Book Review: THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER by Jace Killan

Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher, and now, Jackie Serrano

Apparently I’ve hit that age as a reader where I enjoy technical thrillers based on financial crimes; earlier this year I picked up THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, which was the first published Jack Ryan novel by Tom Clancy, and last year Amazon’s Jack Reacher series reminded me of reading THE KILLING FLOOR.

Were it not for those two mega-franchises and their overlapping similarities (Military Bro with exceptional intelligence solves crimes by examining data everyone else overlooks) I might not have appreciated THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER as much, but even so, it’s a strong novel on its own. More importantly, it bucks the tropes of its genre with an unconventional—but endearing—protagonist.

The Story

Joaquin Serrano is a recovering meth addict. In his teens he discovered his dad was having an affair, and that drove him to do drugs, which resulted in him killing someone he loved in a car accident. He went to prison where he made contacts with the Cartel, and also learned stock trading from a white-collar inmate.

Once he got out, Joaquin (called Jackie by his closest friends) found out that his dad wasn’t really having an affair, but that he was a CIA operative, and the woman he was “involved” with was actually his handler. He was doing deep cover ops on the Cartel, who had him whacked.

All of this is emotionally devastating for Joaquin, who leverages his Cartel relations to become an information with the FBI, picking up where his father left off so he can help take down the Cartel. That gets you in the meat-and-potatoes of the story, and that’s where the tension really builds.

Killan’s knowledge and research of the financial and governmental components of the story really shine through. There are times when he explains things to the reader by having two characters explain it to each other (especially the financial stuff) and it comes off natural, and not heavy-handed. That helped me stay immersed in the larger story.

The Characters

Jackie is a compelling protagonist in many ways because of overcoming his drug addiction. Killan put a fair amount of research into 12-step programs and kept Jackie’s addiction in the forefront of the story; at no point does he sweep it under the rug and say “Okay I used to do meth but I’m fine now.” He’s still dealing with the effects of his past decisions and he has to balance all that with the nature of a tense new job where his cover can easily be blown.

I’m a sucker for a good redemption story. This has the added element of the main character who well and truly digs his own grave, and has nobody to blame but himself for his errors. He throws himself whole-hog into the repentance process and it’s a struggle the whole way, but he sees it through. Powerful stuff.

The World

Ours, especially during the 2010s. Certain entities are obviously based on real ones, like the “New Islamic State” more or less being ISIS, and the vague “Cartel” being a stand-in for whichever you prefer.

The Politics

Current events yes, politics no.

Content

Killan uses a delicate hand with the harder elements of the story, like prison life and cartel behavior. It’s there, but he’s not walking you through it word-by-word to emphasize the grotesquery. Language never goes above an S-bomb, there’s gun violence, and implications of sexual situations. It’s a PG-13 thriller.

Who’s it for?

Fans of Clancy and Child who want something just a little bit lighter than those works, both in terms of word count and content.

Why read it?

It’s very thought-provoking, especially when Killan analyzes real-world events like stock crashes, international conflicts, industrial disasters, and more, exploring how they could be connected by deep, behind-the-scenes crimes in the financial sector. In a strange way it makes our twisted world make just a little more sense.