Ian David Noakes

I read Partners in Crime by this author and enjoyed it, so I was quite surprised at how much I did not enjoy this one. The book starts with a short prologue taking place in 1656, which is intended as a lead-in to the present day story. I was taken aback when, in two instances, the author used modern day references that simply didn't exist back then. In one sentence, he has reporters from local newspapers scribbling in notepads. In another, he compares the wielding of an axe to a batter in baseball. I almost stopped there, and perhaps should have. But I'd borrowed the book for my month's Prime read and felt I needed to give it a fair chance.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story, which takes place in the present day, didn't work for me either. First, I didn't like any of the characters. Though perhaps that's not fair, since I didn't have a chance to really know any of them. The narration constantly jumps between a large number of characters, many of which are minor and didn't need POV parts. Consequently, we have no clear sense of who these people are.

We have many scenes that are heavy on the gore. The problem for me here wasn't the violence itself, but that the graphic scenes were all that was driving the story. There was, for me, a major lack of any real substance.

As the police chase went on and the intended victims were ripped to pieces, I kept wondering where all the other town people were. No one got caught up in the madness, no one was on the streets, no one called the police in a panic over all the murders. The place was like a ghost town. It felt too scripted and intentional.

The one token sex scene felt totally out of place given the circumstances. The build-up between the two characters was nonexistent. The aftermath from this one sexual encounter also felt wrong, too overblown given what seemed to be a quick hookup between people who barely knew one another.

In the end, I didn't find much of anything to like about this story. If you're looking for a quick read high on the graphic gore, then this might work for you. If you're looking for a story that can hold itself up without all that, then you probably want to look elsewhere.… (altro)