A review by deearr
The Guilty Dead by P.J. Tracy
3.0
P. J. Tracy’s “The Guilty Dead” almost reads like it was two different books, or maybe three. Before it settled down, I was half-tempted to stop reading (though in the end, I am glad I continued).
Some of the things that bothered me about the story were small, but ultimately, many small things do add up, beginning with why there were so many characters with names that start with the letter G? We have Grace, Gloria, Gus, Gregory, Gino, Gary, and Gerry. While the chances of reader confusion increases, the odds of this happening in real life must be astronomical.
Proper research should always be completed. If one wishes to write about weapons and is not familiar with them, information is not that hard to find. The authors (P. J. Tracy a pseudonym for writers Patricia Lambrecht and Traci Lambrecht) mistakenly called a magazine a clip, and merely checking to make sure a gun has ammunition in the magazine will not make it “hot” and ready to fire. Later on, a character references her “conceal-and-carry permit,” something that does not exist in the state of Minnesota (you can obtain a permit to carry). Small things like this make me wonder what other inaccuracies I may have missed.
What was most bothersome was the writing style employed, as it changed as I continued reading. The initial descriptions in early chapters read like someone had gone through with a thesaurus and substituting the largest word that could be found. While this is not a bad thing, the words began to disappear from the description and worked their way into the characters’ dialogue. It is jarring when all the people begin using words you don’t normally hear in everyday conversation. Somewhere near the middle of the book the style relaxed into normalcy. Why neither the authors nor editors questioned this is a mystery.
Which is too bad, because the storyline is a five-star element. The expected twist is not out of left field, the story makes sense and, in the end, everything ties up neatly. I flew through the last half of the book, completely lost in the story and working with the detectives to decipher the clues and find the truth. What the authors wrote in the later chapters almost made it worth slogging through the beginning ones.
Bottom line: It is worth your time to plow through the opening descriptions and dialogue as well as the research inconsistencies because the plot is good. Characterizations are okay, and we are given enough insight to identify with the main folks. Fans of this series will probably love the book, and for those of us new to the series, it is written as a standalone without references to any major storylines that have gone before. Three-and-a-half stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.
Some of the things that bothered me about the story were small, but ultimately, many small things do add up, beginning with why there were so many characters with names that start with the letter G? We have Grace, Gloria, Gus, Gregory, Gino, Gary, and Gerry. While the chances of reader confusion increases, the odds of this happening in real life must be astronomical.
Proper research should always be completed. If one wishes to write about weapons and is not familiar with them, information is not that hard to find. The authors (P. J. Tracy a pseudonym for writers Patricia Lambrecht and Traci Lambrecht) mistakenly called a magazine a clip, and merely checking to make sure a gun has ammunition in the magazine will not make it “hot” and ready to fire. Later on, a character references her “conceal-and-carry permit,” something that does not exist in the state of Minnesota (you can obtain a permit to carry). Small things like this make me wonder what other inaccuracies I may have missed.
What was most bothersome was the writing style employed, as it changed as I continued reading. The initial descriptions in early chapters read like someone had gone through with a thesaurus and substituting the largest word that could be found. While this is not a bad thing, the words began to disappear from the description and worked their way into the characters’ dialogue. It is jarring when all the people begin using words you don’t normally hear in everyday conversation. Somewhere near the middle of the book the style relaxed into normalcy. Why neither the authors nor editors questioned this is a mystery.
Which is too bad, because the storyline is a five-star element. The expected twist is not out of left field, the story makes sense and, in the end, everything ties up neatly. I flew through the last half of the book, completely lost in the story and working with the detectives to decipher the clues and find the truth. What the authors wrote in the later chapters almost made it worth slogging through the beginning ones.
Bottom line: It is worth your time to plow through the opening descriptions and dialogue as well as the research inconsistencies because the plot is good. Characterizations are okay, and we are given enough insight to identify with the main folks. Fans of this series will probably love the book, and for those of us new to the series, it is written as a standalone without references to any major storylines that have gone before. Three-and-a-half stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.