Mark Young (6)

Just when you thought you figured it all out, you’re thrown for a twist.

Revenge follows ex-detective, Travis May. As bodies keep piling up the clues all seem to point to the case that caused Travis to leave the force. As they rush to figure out who the killer is, Travis is faced with the ghosts of his past.

I loved this story from the beginning. First off, I love a good mystery and Revenge delivered on that. Even though I thought I had it all figured out, the author threw a curve ball in the end and added a completely different layer that I did not see coming. I had to read the sentence a few times to confirm that my eyes were not playing tricks on me.

Secondly, Revenge is one of the few self-published novels that I found refreshing to read. Sometimes, self-published books are littered with mistakes and continuity errors - possibly due to lack of proper editing - however, Revenge read as though it had a good editor. I did notice two things, but they were so minor I got past them without being pulled out of the narrative.

Finally, I enjoyed the way the narrative moved from one point of view to the next. You got to see the killer’s moves without revealing too much for you to know who the killer is, at least until it was necessary. Revenge is a great book to read if you have a hankering for a mystery.… (plus d'informations)

Tom Kagan is haunted by the death of his young son, and to cope he throws himself into his work as a cop in the organized crime unit. His latest case involves a string of murders among Hispanic gangs in Northern California. I'm not sure what all I can say about this. It's a cop thriller. There's the evil gangster, the good gangster, the gangster who could be good but can't seem to extricate himself from the gang. The main villain, Ghost, is truly scary. There were points when I honestly wasn't sure if everybody was going to be okay. I liked Mikio, loved Garcia, and kind of wanted to punch Gato in the face a few times. In short, it was good, but not in a way that lends itself to a lengthy review. If you like cop thrillers, you'll like this one.… (plus d'informations)

Travis Mays walks away from his life in the police force after a sting operation ends in tragedy. He moves from central California to middle-of-nowhere Idaho, where he teaches criminology at a Washington university to fund his life as a recluse in a small cabin. One day he signs up for kayaking lessons; his guide is the lovely Jessie White Eagle, a Native American of the Nez Perce tribe whose brother has recently gone missing. What follows is a rather twisty tale of murder and deception. I understood the killer’s beef with Mays, but a whole lot of plot hangs on the chance meeting between Mays and White Eagle. If Mays hadn’t signed up for those lessons that day, quite a bit of this story would not have happened. Anyway, I enjoyed this one more than I’d expected, zipping through chapters with ease. It helps that the author has experience both as a cop and a journalist. Sure, I didn’t know what all the lingo and acronyms meant, but I gleaned enough from context that it didn’t distract me, and indeed added to the realism. My only real complaint was how much difficulty I had keeping the various characters straight. There are a lot of players here and all of them are interconnected, often in convoluted ways. I also wish there was more information on the Nez Perce, though instilling an interest in further learning is never a bad thing in the book. All in all, if you’re looking for a decent thriller, this is worth picking up.… (plus d'informations)

First Line: Raindrops splattered the windshield as Travis Mays raised his binoculars.

When an investigation goes horribly wrong, Travis Mays walks away from a highly successful law enforcement career and builds a new life. Now a professor of criminology at a university in Washington state, he likes to spend time in the cabin he built in the mountains of Idaho. Travis is even learning the fine art of kayaking from river guide Jessie White Eagle of the Nez Perce tribe. But when Jessie's brother goes missing and Travis is asked to help with the investigation, he finds himself in the crosshairs of a killer bent on revenge.

Many of you may take a look at my rating and think that I didn't care for the book. You would be wrong. I did. Although the book really doesn't have anything new in terms of plot, writing or characterization, it did hold my interest throughout. How? Because author Mark Young has given us multiple perpetrators with multiple objectives. I had my mind set on one bad guy, but the more pages I turned, the more I thought, "Now, wait a second...." Once my curiosity was fully engaged, I was hooked.

His stern struck a submerged rock, jamming the bow forward, burying him in a shallow grave of water. He fought to right himself, but the current corkscrewed him into its depths and he lost his balance. Roaring sheets of water buried him, pounding his head with icy fists. For what seemed like an eternity he remained trapped beneath the surface as near-freezing currents burned his skin.

A strong feature of the book is its setting in the mountains of Idaho, white water kayaking on its rivers, and the Nez Perce heritage of two secondary characters-- but I did feel that if the kayaking and Nez Perce heritage had been beefed up and had become more integral parts of the story, the book would have been even stronger.

Travis has a canine companion named Sam, which leads me to something that's almost becoming a pet peeve. Having had many canine companions of my own, I am attuned to how animals react to the people around me. When an animal in the book I'm reading reacts strangely to a new character, I immediately know that character is a bad guy. This undoubtedly isn't true for people who don't live with pets and aren't familiar with their ways, but it is to me and takes away some of the enjoyment of reading the book for me. On the other hand, Sam isn't portrayed as Super Dog, and that I do like.

When all is said and done, there is a lot to like about Revenge, and I'm looking forward to more stories about Travis Mays.… (plus d'informations)