What is your opinion?
Enjoyed!
"I really enjoyed the humor interspersed throughout. Enjoyed the plot. It felt at times there was maybe just a bit too much detail/exposition but that could totally be a personal preference. Overall, love his stories. Highly recommend following him."
An ambitious vision, not quite achieved
"Things I liked about this story included some of the descriptions, the sensory details, and several of the individual characterizations. This writer is still learning his craft, but throughout this story there's promising evidence of a willingness to reach for excellence. Unfortunately, his reach doesn't quite cross the gap. Mastering emotional authenticity, POV, and fresh characterization is a tall order. It's clear this author has the potential to excel. He needs to move beyond cliches and tropes, and I can tell that he has tried to do so . . . but I fear this has led him into a different level of cliches. I really think the plot itself needs a thorough re-evaluation. What motivates the antagonistic characters? Mystery plots are among the hardest to pull off. It's important to give the reader a chance to solve the mystery, or at least the illusion that they were treated fairly--but it's a lot better when they're still guessing till the very last reveal. Unfortunately, I was still kinda guessing after the last reveal. We are given too few actual clues. I still don't know why the antagonists did what they did. I also wonder how much research the author has done, on actual police procedure in the real world. This story reads like "noir" that's caught in the 1950s. There are several places where the portrayal shows a clear violation of laws and/or civil rights. Granted, recent events have shown that real police too often have little regard for such things either--but fictional police who violate these norms, especially in the age of "defund the police," risk becoming the "bad guys" themselves. I never could decide whether Detective Breckhart was supposed to be an antihero, or just a jerk. I wanted to see more redeeming features: a passion for justice, a dedication to seeing lives saved--something. He spends a lot of time posturing and snorting, for a man at the top of his game. We also do not get enough insights into what he is thinking. This might help make the motivations and clues he perceives more clear to the reader, and help readers interpret the outcome better. I know this sounds like a lot of "negative" stuff--and I really hate that. I think this writer has a lot of potential that he still hasn't unlocked. I'd be devastated to think he came away from this review discouraged. Instead, I hope he sees clues here for ways to close that gap on his reach for excellence!"
