Look, people keep telling me I need to read more "literary" fiction. My wife Linda tried to get me into some award-winning drama about a dysfunctional family in the Hamptons last week. I made it twenty minutes before switching back to something with a body count. I don't listen to audiobooks to analyze the human condition over tea; I listen to keep my blood pressure up on I-35 while driving between client sites.
So when I picked up Eye for an Eye, I wasn't looking for poetry. I was looking for a downrange operation gone wrong and a guy with the skills to fix it. Ben Coes delivered the payload.
When the Rules of Engagement Go Out the Window
Here's the situation: Dewey Andreas is ex-Delta, ex-Ranger. I've worked with operators like this—guys who are quiet until they aren't, and then God help you. The setup here is standard geopolitical chess—Chinese intelligence, Mossad moles, big picture stuff. But then it gets personal. They go after Dewey's fiancée while they're on vacation in Argentina.
Big mistake.
I've seen this scenario play out in wargames (and unfortunately, in real life to a lesser degree). You don't corner a Tier 1 operator and take away the only thing keeping him civilized. Coes writes the tactical sequences with the kind of precision that tells me he actually did the research. He understands that violence isn't pretty choreography; it's fast, ugly, and loud. The revenge arc here is satisfying in that primal way. It's not about justice. It's about elimination. I found myself nodding along in the truck, muttering "get some" when Dewey finally went off the leash. Ranger (my German Shepherd) probably thought I was talking to him.
The Voice in the Headset (And the Grunting)
Let's talk about Peter Hermann. For the most part, the guy is solid. He's got that deep, gravelly tone that fits a thriller like a glove. He handles the pacing well, especially when the lead starts flying. I cranked it to 1.25x speed, and he held up without sounding like a chipmunk.
But—and this is a big "but"—we need to talk about the internal monologues.
There were moments where Dewey is thinking or struggling, and Hermann decides to add these... sound effects. Grunts. Groans. Heavy breathing. Look, I get it, the character is stressed or in pain. But listening to a guy groan in my ear while I'm stuck in Austin traffic was weird. It pulled me right out of the immersion. At one point, Ranger actually sat up and whined because he thought I was making the noises. Weird directorial choice. Just read the words, man. We get the emotion from the text; we don't need the foley work.
Who's This Mission For?
If you're the type who gets annoyed by military inaccuracies or weak protagonists who spend 10 chapters debating the morality of pulling the trigger, you're safe here. Coes knows his hardware, and he knows his tactics. Skip it if you need nuanced character studies or can't handle graphic violence—this isn't that book.
Mission Debrief
Despite the weird vocal effects, this is a solid mission. It's violent, it's fast, and it doesn't apologize for what it is. Vanishing Man has that same no-apologies energy—different setting, same commitment to keeping the action moving.
Is it high art? No. But it kept me awake through a three-hour surveillance stakeout last Tuesday, and that's worth the credit in my book. Just maybe keep the volume down during the grunting parts if you've got passengers.
