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A review by dutts_87
Kill Game: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery by Dean Wesley Smith
2.0
Not remotely thrilling
Ugh, where to start! Firstly, this is not a thriller, it’s a thinly veiled romance novella - and yet, the romance is so poorly developed. Writing a token “I could feel my feelings growing for him/her” at the end of EVERY CHAPTER, is not emotional character development. There was no effort to describe scenes or set pieces that showed the characters developing feelings.
Secondly, if this is a thriller, there was literally jeopardy involved. There is no risk to any of the characters at any point, and when something is uncovered that could be controversial, they back off it and then resolve it in the most pathetic way possible.
Thirdly, cops who are also high stakes poker players and have private jets and a life of luxury while still doing regular day cop work - bore me later! Such a typical case of deux ex machina - a plot device conveniently used to move the story along but made so little sense.
I’m actually wondering why I rated this two stars? Perhaps I just really like fried chicken, which was a main character in the first few chapters. Unfortunately it didn’t make a return. The bucket of chicken was the only character without a flat personality.
Ugh, where to start! Firstly, this is not a thriller, it’s a thinly veiled romance novella - and yet, the romance is so poorly developed. Writing a token “I could feel my feelings growing for him/her” at the end of EVERY CHAPTER, is not emotional character development. There was no effort to describe scenes or set pieces that showed the characters developing feelings.
Secondly, if this is a thriller, there was literally jeopardy involved. There is no risk to any of the characters at any point, and when something is uncovered that could be controversial, they back off it and then resolve it in the most pathetic way possible.
Thirdly, cops who are also high stakes poker players and have private jets and a life of luxury while still doing regular day cop work - bore me later! Such a typical case of deux ex machina - a plot device conveniently used to move the story along but made so little sense.
I’m actually wondering why I rated this two stars? Perhaps I just really like fried chicken, which was a main character in the first few chapters. Unfortunately it didn’t make a return. The bucket of chicken was the only character without a flat personality.