( 13 reviews )
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Posted: Oct 22 2008
Here's my review system--I score on four categories and average them together for the number of stars. The four categories are: character development (are the characters deep and complex, plot (is it interesting), voice (is the narration smooth and e...more Here's my review system--I score on four categories and average them together for the number of stars. The four categories are: character development (are the characters deep and complex, plot (is it interesting), voice (is the narration smooth and engaging) and cliche level (is it predictable.) Character development: 5 stars-- Excellent! i really got a sense of the protag and what he was about. Plot: 5 stars-- Fantastic suspense and twists. voice: 5 stars-- Fantastic! cliche level: 5 stars-- A feeling, emotionally deep vulnerable cop--I love it. I absolutely love this book. it moves fast, doesn't bore you with cliches and really is fresh.
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Posted: Jul 14 2008
Pretty typical action crime fiction. Good guy hero with some personal problems comes to the rescue of damsel in distress. Makes for a quick read, but nothing memorable about this story.
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 20 2008
Officer Matt Worth of the Omaha Police Department is at a personal and career nadir. Recently divorced, he's now on a provisional assignment guarding the theft-prone SaveMore supermarket pending a psychological fitness sign-off after having slugged the Homicide detective that stole his wife. But even in that punch-up, satisfaction was muted as the other guy was the better hitter. In any case, Worth's only current job satisfaction is flirting with the pretty check-out girl, Gwen. But Gwen has an abusive boyfriend, Russell T. James, whom she bludgeons to death with a bedside table lamp while he sleeps after giving her a particularly nasty beating. With no one to turn to but Matt, she shows him her bruises at the hospital ER then the body back at the apartment. Sympathizing with her predicament, Worth decides not to make an arrest but rather to permanently eradicate Russell's corpse and live at let live. It seemed like the right and gentlemanly thing to do at the time. What Worth doesn't know is that James was employed as a narcotics and drug money courier by Eddie Tice, owner of Tice Is Nice Quality Used and Discount Furniture, who also has two local plain clothes cops on the take. That, and the $260 K gone missing with Russell, makes for an escalating set of complications for the chivalrous Worth. Worth, who's a perfectly average shmoe both in his personal and professional life, riding a bad situation into a disaster exemplifies one of my personal favorite adages, which is that No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. If you insist on acting out of the goodness of your heart, either do it with complete anonymity or be prepared for an unacceptable gain/loss ratio. If life imitates art, or vice versa, then THE CLEANUP, a delightfully entertaining piece of unpretentious lit noir, certainly illustrates the Law of Unintended Consequences. Moreover, it's a conveniently quick read, after which you can go back to saving the world.
