Kinney’s Quarry by Verlin Darrow

Kinney (no first name until very late in the book) and Reed are long-time partners having served together for a shadowy 3-letter agency that spends not a dime on marketing. Their job is to do the heavy lifting that the government wants no one to know about. Usually, those black op renditions that are carried out with extreme prejudice, if you catch my drift. In the black-ops community, Kinney was a legend especially when it came to hand-to-hand combat. His martial arts skills were of Bruce Lee quality and lethality.

That is, until an assignment in Cambodia. Kinney was severely wounded and during a surgery, he had a near-death experience. His spirit was hovering about the operating table looking in two directions: his body below him and the bright white light above him. A voice from the light suggested he needed to change his ways to return to his life. Otherwise . . . He took the advice and upon returning, he told Barber (his boss) that he would no longer be involved with any killing. Thus, he and Reed ended up getting patty-cake assignments.

Kinney and Reed are avid golfers in their down time. One weekday, they get paired with these two middle aged guys for a foursome. The early holes were spent getting to know each other until one of the guys mentions a topic they had no business knowing about.

 

Turns out the pairing wasn’t random. These guys want to hire Kinney and Reed for a freelance assignment. Kill some South American General who is effectively ruling his small country.

 

These guys hadn’t done their homework in full as it turns out Kinney knows the general. But he wants to get paid so he and Reed work out a plan to fake an assassination (remember, Kinney is done with killing) when the target is in NJ and get the general back to his home safely and quietly.

 

But there is more to the plot than just the general’s death. A series of steps in a far larger conspiracy begins to evolve involving greed (of course), political upheaval and betrayal (in the US), oil, mineral rights, the FBI, and their unnamed employer. Not to mention that to unravel this conspiracy, Kinney’s rule on no killing will be severely tested.

 

Sounds a bit like a routine thriller, but you’d be wrong, grasshopper. What separates this book from the masses is that the author presents Kinney and Reed to be less Bond or Reacher and more like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They bicker constantly and pick at each other non-stop making mock of most any plans they cook up and how such plans get executed. Many of their exchanges are laugh out loud funny.

 

In brief, these two are a hoot. Their constant picking at each other, like an old married couple, keeps the numerous twists of the conspiracy unfolding in a muy entertaining manner. When scanning through the author’s past books, it looks like his previous books (n=5; including 2-3 award winners) are all standalones. It’d be interesting if the author would venture into a series featuring Kinney and Reed. I’d be on that in a heartbeat because the story line and the characters were so dang entertaining. This was a very good outing for Darrow. If I gave out stars, this would get five of 'em.

 

In case you were wondering, where we find the books to read/review. I generally resort to various methods:

1. I browse the shelves at Barnes/Noble for interesting titles, take a photo of the cover, check with the local county library to see if they have the book and check it out. If I’m really interested, I’ve been known to request the book using the inter-library loan service.

2. A publishing rep suggested I join NetGalley, a service for reviewers to access new books being prepared for publication. I joined and happily receive an electronic ARC (advance reviewer copy) to read on my Kindle. Reviewers are obligated to submit their honest review to NetGalley (that eventually gets back to the book’s publisher). NetGalley is my primary source for books.

3.  West Coast Don (and family) has a family Kindle account that he lets me access. Occasionally I find a title on their Kindle queue. How they populate the Kindle Library is beyond me.

4. Having reviewed numerous titles for a few publishers, I’ll occasionally get a new book sent directly to me to review (e.g., Oceanview Publishing, Emily Bestler Books, Atria Books, Stark House Press (an under the radar publisher you should check into)).

5. I’ve gotten to know a couple authors over time, and they’ve been very kind in requesting their publisher send me their latest (Charlie Stella in particular). I think the author sent this directly to WCD and he added it to his Kindle. I shamelessly snatched it.

 

As you can tell, when it comes to books, I'm a roaring cheapskate.

 

Per the Wild Rose Press website, Kinney's Quarry was released April 14, 2025.

 

ECD