Judgment and Wrath

At the start of Hilton's uneven second thriller featuring ex–Special Forces warrior Joe Hunter and his PI partner, Jared "Rink" Rington (after Dead Men's Dust), a distraught father, Richard Dean, hires the two tough, capable men to extricate his beautiful 17-year-old daughter, Marianne, from the clutches of Miami playboy Bradley Jorgenson. Richard shows Joe and Rink a police photo of Marianne taken after Bradley beat her up at a party at his mansion one night. Complicating what should be a straightforward job is an extremely talented hit man, Jean-Paul St. Pierre (aka Dantalion), who's been hired by a mystery man to kill Marianne and Bradley. Joe effectively goes about his job, but readers may lose patience with the overly complicated plot, the explanations for which keep intruding on the more exciting scenes of mayhem. Still, those awaiting the new Jack Reacher or Doc Ford novel will find this a reasonable substitute. (Aug.)