Target Of Opportunity is one of those books that I would have stopped reading half-way through if it weren't for the fact that I really wanted to know what the "big reveal" was.  In other words, the story was interesting enough that I didn't want to leave without knowing how it would all end.  But getting there was pretty much torture.

The book alternates between two stories.  In 1944, the French Resistance is underway and a young recruit is on his way to becoming a true war hero.  Yes, Martin Spurling is the perfect soldier, and all eyes are on him and his career.

Now it's 1988 and a California cop named Gilman and his brother-in-law decide to stop in a convenience store.  A masked man enters and by the time he leaves, the brother-in-law is dead, and Gilman is wounded.  Worse, the police bumble the case and the shooter walks free.  Fueled by anger and grief, Gilman's sister-in-law takes off on her own mission to track down the shooter, and Gilman takes off after her.  But it soon becomes clear that the shooting was no random act.  It seems the shooting was a result of events that took place back in the war.  And Martin Spurling is right in the middle of it.

Figuring out what happened all those years ago, and why those events triggered a murder 40 years later is the ‘fun' of this book.  Sadly, it's really the only part of the book that's enjoyable.

First of all, the pacing is unbearable.  Especially the parts of the story that take place in the 40's.  So many pages of useless dialogue and descriptions, with very little actually happening.  In fact, that part of the book serves as little more than to introduce us to Spurling and his comrades.  As far as figuring out what happened back then, the reader has to wait a very long time until those pieces are placed in the puzzle.  It's funny, really, how long and drawn out this book felt, considering its relatively short length of under 320 pages. 

The parts that take place in the 80's move along at a much faster clip, but there are still plenty of dull sections.  The author spends a lot of time having Gilman ruminate about his wife, and in not such glowing terms.  As she really is not a meaningful part of the story, this whole subplot is completely unnecessary.  There's also a lot of time spent dealing with Gilman's disability from the shooting.  While his ailment was an interesting one, I didn't have to be reminded about it on every other page.

So I found the book dull and difficult to get into, yet I persevered, waiting to put all the clues together.  Was it worth it?  Somewhat.  The real story, once it finally comes out, is actually pretty  interesting, and makes one think.  In that sense, I'm glad I finished the book.  I might even try other Max Byrd books, but as it took a lot of effort to get through this one, I definitely wouldn't recommend Target Of Opportunity.

Recommended: No