The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Resistance

by Vin Suprynowicz

Book Overview

"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis. I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976251604
• ISBN13: 9780976251606
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Mountain Media
• Length: 703 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A thrilling, rapidly paced, 703-page action/adventure novel

In The Black Arrow: A Tale Of The Resistance, author Vin Suprynowicz draws upon his skill and expertise as a syndicated newspaper columnist to write a provocative novel set in the near future of 2031 where America is ruled under the authority of a Patriot-Poindexter police state. This is a time of ID checks, invasive body searches, stacked juries, kangaroo courts, a corrupt political class, and a gray-suited police cadre known as the Homeland Security Special Forces. It is against this background that wealthy record company executive Andrew Fletcher decides to resist the all powerful police state by becoming a masked vigilante known as the "Black Arrow". The result is a thrilling, rapidly paced, 703-page action/adventure novel that also incorporates thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary on the power of the state run amuck, an unusual love story, and how a movement of the people can take back their liberties when pressed to far by those above them. Highly recommended reading -- especially for the libertarian inclined!

A Real Hero in Literature -- Bravo!

Fabulous! Much more than just a politically-informed novel, The Black Arrow is a triumph of 21st Century story-telling. I read very few novels, but once I started The Black Arrow, I was hooked. There's action, there's whimsy, there's romance, and there's a sense of moral urgency. The moral urgency -- the sense that terrible wrongs must be righted -- drove me relentlessly to see how the heroes and villains would play out their destinies. Vin Suprynowicz is a journalist and columnist. His style tends to be concrete and clear, so his first novel tells a story that flows effortlessly and never baffles the reader. The Black Arrow could easily be adapted into a screenplay for a fast-paced movie. Vin also has succeeded in getting inside the heads of the main characters -- even the villains -- in ways that give a three-dimensional perspective to the whole story. It's not just "deep and thoughtful good guy vs. cardboard bad guys." You really do come to understand what motivates the players. In addition to all of the other great characteristics of the book (as described by other reviewers), the inner views into the hearts and minds of the actors really help make the book as captivating as it is. If you like thrillers, if you like novels that weave ideas with action, then you'll very much enjoy The Black Arrow. I loved every moment of it! (Suitable for readers over age 18. Buy it, open it, and hang on!)

Another Win for Vin!

The Black Arrow is what every libertarian dreams of -- a story that communicates the ideals of freedom clearly, without being "preachy" or condesending, and an excellent read in its own right. The plot moves and engages you. The climatic end battle grabs you and won't let go. The characters are surprisingly rich given the number of them and the amount of action. Vin gives you enough details, but keeps it moving forward. Even in the darkest hour, there is a note of hopefulness. The internal dialogue of the Arrow being willing to fight, but not really relishing it adds a rich element. The one negative point is that the book is 700 pages long. Vin, what were you thinking? Way too short. I want more! I've enjoyed Vin's non-fiction, "Send in the Waco Killers" and "The Ballad of Carl Draga," but this is a fiction-lover's dream. Now I have something else to read besides "Atlas Shrugged". I hope the next novel comes out VERY soon.

Finally a libertarian hero

Robin Hood has been coopted to be a hero of wealth redistribution, even though he robbed from the tax collectors and gave to the tax payers. William Tell is largely unremembered except as an excellent archer. Batman and The Green Hornet are in many ways servants to the state, only going after the private criminals. The only hero one can compare The Black Arrow to is Zorro. The first thing an observant reader will notice is that all examples of government abuse in this book are taken from real life, such as the case of Don Scott of Malibu. They are only slightly enlarged, to make things bad enough to inspire resistance and revolt. Fast paced and easy to read, it seems shorter than it's 700 pages, but it is not light or lacking in detail for the enjoyment of the reader. The hero is a paragon, more than human. He is a young, handsome, wealthy, ex-Rock star at the peak of physical fitness. There is a fault with this book, but it is a fault common to most libertarian literature, in that the common criminal is missing. Some might object that the government is too strict to enable them to operate, but that is not an objection a libertarian can sustain. Others might object that they are all in government employ where it is safer for them to violate the rights of others. As sustainable as that argument is, there are always independent operators for the Zorros of the world to fight as there is never a shortage of people who want to violate the rights of others. Be that as it may, this is a great read.

What if Ayn Rand had written action novels?

Take ATLAS SHRUGGED, then substitute the 60-page John Galt speech with digestible "sound bites," add a dash of rock 'n roll, plenty of sex, scores of commando raids, fierce samurai action, and lots of resistance strategy, and you've got THE BLACK ARROW. At 700 pages, it's a hefty book (not quite the Randian monster, though), but it never drags. It's a quick read -- and one I'm sure I'll return to several more times.