A review by elissapoletti
Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m being pretty generous giving this 3 stars. When I read the blurb to this book I thought I had picked a winner, however I didn’t feel that way for long. For a premise that sounded so promising, this was quite a disappointing read. I hate giving critical reviews, but this book was disjointed and confusing right from the get go. I felt like the author was trying too hard to make it something it wasn’t, I wasn’t sure if I was reading a movie script, an anthology or what. Sentences and chapters are cut short with no explanation. The ending doesn’t make sense, so much of the plot, the build up of these string of crimes, the finale disregards most of it. I’m not even sure half of the characters who were apparently involved in the crimes where even connected? I so wanted to like this, and I think the author had some good ideas, they just weren’t executed well. I hope he writes another, because there is a lot of potential there, just maybe needs to try a little less, a good mystery doesn’t have to be a literary brick. As someone who works in the veterinary industry, I was of course drawn to this plot line, and one thing that I thought was good was how it confronted animal abuse, and the lack of punishment for those crimes. 
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