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canada_matt's review
3.0
A decent debut novel in this series by Black, but not as stellar as I might have expected. Perhaps the hype of his co-authoring a future book in the series with Julie Hyzy placed the idea that this author would be as 'knock your socks off', but the book still kept pace and had its own humour and intrigue. Any reader wanting a lighter paced private investigator/mystery novel should consider this one for a beach day or long-haul flight, but do not expect the likes of Meltzer, Baldacci, or Connelly. The story centres around a missing Salvadoran man and that search expands as the story unfolds, leaving our P.I. to overstep his area of expertise and try to crack the case wide open for the police. Toss in some romance and I've tied it all up in a nice bow.
Black uses his time as a cop in Chicago to paint a good picture of the city, the lay of the land, and the people. Best to use what you know and extrapolate from there, I feel. The book seems real and well thought out, even if it does not have the gusto some may want in this genre. I expect the books to get progressively better, for when he crosses paths with journalistic investigator Alex St. James (see Julie Hyzy series), it should truly be a reader's treat, if both authors are on their game.
Kudos Mr. Black. Keep it up!
Black uses his time as a cop in Chicago to paint a good picture of the city, the lay of the land, and the people. Best to use what you know and extrapolate from there, I feel. The book seems real and well thought out, even if it does not have the gusto some may want in this genre. I expect the books to get progressively better, for when he crosses paths with journalistic investigator Alex St. James (see Julie Hyzy series), it should truly be a reader's treat, if both authors are on their game.
Kudos Mr. Black. Keep it up!
imzadirose's review
1.0
Another contender for worst book of the year. The characters were awful, and the mystery would have been ok, but most of the book wasn't about it, it was about everything else. It's say it was 30% (if that) about the mystery, 30% about the bitch of a woman he got involved with, 20% about his car situation and 20% about the boxing stuff. Maria was a bitch, the MC must not think high of himself to deal with that shit. It was just a HORRIBLE book, so boring, and really really unlikable characters, not a one was good. Even the characters talked about how the MC uses other characters. UGH!
The things we deal with for a challenge, or two.
The things we deal with for a challenge, or two.
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