Reviews

Crow's Landing by Brad Smith

mountie9's review

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4.0

The Good Stuff

Beginning sucks you in (and with a minor dry spot in the middle) keeps you totally engrossed and not wanting to put down
Lots of twists and turns and edge of your seat moments
I love Virgil Cain he is such a fascinating character, I love getting to know him bit by bit through Smith's stories
Unique, yet realistic, secondary characters -- all quirky and colourful
Author is Canadian and mentions some Canadian settings (not to mention a fabulous storyteller)
Great story for the beach or cottage
Plenty of trademark Smith wit -- the man makes me laugh out loud with some of his dialogue
Really enjoyed Dusty as a character, she was kick ass, funny and just really likeable and real
The Not So Good Stuff

Drags a wee bit in the middle
Its kinda silly, but the cover again doesn't really match the story - I felt the same with Red Means Run -- but I'm a cover slut so please ignore this since its only an ARC copy -- just saw the cover for the final book and its much better! (Cover pictured above is the ARC one)
Favorite Quotes/Passages

"Nobody had a ready opinion as to what exactly the thing was, except for Mudcat, who was an expert on nearly everything, although his expertise was somewhat tempered by the fact that he was basically an imbecile."

"I'd have an easier time doing that if it was true," Virgil said. "I never threatened Brownie. I did threaten Mudcat here. I told him I was going to kick the shit out of him if he didn't stop lying. Apparently he didn't listen to me because here he is lying again. And this time he's lying to the cops. Hey-- why don't you guys kick the shit out of him."

"Virgil started to tell him the hay mow story but he stopped. Kids get lied to enough in this world."

Who Should/Shouldn't Read

Fans of Elmor Leonard and Dennis Lehane - this one is for you (Also read Red Means Run)
If you enjoyed Red Means Run -- you will also love getting to know Virgil a little more
Just looking for a good mystery/suspense, this will definitely be your cup of tea
4.25 Dewey's

I received this from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an

etienne02's review

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4.0

First of all, thank to Goodreads for giving me the chance to win this book!
This is a good book that worth reading! The story and the character are interesting! Sometime the story remind me of the movie Training Day, with the drug trafficing and the bad cop. It's definitly worth the time it take to read so don't hesitate to give it a try!

the_original_shelf_monkey's review

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4.0

Crow's Land­ing, the sec­ond Vir­gil Cain mys­tery after Red Run, is rife with lowlifes, tough broads, sleazy cops, crazy Rus­sians, drug deals, shoot-outs, and one hard-working pro­tag­o­nist try­ing to keep it all straight and get his boat back. Vir­gil is a arche­typal pulp hero, gruff enough to be taken seri­ously as mus­cle and smart enough to know when the grift is on. Find­ing him­self unwill­ingly linked to a miss­ing drug ship­ment, Cain has no choice (by his reck­on­ing, any­way) but to play one side against the other. It’s a clas­sic sce­nario, but hey, Smith works it gang­busters. Crow’s Land­ing is a gritty yet smooth Hud­son River breeze, a great way to spend some qual­ity time with per­sons you’d be unlikely to sit next to on the bus.

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