The Creed of Violence
By Boston Teran
Counterpoint Press
ISBN: 9781582435251
245 Pages
I love unusual and The Creed of Violence by Boston Teran is unusual for various reasons. One is that the two main characters are father and son; however, the father does not know that the younger man is his son until close to the end of the book. The author emphasizes the relationship over and over by often eliminating the use of their names, choosing instead to refer to them as “the father” or “the son.” For this reader, it forced me to look more closely at their dialogue and actions and to carefully examine the interrelationship shifts and changes. A truly unique experience that I thoroughly enjoyed!
Another unusual thing was that Teran wrote in a foreword statement that he would leave it to the reader’s judgment whether our present political and military situation parallels the world upon which his novel was built. Doing this, of course, also forces the reader to verify or deny those parallels. Even before I started to read, I was sure there would be!
Rawbone was born in Scabtown and raised in a brothel. He was not yet 10 when he killed his first man. His son considered him a common assassin.
His son thought he hated him because he had left he and his mother. Perhaps, though, he had grown stronger because of his father—because John Lourdes was a respected officer of the Bureau of Investigation. And he wanted to be the cause of his father’s death...
Now he had his chance. In his latest escapade Rawbone had killed all of the men who were driving a large truck—full of guns and ammunition. Rawbone had planned on selling the load to the highest bidder, checking in with his lawyer as to how that could be best accomplished. He sent him to Juarez to meet with “very private people.”
John Lourdes was already working in that area. So was his boss, Justice Knox, who was at the right place at the right time to capture Rawbone. In fact, his son was one of the agents who now had him under arrest. But then, Rawbone had something to trade...
It made John sick to think that his father could earn immunity. What was worse, because he was the only agent who was bilingual, John was going to have to travel with Rawbone as he “worked off” his end of the deal. They would travel across the border, where John would have no authority; Rawbone could escape or kill him and nobody could prevent it! The only hold over him would be that John would have Knox’s direct order to kill him if he posed any type of threat. Father and Son both had reason to protect each other—or to kill the other!
And they were heading deep into Mexican oil country--where representatives of American oil companies and governmental officials were meeting to increase bottom line profits--with oil, it’s always the bottom line...
Boston Teran’s The Creed of Violence is a tour into the deadly violence that erupts when power and money drive the actions of men, while others starve and barely make a living. With high tension between father and son while the action is sometimes slow-paced, it challenges readers to study the love/hate relationship as it evolves between the two men, as they fight to save their lives!
This tale will live with me--and maybe you--for a long time! Highly recommended!
G. A. Bixler
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