This was actually 4 stars for my enjoyment, but definitely 5 stars for the quality of writing in its genre. I liked that an idea formed gradually in my brain, and ... I better not spoil it for you. Go ahead and read this even if you avoid horror. Be prepared for some discomfort. ( )

Detective Evan White is hunting a killer but not just any killer. The man he is tracking killed his wife and he's taunting Evan via the phone. Evan wasn't supposed to get involved in the investigation but he couldn't stay away. The killer is looking to kill everyone Evan loves and because the killer is already dead, he may be unstoppable. With the help of his partner Angela, Evan will have to stop the murderer before he kills again.

The best words to describe Crime Seen by Michaelbrent Collings would be, interesting. This novel was an original idea and I can't think of another book like it. Reading it does have its drawbacks though. While it is an excellent novel you have to read it all the way through to fully understand everything that's going on. When I first started it I felt like I was reading a book that started 1/3 of the way through but the beginning makes sense when you get to the end.

There was one point where I thought I was going to stop reading it because there were things going on that I didn't understand but I stayed with it because I liked the characters so much and all of my questions were eventually answered. My favorite character was Angela Listings. She is described as small and beautiful in the book, but looks are deceiving. Listings is a tough cop but has a soft side and a great backstory. My favorite scene with her was when two of the characters are talking about how to stop the bizarre killings and what they think is going on. Listings hears this and says she is leaving to be among the sane. I like how she tries to simplify everything to keep from being scared when she doesn't understand. If she still doesn't understand, she lets her gun and fists do the talking.

I also loved the character of Tuyen, she is another tough female character but she is different from Listings. Tuyen is Vietnamese, and has a rough life. She works in a voodoo shop along with a second job and she believes in a lot of old superstitions that were passed down from her grandma. She is also psychic and I liked how she helped Evan find the answers he needed to stop the killings, even though she found out that her beliefs wouldn't save her from the killer.

Crime Seen is a paranormal mystery like you've never read before. I loved the concept in this story of finding the truth to end what's going on. I also liked how Michaelbrent Collings doesn't explain everything until the end. Without giving anything away, Evan's reaction to seeing Angela at the end was the best part of the book. Even though he knows whats going on, he's still happy because of the people around him. If that doesn't make sense, read the book and it will. Crime Seen is a masterpiece, it may seem like it has holes but I think Michaelbrent was just making sure you got to the end before he made you understand his vision. I got to the end and now I'm looking for more books from Mr. Collings. ( )

Michaelbrent Collings has built a reputation for himself as an extremely prolific author of mostly fast-paced thrillers steeped in horror. He continues that tradition in CRIME SEEN, a short novel about a police detective pursuing his wife’s murderer. Because it’s a Michaelbrent Collings novel, though, you can be sure that nothing is exactly as it seems.

Evan White and his partner, the hard-nosed Angela Listings, are pursuing leads to the brutal murder of Evan’s wife when they come across the madman who probably did it. There’s a problem though: it appears that the killer can’t be stopped with mere bullets and can disappear or reappear in the blink of an eye. How exactly does a ghost – if that is indeed what he is – kill people, and why is he taunting Evan, daring Evan to catch him? Coming to question his own sanity at times, Evan has no choice but to follow the tantalizing clues the killer leaves. The path leads Evan to Tuyen, a young Vietnamese-American woman who runs a mystical trinket shop and is somehow involved. The deeper Evan gets into his investigation, the more the weirdness begins to mount, especially once all the evidence points to the murderer already being dead, raising the question “How do you kill a man who’s already dead?” That’s all I want to say about the plot and resolution of the novel, as the premise requires a gradual series of revelations about the characters and the nature of the crimes and I don’t want to ruin it for other readers.

CRIME SEEN begins as a straight-forward police procedural hunt for a murderer, but weird elements – things that can only be supernatural – start playing an important role almost immediately. These are genuinely creepy at times and lend a real sense of menace to the proceedings. What initially seems a straight-forward, linear kind of mystery is anything but. While there aren’t a great many characters in the novel, Evan and his partner Angela are aptly drawn, and it’s interesting watching their relationship develop and be revealed. CRIME SEEN is a short novel that is fast-paced and doesn’t take long to finish. You’ll have to allow yourself to go with the flow in CRIME SEEN. Be patient – wait for events and revelations to play out. The pay-off is worth the wait. Recommended, especially if you are looking for a quick read and enjoy supernatural elements mixed in with your police procedurals.

Review copyright © 2014 J. Andrew Byers ( )

I devoured it in one gulp and did not figure out the whodunnit. The writing style is so classy and slick I might as well have been in an Indy race car. Detective joe ordinary, tough chick partner, cheating wifeypooh, commander goodheart, bar fight, stakeouts, murder, mystery voices from the beyond... "Hello, Hollywood calling, get this story on screen now"! My grateful thanks to Mr. Collins and LibraryThing for sharing a complimentary copy. ( )