Twin River II: Have Weapons Will Travel is the second installment of the Twin River series and is full of violence, suspense, and mystery. The story and plot interweave through many interesting, versatile characters and the mysterious interactions between the residents of Twin River in Polecat Hollow, Alexandria, Pennsylvania. The book starts off with how Wesley Palladin, the hired gun central in the plot, made his first kill at fourteen by the forceful persuasion of his father in the Tomoka. Years later, Palladin is hired by a young, fresh faced fourteen-year-old named Matt Henry to work at his father's bank. No one knows where the senior Henry has vanished to and Palladin has to solve the mystery of where Mr. Henry could be. Matt has been living with his best friend Connor and their family. Many girls have gone missing and no one seems to know what is happening. Twin bullies Cain and Abel are harassing and trying to kill a fellow resident, Wayne, because one of the twins got Wayne's sister pregnant.

Writer Michael Fields writes with chilling authority on the lives of the characters living in Twin River. A surreal violence permeates Twin River. There is an underlying threat throughout the whole book with sinister forces of an insane or crazy aura that permeates into the characters' lives. Why do Cain, Abel, and Matt hear voices and what do these voices tell them to do? This book is for a mature teenage crowd as it's full of violence and bloodshed. Many scenes are very fast paced. A chilling read for those who like the darker side to stories.

Twin River II: Have Weapons Will Travel is part of the Twin River saga by Michael Fields. Like its first installment, Twin River, this book had my attention right from chapter one. In August 1966, in Ormond Beach, Florida, fourteen-year-old Wesley Palladin and his father ran into some trouble while fishing too close to a rich man’s dock up the Tomoka River. Wesley received an altering life lesson that solidly established how he would live the rest of his life. No spoilers here but fellow readers who like a dark and gritty story will be captivated with this novel.

Fast forward to the '80s in Pennsylvania, where Matt Henry, a sophomore at Twin River High School, hopes to hire a now thirty-six-year-old Wesley Palladin for a security job. Wesley was continuing his father's legacy of contract killings for the mob. It became a turning point for Matt as he discovered his true identity through the accumulation of tumultuous events.

On the whole, a good read. The prose and the pace of the story are solid, like its predecessor. This saga continues to depict best friends Matt and Conner’s turbulent coming-of-age journey. It was also great revisiting the other characters from the first book, especially the sinister twin brothers, Cain and Abel. This YA novel has a good combination of crime and mystery elements – with a dash of drama thrown in. That said, there were quite a number of key characters (main and secondary) and, with the multifaceted plot, it took me some time to connect the dots.

Wesley Palladin is an extreme survivalist, trained by his father at an early age. His childhood could be described as darkly unconventional; learning the technique of murder and taking what he wants to survive in life. His expertise comes into play when teenagers start disappearing from Twin River High School. Friends Connor and Matt know something must be done to eliminate the dangers lurking in their small town. Warding off a bully or two is one thing, but murder and kidnapping add a much more dangerous aspect to living in Polecat Hollow. They seek the experience of trained assassin Wesley Palladin and in doing so commit their most serious crime: skipping school.

Author Michael Fields creates a disturbing image of small town life in a vivid use of descriptive passages ranging from child abuse to the obscene extravagance of wealth to the puppy mill trade to the exploitation of sexual misconduct. The further I read, the larger the geography of the setting grew. This novel implies the falseness lent to small town status. The size of a town does not reflect the extent of what happens under the cover of its obscurity. Twin River II: Have Weapons Will Travel is very graphic in scene and character descriptions. But, just at the moment I race to get past the tremendous gore of Fields' descriptions, I find myself flipping back to catch a particularly humorous film or literary reference of the time. Readers who grew up in the 1980s will appreciate the nostalgic undertones of the novel.