Friday, November 27, 2020

November 27, 2020 - Staff Reviews


The Good Killer

By Harry Dolan
Release Date: February 4, 2020
Audiobook Available from WV Reads!


1.5 Stars - I very rarely remark on books I don't care to finish. But this one looked like a perfect mystery/action thriller to me and I was disappointed. Both the narrative and the style didn't flow for me from the first page. As a newcomer to Dolan, maybe I'm just not destined to become one of his fans. 

The book starts off so melancholy instead of menacing it's almost depressing. Early on, we get both the killer and the hero's point of view. But the execution was rough. I actually had a hard time telling who was who in the narration. The beginning is also messy in that there's talk of a ghost and buried treasure, both of which are delivered melodramatically though the subconcious of our hero. And it all just feels out of place. I know opening with the action of the mall shooting that forces the main couple out of hiding couldn't be the first scene but the audiobook only eight hours long, not much time to plausibly work in those extras.

Perhaps there was more issue on the narrator himself but I didn't sense a strong character separation/voice. Harder still is the fact the POVs are done in third person present tense. It's very rare for a reason as it sort of reads like a Dateline reanactment voiceover. Further the complete lack of real dialouge only served the inner monotone rambling thoughts. That dominated the first 30 minutes at least with no signs of changing.  Henry the supposed killer is appropriately weird but he does not come off as particularly clever or engaging. The hero Sean is deep in his new hidden life along with his girlfriend Molly. But he lacks a sense of humor or a sense of life or purpose early on. The gunfight in the mall was no doubt a turning point for him but he lacked the personality required of an interesting main character. I chose this rating because I like the plot description and with more time or effort on my part I may have been pleasantly surprised here or there. But mostly, it looks like the impressive ratings out there were on basis of getting a free copy upon release.

(NS)

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