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A review by ld2
Ramen Assassin by Rhys Ford
3.0
I don’t know what to think about this book. There are parts I really like, parts I found silly and stupid, and parts that just underwhelmed me. Rhys Ford is a wonderful writer, and I enjoy her writing style, and this book was just as well written as her other work. The problem I had with this book was the strange plot – it was a mixture of over the top action and a nonsensical mystery – as well as some strange characterizations of supporting characters.
First, the plot: I’m all for suspending my disbelief and going along for the ride with a high-pace thriller plot, but that’s not what happened with this book. First, we are introduced to Kuro Jenkins, a special op agent (although it’s never clear what agency he worked for, although I’m assuming it’s based in the U.S.A.) during one of his covert missions that ends up blowing his cover. Apparently a blown cover means he’s no longer valuable and is kicked out of the agency, which confused me. I can see Kuro leaving the agency because he was ready for retirement, but just because you can’t do undercover ops doesn’t mean that such a specialized and well-trained agent isn’t valuable in another position. But I shrugged that off and continued with the book. However, throughout the book Kuro’s black op/special ops background keeps being brought up by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from their astonishment that he’s licensed to own everything up to tank (that was a paraphrase quote from one of the detectives) to how they’re suspicious they can’t find anything about him. It just felt so corny and because it felt corny, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief (because FYI, that’s now how any of this works in real life – a retired agent is a considered a civilian and they still won’t own a tank or any firepower that they might once have had access to when they were still working in that field – at least not legally). Then there was the mystery portion of the plot, which I had a hard time understanding what the motivation was for the need to murder Trey Bishop. I can understand murdering him to cover up another murder, but the other portion seemed super far-fetched, especially considering that situations like that would be fought in civil court.
Second, the supporting characters: The supporting characters all felt like they were pulled straight out of 80s and 90s Hollywood movies. The cops weren’t just bad – they were incompetent and unprofessional to the point of it being a reason for termination from the police force. I could MAYBE see this being believable for a small, dinky Sheriff’s office out in the remote boondocks, but not the LAPD, one of the biggest police forces in America, and one that is used to dealing with people from all over the world, plus celebrities, on a daily basis. The way the cops acted would not be tolerated by the LAPD (maybe in the 80s, but this book was recently published and it felt like it was supposed to be in the current time period). Plus, there are no Police Departments that would allow a detective to work on a case that centered on their family member as either the suspect or victim. I feel like that’s common knowledge, and that even a quick Google fact check would provide that answer. I don’t expect authors to have an in-depth knowledge of police departments, police procedures, or investigative work, but I do expect authors to have some common knowledge, and maybe even supplement it with a few Google checks (it’s not hard to search and read about the LAPD on the internet). Overall, the supporting characters all felt super sloppy and like stereotypical caricatures instead of interesting and dynamic secondary characters.
What I did like was the portrayal of the relationship between Kuro and Trey, and watching Trey grow in confidence and move forward in his life. I also enjoyed the sex scenes between the two main characters, and found their tenderness towards each other very touching. I also, as I first mentioned, really enjoy Rhys Ford’s writing style and humor. Plus, the description of ramen (real ramen, not that insta-stuff) was delicious and made me want to go eat ramen immediately.
Overall, this was a 2.5 star read for me, but I’ll still recommend it for anyone who enjoys Rhys Ford’s books and is looking for some action and mystery. If you don’t really care about caricatural depictions of characters and just want a thrill with a solid dose of love and protective Alpha male, then this book will serve you well.
First, the plot: I’m all for suspending my disbelief and going along for the ride with a high-pace thriller plot, but that’s not what happened with this book. First, we are introduced to Kuro Jenkins, a special op agent (although it’s never clear what agency he worked for, although I’m assuming it’s based in the U.S.A.) during one of his covert missions that ends up blowing his cover. Apparently a blown cover means he’s no longer valuable and is kicked out of the agency, which confused me. I can see Kuro leaving the agency because he was ready for retirement, but just because you can’t do undercover ops doesn’t mean that such a specialized and well-trained agent isn’t valuable in another position. But I shrugged that off and continued with the book. However, throughout the book Kuro’s black op/special ops background keeps being brought up by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from their astonishment that he’s licensed to own everything up to tank (that was a paraphrase quote from one of the detectives) to how they’re suspicious they can’t find anything about him. It just felt so corny and because it felt corny, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief (because FYI, that’s now how any of this works in real life – a retired agent is a considered a civilian and they still won’t own a tank or any firepower that they might once have had access to when they were still working in that field – at least not legally). Then there was the mystery portion of the plot, which I had a hard time understanding what the motivation was for the need to murder Trey Bishop. I can understand murdering him to cover up another murder, but the other portion seemed super far-fetched, especially considering that situations like that would be fought in civil court.
Second, the supporting characters: The supporting characters all felt like they were pulled straight out of 80s and 90s Hollywood movies. The cops weren’t just bad – they were incompetent and unprofessional to the point of it being a reason for termination from the police force. I could MAYBE see this being believable for a small, dinky Sheriff’s office out in the remote boondocks, but not the LAPD, one of the biggest police forces in America, and one that is used to dealing with people from all over the world, plus celebrities, on a daily basis. The way the cops acted would not be tolerated by the LAPD (maybe in the 80s, but this book was recently published and it felt like it was supposed to be in the current time period). Plus, there are no Police Departments that would allow a detective to work on a case that centered on their family member as either the suspect or victim. I feel like that’s common knowledge, and that even a quick Google fact check would provide that answer. I don’t expect authors to have an in-depth knowledge of police departments, police procedures, or investigative work, but I do expect authors to have some common knowledge, and maybe even supplement it with a few Google checks (it’s not hard to search and read about the LAPD on the internet). Overall, the supporting characters all felt super sloppy and like stereotypical caricatures instead of interesting and dynamic secondary characters.
What I did like was the portrayal of the relationship between Kuro and Trey, and watching Trey grow in confidence and move forward in his life. I also enjoyed the sex scenes between the two main characters, and found their tenderness towards each other very touching. I also, as I first mentioned, really enjoy Rhys Ford’s writing style and humor. Plus, the description of ramen (real ramen, not that insta-stuff) was delicious and made me want to go eat ramen immediately.
Overall, this was a 2.5 star read for me, but I’ll still recommend it for anyone who enjoys Rhys Ford’s books and is looking for some action and mystery. If you don’t really care about caricatural depictions of characters and just want a thrill with a solid dose of love and protective Alpha male, then this book will serve you well.