozark Mountains and local caves rumored to be havens for notorious gangsters, Waldron was destined to write about crime and the human condition. Those childhood legends ignited his imagination and filled his head with unforgettable characters, surprising plots and a keen interest in supernatural and historical subplots.With literary roots planted in the American Midwest and South, and enriched by many years living in the fertile cultural soil of metropolitan Ontario, Waldron now resides on Florida’s fabled Treasure Coast with his wife, Suzanne. While keeping an eye out for hurricanes, alligators, and the occasional Burmese python, visitors will find Waldron busy writing his next crime thriller.
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