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A review by jenbsbooks
The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne
3.0
Hmmm ... while this held my interest and kept me entertained, it just seems really over the top if it's expected to be any sort of "realistic" murder mystery. The suspension of disbelief required is huge.
We have our professor ... brought in as a murder suspect, even though it's then decided it was a bear attack. Mr. Professor then decides to play detective, uncovering a bunch of things the police didn't. Then he links this incident to other unsolved missing persons cases, again, going far beyond what the police ever pondered. He finds bodies. He uncovers evidence. He's pretty amazing. And in the end ...
I guess I was okay with some of the scientific process used to uncover things ... not sure I understood the computer program telling him where to look. I liked the idea of the "plants" showing where the soil might have been disturbed in the past.
The villain was a little too over the top too ... wearing claws? Yet being clever enough to plant evidence (bear hair). Over 300 murders, that I realize were spread out over large areas and time, but still ... then his final crazy killing spree.
Like I said, the book kept my interest. But upon ending, I'm like "ummmm, I don't think so" ...
Not a fan of the present tense.
Lots of proFantiy. Some sex. Violence of course.
Listened to the audio edition - part of Kindle Unlimited.
We have our professor ... brought in as a murder suspect, even though it's then decided it was a bear attack. Mr. Professor then decides to play detective, uncovering a bunch of things the police didn't. Then he links this incident to other unsolved missing persons cases, again, going far beyond what the police ever pondered. He finds bodies. He uncovers evidence. He's pretty amazing. And in the end ...
Spoiler
he plants evidence, desecrates a corpse, fakes his own death ... after he figures he's dead anyway (he's been shot), he injects himself with adrenaline so he can attempt to save others, even though that will ultimately kill him ... gets clawed across the back and has his face smashed in. I actually assumed he did die, as the book just ended ... but then there's sequels with him still as the main character, so I guess he didn't. Off to solve more unsolvable stuff ... I did a quick read of the first little bit of the next book to see if they explained his miraculous recovery. Not that I could see, other than to say he was "milometers away from death" ...)I guess I was okay with some of the scientific process used to uncover things ... not sure I understood the computer program telling him where to look. I liked the idea of the "plants" showing where the soil might have been disturbed in the past.
The villain was a little too over the top too ... wearing claws? Yet being clever enough to plant evidence (bear hair). Over 300 murders, that I realize were spread out over large areas and time, but still ... then his final crazy killing spree.
Like I said, the book kept my interest. But upon ending, I'm like "ummmm, I don't think so" ...
Not a fan of the present tense.
Lots of proFantiy. Some sex. Violence of course.
Listened to the audio edition - part of Kindle Unlimited.