Dead Watch
By John Sandford
Release Date: April 24, 2007
Audiobook Available from WV Reads!
3 Stars - My interest clicking on with this book took awhile, possibly in part because of the narration and/or the writing style of Sandford. This was a fast, fairly short political thriller set in the dark pool of Washington D.C scandals and murders. The good news, bad news situation with this story is that it has everything you're expecting from it. An everyday hero gets swept into a shady cover up, sorta saves damsels in distress, and sounds cool doing it all.
Sandford is a staple in the thriller and mystery reader community but this odd standalone was my first of his. His main character here is Jake Winter who has a vague yet specialized background. He was special forces, now is sort of a fixer/investigator. He ends up on the casing of a missing senator in an election year. Also the senator happens to have a hot wife in name only who is also brilliant. I liked Maddie well enough but their relationship was a bit unoriginal. I should mention I like Ferrone as a narrator, but I'm just not sure he fit well here. His voice is a bit monotone and Sandford's writing is simplistic and at times redundant.
This is a better murder mystery than political thriller in my opinion. It reminded me a lot of Josepher Finder's Guilty Minds that I read not long ago. But I liked the political and journalism sides of that one more, less the mystery. As I said, you probably get exactly what you expect here. Our hero is a smart, stable, and skilled "anti" politician. He deals with the gory-ish, violent crimes, beautiful and mysterious women, sex scandals, possible anagrams, secret suicides, and the ill behaved media. The statement dropped about the news media's perchant for speculation over facts (from 2006!) was hilarious. The plot rolls along with anyone crossing the mysterious bad guys getting hurt as they search for the truth. The Watchmen concept was creepy too! They were probably one of the more memorable aspects. The last two hours or so were the highlight for me. Overall, it's fun and quick audiobook when looking for a mystery of medium intensity.
(NS)
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