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rick_k's review against another edition
4.0
The Pain Scale is somewhat less personal than A King of Infinite Space and A Cold and Broken Hallelujah which are the first and third books in the Long Beach Homicide series respectively. It loses a bit of the intimacy and unique empathy Tyler Dilts infused the other novels with, but this is still a very good book.
Detective Danny Beckett is back on the job after a lengthy leave due to the fallout from A King of Infinite Space. His descent into alcohol, medication and depression continues as he copes with physical and emotional pain (thus The Pain Scale). His focus on the job is the only thing that seems to keep him going. Second novels in a series are difficult to pull off. This time the murders under investigation involve powerful people and it seems everyone gets involved: FBI, congressmen, military, mafia, and more. It almost gets too big and the characters and their intersecting relationships start to blur, but Tyler Dilts keeps it just grounded enough to prevent this from turning into a "thriller".
I would have been worried about the escalation (and continued depiction of violent crimes against women) if I hadn't already read the next in the series which is his best yet. Smart, character driven, and compelling - if you enjoy detective novels, this is a series you should be reading.
Also check out my review of A King of Infinite Space [Long Beach Homicide #1] and A Cold and Broken Hallelujah [Long Beach Homicide #3] which made my Best of Realistic Fiction: 2014 list.
Detective Danny Beckett is back on the job after a lengthy leave due to the fallout from A King of Infinite Space. His descent into alcohol, medication and depression continues as he copes with physical and emotional pain (thus The Pain Scale). His focus on the job is the only thing that seems to keep him going. Second novels in a series are difficult to pull off. This time the murders under investigation involve powerful people and it seems everyone gets involved: FBI, congressmen, military, mafia, and more. It almost gets too big and the characters and their intersecting relationships start to blur, but Tyler Dilts keeps it just grounded enough to prevent this from turning into a "thriller".
I would have been worried about the escalation (and continued depiction of violent crimes against women) if I hadn't already read the next in the series which is his best yet. Smart, character driven, and compelling - if you enjoy detective novels, this is a series you should be reading.
Also check out my review of A King of Infinite Space [Long Beach Homicide #1] and A Cold and Broken Hallelujah [Long Beach Homicide #3] which made my Best of Realistic Fiction: 2014 list.
lisaeirene's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read and I liked the main characters.
kmcd2824's review against another edition
3.0
2nd book in this series and the crime scenes have been gory. Too much for me, but the rest of the book is fine and reads like a regular detective crime book. I like series because it's nice to have a character and background that is familiar. Even though this book directly followed characters and events of the first book "A King of Infinite Space", it started more like a standalone but it did jog my memory. Undecided whether I'll continue due to the lack of enthusiasm towards series.
donnek's review
4.0
There were really two different storylines going on in this book; one I loved and the other one I did not. The main storyline, the crime, was really good and well written - definitely a solid 4.5star rating for me and since GR doesn't do .5stars, I would have given it a 5star rating.
The second, underlying story, Beckett's painful physical recovery (from the injuries incurred in the last book) was overdone and got old, so much so that at around the 70% mark, I started skimming those passages of the story. On just that storyline alone, I would have rated the book 3stars but because I really enjoyed the other storyline, I settled on 4stars.
I still like the series and will definitely continue with it because I like the characters and Dilts is a good writer.
The second, underlying story, Beckett's painful physical recovery (from the injuries incurred in the last book) was overdone and got old, so much so that at around the 70% mark, I started skimming those passages of the story. On just that storyline alone, I would have rated the book 3stars but because I really enjoyed the other storyline, I settled on 4stars.
I still like the series and will definitely continue with it because I like the characters and Dilts is a good writer.
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