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mbpartlow's review against another edition
4.0
Good writing, good plotting, really kept my attention. The two PIs, though, not quite relatable enough for me.
tduchscher's review against another edition
5.0
Love this book! It keeps you guessing, you fall in love with the characters and it even has a little but of humor! Definitely a great start to a great series!
littletaiko's review against another edition
4.0
This was an enjoyable old-fashioned PI story involving two retried police officers, Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard who are now the owners of a fairly new investigation agency. Nice witty banter and plenty of back stories that slowly come out throughout the book that give you a better idea of who they are. They are hired by an older man to prove that his son didn't commit suicide but was in fact murdered and to find out what happened to his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Despite misgivings, they take the case and soon find themselves crossing paths with the Russian mob as well as a powerful real estate developer in Cleveland. I will definitely look for more books in this series or by this author.
pkadams's review against another edition
3.0
This book grabbed me from the first page. Reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, the pacing and clipped dialogue from the start made it easy reading. The opening paragraph is arresting and just plain fabulous:
"The last time John Weston saw his son alive, it was a frigid afternoon in the first week of March, and John's granddaughter was building a snowman as the two men stood int eh driveway and talked. Before he left, John gave his son a fatherly pat on the shoulder and promised to see him again soon. he saw him soon--stretched out in a morgue less than forty-eight hours later, dead of a small-caliber gunshot wound to the head. John was saved the horror of viewing his granddaughter in a similar state, but the reason for that was a hollow consolation: Five-year-old Betsy Weston and her mother were missing."
An impressive opening for any debut, especially a 20 year old. His age only impacted the writing once or twice. My favorite was when he had a forty-year-old character call a 20 something "son."
"The last time John Weston saw his son alive, it was a frigid afternoon in the first week of March, and John's granddaughter was building a snowman as the two men stood int eh driveway and talked. Before he left, John gave his son a fatherly pat on the shoulder and promised to see him again soon. he saw him soon--stretched out in a morgue less than forty-eight hours later, dead of a small-caliber gunshot wound to the head. John was saved the horror of viewing his granddaughter in a similar state, but the reason for that was a hollow consolation: Five-year-old Betsy Weston and her mother were missing."
An impressive opening for any debut, especially a 20 year old. His age only impacted the writing once or twice. My favorite was when he had a forty-year-old character call a 20 something "son."
constantreader471's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed reading this library book. The author wrote it when he was only 20 years old. It won the PWA(Private Eye Writers) award for a debut novel. The book opens with Lincoln Perry, 1/2 of a private investigation company having a conversation with John Weston. John wants to hire them to find out what happened to his son, Wayne, dead from an apparent suicide. He was found dead in a wealthy Cleveland, Ohio suburb. His daughter in law and granddaughter have disappeared. He wants answers and gives Lincoln a two thousand dollar retainer, which his company needs badly as they are in debt. When they start to investigate, they find a much bigger and more dangerous case than they suspected. The Russian mob, the FBI and local police are involved. There is homage paid to Dashiell Hammett's "Maltese Falcon" in that one of the characters claims to be in love with Wayne Weston's widow. He is an ex partner to Wayne Weston in their Private eye company. He offers to help with the investigation. Shades of Sam Spade!! There are some twists and turns in the plot, but I did suspect who the hidden bad folks were.
Some quotes: "The silence was a heavy thing. The house seemed to hold a sense of a family;..."
"There was a VCR built into the television,..." 2004 book, already has an anachronism.
I read this book in 2 days, very hard to put down.
This book will count for Ohio in my US state challenge.
Some quotes: "The silence was a heavy thing. The house seemed to hold a sense of a family;..."
"There was a VCR built into the television,..." 2004 book, already has an anachronism.
I read this book in 2 days, very hard to put down.
