Hero Haters
By Ken MacQueen
The Wild Rose Press
Who hates a hero? In this debut thriller, somebody hates them enough to kidnap and kill them. And the one they hate the most is Jack Ockham, a journalist with a heroic past who sometimes researches potential recipients of the Sedgewick Sacrifice Medallion, a fictional American award for heroism. As more heroes go missing, it becomes apparent that each of them has a link to Ockham, who has recently moved home to Aberdeen in Washington State to edit his family’s weekly newspaper.
This is a first novel for Ken MacQueen, a long-time and award-winning Canadian journalist for Maclean’s magazine – and it’s a good one. There’s never a dull moment in the fast-moving story that includes themes of journalism and community news, the dark web, revenge, fake news, police corruption and more.
Ockham is a likeable, human character, as are his best friend Erik, a tech entrepreneur, his aunt Clara, a newspaper publisher, and his love interest, Tina, the town’s new doctor. Even though the setting is Washington, I caught at least one Canadian joke in Hero Haters, which is more of a thriller than a mystery. Readers know who did it early on, but there’s plenty of action as the why is revealed.
MacQueen’s writing is flawless, and his timing is skilled. Enjoy.
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