Two Graves / D.A. Graystone

 

Two Graves: A Kesle City Homicide Novel by D.A. Graystone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars? Rounded up to 3 because I actually wanted to finish it.

This was an impulse purchase from an online used book seller. I'd been impressed by something, maybe the blurb, back in 2013 and added this title to my TBR. It was am impulse to clear the backlog, I guess.

It's not a bad book, which I know sounds like damning it with faint praise. Graystone is a decent writer, but I never got to sink into the story and forget that I was reading. I found a lot of the plot to be clichéd: the not-quite-straight-arrow cop, who is willing to bend the rules to get the bad guy; his reporter girlfriend; the zero who becomes a serial killer to wreck revenge on a society that never protected him from abuse; the self serving politicians that the police must endure; and, of course, the Mafioso who actually runs the city. It's the stuff of lots and lots of thrillers.

It's never a good sign when I'm editing as I read, but I'm happy to report only one matter of grammar that I would have changed, who's (the contraction of who is) to be replaced by whose (the possessive). But noticing that switched me into edit mode and I couldn't extract myself from it. The plotting was decent, but I didn't “feel” the conflicts. They were just items on a checklist, barriers that the characters must overcome, not really causing me any angst, as solutions just showed up automatically as required.

Now I must temper this lukewarm review by telling you that thrillers are not my thing, although I occasionally find one that grips me. Also, I am finding that I am less and less enamoured by books that include serial murderers. I really got into that genre ten years ago, but they're not my jam anymore. I guess what I'm saying is that your mileage may vary.

Another book that I can weed from my bookshelves and that's something I'm very pleased about.


View all my reviews