This book will count for Ohio in my US state challenge.
erinnejc's review against another edition
3.0
A promising start to the series, easy to read with engaging characters.
pkadams's review against another edition
3.0
This book grabbed me from the first page. Reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, the pacing and clipped dialogue from the start made it easy reading. The opening paragraph is arresting and just plain fabulous:
"The last time John Weston saw his son alive, it was a frigid afternoon in the first week of March, and John's granddaughter was building a snowman as the two men stood int eh driveway and talked. Before he left, John gave his son a fatherly pat on the shoulder and promised to see him again soon. he saw him soon--stretched out in a morgue less than forty-eight hours later, dead of a small-caliber gunshot wound to the head. John was saved the horror of viewing his granddaughter in a similar state, but the reason for that was a hollow consolation: Five-year-old Betsy Weston and her mother were missing."
An impressive opening for any debut, especially a 20 year old. His age only impacted the writing once or twice. My favorite was when he had a forty-year-old character call a 20 something "son."
"The last time John Weston saw his son alive, it was a frigid afternoon in the first week of March, and John's granddaughter was building a snowman as the two men stood int eh driveway and talked. Before he left, John gave his son a fatherly pat on the shoulder and promised to see him again soon. he saw him soon--stretched out in a morgue less than forty-eight hours later, dead of a small-caliber gunshot wound to the head. John was saved the horror of viewing his granddaughter in a similar state, but the reason for that was a hollow consolation: Five-year-old Betsy Weston and her mother were missing."
An impressive opening for any debut, especially a 20 year old. His age only impacted the writing once or twice. My favorite was when he had a forty-year-old character call a 20 something "son."
git_r_read's review against another edition
5.0
I have read a few reviews here and there on this series and this author. I am glad I followed my instincts and bought this thriller and read it pretty much immediately upon its arrival. I had an agenda as I have been neglecting my thriller and suspense books on Mt Git'r'Read in favor of the cozies, UF, and other mysteries. That's not a bad thing, all the books have been pretty sweeeeet....but my dad is coming out in August and we trade thrillers and suspense between the three of us (Seester, Dad and moi) and I have been lax in the trading on my part.
SO...I read this, what turned out to be, superb thriller by this new-to-me author, Michael Koryta.
This book had me squinching my toes up and have some wildass dreams (it was my bedside book) of Russians chasing me in the pool and off of balconies. At least, in the dream, I had a bigass gun.
Lincoln Perry is a flawed character with an intriguing past of disgrace and looking to redeem himself, sort of. He and his partner, Joe, are good at what they do as private investigators. They are hired by the father of a presumed suicide victim. The father wants to clear his son's name and he thinks his son was murdered instead of having committed suicide. There is more to the case than meets the eye and all hell breaks loose.
Anything else will be spoiler city, so I will leave you with this...if you like a tightly honed, superbly written thriller that Lee Child called, "A terrific,first-class debut full of suspense, tension, tricks, and charm." Then this book is for you!
Five terrific, first-class beans.....
SO...I read this, what turned out to be, superb thriller by this new-to-me author, Michael Koryta.
This book had me squinching my toes up and have some wildass dreams (it was my bedside book) of Russians chasing me in the pool and off of balconies. At least, in the dream, I had a bigass gun.
Lincoln Perry is a flawed character with an intriguing past of disgrace and looking to redeem himself, sort of. He and his partner, Joe, are good at what they do as private investigators. They are hired by the father of a presumed suicide victim. The father wants to clear his son's name and he thinks his son was murdered instead of having committed suicide. There is more to the case than meets the eye and all hell breaks loose.
Anything else will be spoiler city, so I will leave you with this...if you like a tightly honed, superbly written thriller that Lee Child called, "A terrific,first-class debut full of suspense, tension, tricks, and charm." Then this book is for you!
Five terrific, first-class beans.....
kellymc03's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure if was not in the mood for this kind of book- but I wasn't drawn in as I should have been.
bookhawk's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good book especially for a first effort reportedly written while in college. Having read a later book by this author, it was especially interesting to see how his writing changed. This was a high three star book for me and good enough that I want to read more of his books including with this main character.