Book review: The Forsaken by Matt Rogers

I first heard of The Forsaken by Matt Rogers at BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival late last year when Rogers spoke on a panel. He’s not exactly a debut author as he’s had a successful self-published career before getting picked up by Simon and Schuster. I LOVE Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series and I believe Rogers gives him a shout-out or hat-tip here by referencing his creation – the black ops government program using orphaned children. And Rogers’s lead Logan Booth is reminiscent of Orphan X (Evan Smoak) himself. There’s the brawn and fancy weaponry but also cunning street smarts.

For ten years, Logan Booth served as a contract killer for the CIA – he just never knew it. In the twilight of his career, Logan learns he has been a vessel for furthering government interests, not a rogue hitman for a band of vigilantes. The revelation destroys him and, adrift in forced retirement, he spirals into a pit of self-loathing.

But when Jorge Romero – an investigative reporter and Logan’s oldest friend – is brutally and inexplicably murdered, Logan allows his fury to deliver him from despair.

With an ally in Alice Mason, a homeless witness with a target on her back, Logan goes to war. Against whom, he isn’t sure, but he knows powerful forces are at work behind the scenes. After all, Jorge was set to publish an op-ed on drug deaths and political inaction that would make an enemy of the mayor of New York.

Now, to deliver justice, Logan and Alice must confront their demons and survive a savage battle that could change their lives forever.

When we first meet Logan he’s been ‘unemployed’ for eight months, drinking heavily and has secreted some pills he’s contemplating taking to send him into oblivion forever. It’s a call from his best (and only) friend that has him pause the seemingly inevitable and agree to meet Jorge, who tells him about a story he’s investigating involving the Mayor and a heap of prominent heavyhitters.

At the same time we meet Alice—former MIT graduate whose life went off the rails when she got addicted to crack—now homeless and dicing with death-via-overdose every day. The pair meet inadvertently and when Alice shares information about a ‘hit’ she overheard it means her life is at risk as well.

Alice and Logan are our main narrators so we know how broken both are. They form an alliance of sorts, trying to keep each other sober (or at least functional) and alive. Their character development is impressive as they are both complex, deeply flawed, but very likeable leads. They also feel very real.

We learn Logan’s former handler manipulated him, but when that same handler re-appears here offering a lifeline, Logan has to decide whether he wants revenge on his past employers or vengeance on behalf of his only friend Jorge.

I’m not a huge fan of ‘action’ scenes and, like in the Orphan X series, there are a lot here and Rogers shares them effortlessly, indicating he knows his stuff or has done his research.

This is a well-written thriller and very nearly a 4.5 star read for me though I confess I’m not really a fan of books featuring white collar or organised crime (ie. those motivated by money rather than madness). I had an early copy of this book so there may have been more revisions but I did notice that some of the segues or movement between scenes sometimes felt a little obvious. (Or noticeable at least.)

That aside, I loved this book and was holding my breath as we neared the end, hoping to have the opportunity to meet Logan and Alice again.

The Forsaken by Matt Rogers was published in Australia by Simon & Schuster.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.