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henrismum's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
#11 in series (I started reading this series on 4/6/22 and I have been committed to this series since 8/4/22.)
Will I read other installments?Probably Not Maybe Definitely
There is only one more in the series.
Comparison to others in series:Not as good About the same Better I hardly remember the last book. This was a solid story. Hard to read though because of the racism and how real it is today, maybe worse than when written in 1990.
The narrator was Keith Szarabajka. In other books, Mr. Szarabajka has done these cliche voices for gay men and clinging women. None of that in this reading.
Source: Hoopla
#11 in series (I started reading this series on 4/6/22 and I have been committed to this series since 8/4/22.)
Will I read other installments?
There is only one more in the series.
Comparison to others in series:
The narrator was Keith Szarabajka. In other books, Mr. Szarabajka has done these cliche voices for gay men and clinging women. None of that in this reading.
Source: Hoopla
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Antisemitism, Racism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Kidnapping
The book is not racist; it is about racism in California in the early 1990s.octothorpetopus's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
hahaseriousnow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
5.0
Dave has finally retired, but he is not happy. The death of his friend Max Romano has hit him hard and I think that's the real reason why Cecil asked him to take a look at this case, not for any real concern about the victim. Vaughn Thomas, shot at a paintball game in what has been determined to be an accident, was a horrid person. He was a profoundly anti-semit and racist person, whose biggest dream was to become a soldier of fortune so he could shoot black people. Cecil couldn't be really hurt for his death.
The case, of course, ends being a lot more than a simple accident and through lots of twist and turns and more murders, Dave will uncover plenty of awful things that will put him in grave danger... again!
The theme of ageing, of losing friends and leaving behind a bit of himself with each of those loses is more present than ever. But I liked the ending a lot.
Just one book left, argh!
The case, of course, ends being a lot more than a simple accident and through lots of twist and turns and more murders, Dave will uncover plenty of awful things that will put him in grave danger... again!
The theme of ageing, of losing friends and leaving behind a bit of himself with each of those loses is more present than ever. But I liked the ending a lot.
Just one book left, argh!
kaje_harper's review against another edition
5.0
This book finds Dave changing, as he's supposedly retired and out to pasture. His friends are older and he's losing them to both age and the increasing ravages of AIDS in the community. He's starting to wonder why he's still around.
Cecil knows that nothing will make Dave feel more like himself than an investigation, and while he hates seeing Dave in danger, he still proposes that Dave check out the death of a co-worker. The case leads Dave into white-supremacist territory, and pits him against a bunch of suspects who are dangerous in different ways and for different reasons. There's a bit of fatality about Dave here that made me hold my breath at the risks he took (and sometimes want to shake sense into him) but I enjoyed both the mystery and the themes of aging and change.
Cecil knows that nothing will make Dave feel more like himself than an investigation, and while he hates seeing Dave in danger, he still proposes that Dave check out the death of a co-worker. The case leads Dave into white-supremacist territory, and pits him against a bunch of suspects who are dangerous in different ways and for different reasons. There's a bit of fatality about Dave here that made me hold my breath at the risks he took (and sometimes want to shake sense into him) but I enjoyed both the mystery and the themes of aging and change.
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