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A review by laterry75
The Broken Ones by Stephen M. Irwin
3.0
Suspension of disbelief is a tricky contract situation between author and reader. Irwin's "The Broken Ones" sets up a new standard of reality in the prologue -- on one remarkable Wednesday, the poles shifted and suddenly everyone was able to constantly see one ghost from their past. Other people couldn't see your ghosts, and you can't see theirs. Tragedy, mayhem, and economic collapse.
All this is fine.
From here, it becomes a nice, neo-noir murder mystery involving some of your standard tropes -- helpless young female victims, deep levels of conspiracy, police corruption, and dogged, relentless, incorruptible detective attempting to right wrongs in a world (IN A WORLD!) that seems perpetually grimy. The characters are interesting and plot moves along a good clip. However, the author then asks for another element of suspension of disbelief in bringing in an occult angle into the murders.
Unfortunately, the first request (poles/ghosts) is handled awkwardly -- there's no exploration of how/why this happened. The characters in the book all seem to be managing the transition with a sense of weary resignation. Therefore, when the second request (evil cult bringing things in from another dimension) is made, it feels a little like the author is just piling on to keep things interesting.
I can't NOT recommend this book, because the last 120 pages were spellbinding. I kept going because I demanded answers. I got some, but not nearly enough in my opinion. I would probably only recommend it in the same way the book wound up in my hands -- I would say, "I'm not sure how I feel about this book, but I trust your judgment. Whaddyathink?"
All this is fine.
From here, it becomes a nice, neo-noir murder mystery involving some of your standard tropes -- helpless young female victims, deep levels of conspiracy, police corruption, and dogged, relentless, incorruptible detective attempting to right wrongs in a world (IN A WORLD!) that seems perpetually grimy. The characters are interesting and plot moves along a good clip. However, the author then asks for another element of suspension of disbelief in bringing in an occult angle into the murders.
Unfortunately, the first request (poles/ghosts) is handled awkwardly -- there's no exploration of how/why this happened. The characters in the book all seem to be managing the transition with a sense of weary resignation. Therefore, when the second request (evil cult bringing things in from another dimension) is made, it feels a little like the author is just piling on to keep things interesting.
I can't NOT recommend this book, because the last 120 pages were spellbinding. I kept going because I demanded answers. I got some, but not nearly enough in my opinion. I would probably only recommend it in the same way the book wound up in my hands -- I would say, "I'm not sure how I feel about this book, but I trust your judgment. Whaddyathink?"