Title: Ring of Steel
Author: Keith Salmon
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 1950256901
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Pages: 202
Reviewed by: Arthur Thares
Hollywood Book Reviews
As soon as you start reading Ring of Steel, you are entered into a world that feels strange because it seems so foreign, but you know in your heart, it is rooted in reality. It is a story wrought with backstabbing, espionage, terror, and action. This story is threaded through all of the chaos to create a narrative that is a work of fiction, yet rooted real close in reality.
It may sound absurd, but while reading this book, it gave me visions of a story told by the likes of Scorsese or Tarantino. While this is a crime novel with a considerable police story, a good portion of the book takes place in the underground. There are two separate stories of money laundering and international terrorism that weave in and out of each other to create a compelling story with rich characters – both literally and metaphorically.
It seems as if some characters are added to create diversion or to mislead the reader. There were times that I found myself pulled out of the story to get my characters straight and remember which side of the law they were on. It’s not a serious knock on the book, but it was a minor inconvenience to keep all of the minor side characters straight. There is also a point in the novel where the entire narrative takes a sharp left when one of the characters makes a mistake he can’t take back. I wondered why the author left in this section, as in my opinion it could be removed and it would not affect the rest of the story.
What I sincerely admire about this novel is that it is written by an author with experience in the subject matter in which he is writing. When someone writes from a place of experience, it shows in the writing because there is subtle flow to the words that portrays confidence. Though not an author by trade, Keith Salmon’s book created a noteworthy read, and it makes me want to look into more of his works. It flows well, and the dialogue is fantastic.
Ring of Steel is an engrossing book about the high-level crimes that happen around us every day; major crimes with huge rippling effects that are never seen and rarely ever reported. It is a work of fiction, but its roots are in reality, which is a fact in and of its self that should make you interested in this book. With this work, Keith Salmon finds himself in the company of Authors like James Patterson, who can write a thrilling crime novel from start to finish. If you are a fan of the crime genre with an emphasis on the intellect versus action, you will have a great time with Ring of Steel.