A review by inthelunaseas
Blood Money by Brian Springer
3.0
I received this book as part of Goodreads giveaways and first reads. When reviewing these books, I try to provide constructive criticism, particularly since a lot of the authors are new on the market, and the book received is either their first, or one of their first, novels.
The premise of [b:Blood Money|463014|Blood Money (Jane Whitefield, #5)|Thomas Perry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174963927s/463014.jpg|226956] is a rather simple one. Kelton, our protagonist, is a vigilante-for-hire with a strict moral code. Think [b:Dexter|17231|Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1)|Jeff Lindsay|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255569333s/17231.jpg|2113743] without the serial killer part. He receives a job to rescue a biologist who has discovered a cure for AIDS who has been kidnapped by the government.
A fairly standard premise, really. Good guy rescues damsel from bad guys. It works as a plot. But it becomes a bit more convoluted than that. There's some kind of peculiar subplot at the start involving the rapist son of a rich guy, and some kind of family drama that plods along in the background. I think [a:Brian Springer|2958012|Brian Springer|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1308383652p2/2958012.jpg] was going to develop the first of these sub-plots, and the second sub-plot is intended to be an overarching idea through any sequels written- and the book is very, very open to sequels. Unfortunately, these meandering sub-plots resulted in the novel itself becoming somewhat convoluted. This didn't lower my enjoyment of the book in any way, but it did mean the plot itself got drawn out unnecessarily.
Furthermore, there were two 'twists' that I could see coming from the start. I won't state what they are here, but I kept thinking throughout the whole book, 'wait, wouldn't x have been dead already?'.
There are a lot of errors- continuity, just plain 'seriously??'- in here that bothered me a little. One that stands out involves the rapist in the start. He states that he has raped thirty-four women in the beginning. Later one, Kelton states our friend has raped thirty-seven women 'by [rapist's] own admission'. Three extra women in less than twenty-four hours. A lot of injuries also get brushed off without a second thought. Massive head wounds, gunshot wounds, that sort of thing. And things are also made very easy for Kelton and Jessica- car doors are left open and ready to be driven away in, they take a trip to freaking Disneyland. Yeah.
Now, this book isn't bad to read. It's very simple, and I could have easily read it in a day or two if I didn't have anything wrong. It moves fast, and it's not challenging, which is nice if you're looking for something simple to read. It's also enjoyable, in a James Bond kind of way. It's an escapist book, and that's not a bad thing. I can't hate on it, and I'm not, but I do feel that a bit of gentle editing would have fixed some of the errors in the book, or at least smoothed them over some. I liked it, even though it's not my style.
The premise of [b:Blood Money|463014|Blood Money (Jane Whitefield, #5)|Thomas Perry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174963927s/463014.jpg|226956] is a rather simple one. Kelton, our protagonist, is a vigilante-for-hire with a strict moral code. Think [b:Dexter|17231|Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1)|Jeff Lindsay|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255569333s/17231.jpg|2113743] without the serial killer part. He receives a job to rescue a biologist who has discovered a cure for AIDS who has been kidnapped by the government.
A fairly standard premise, really. Good guy rescues damsel from bad guys. It works as a plot. But it becomes a bit more convoluted than that. There's some kind of peculiar subplot at the start involving the rapist son of a rich guy, and some kind of family drama that plods along in the background. I think [a:Brian Springer|2958012|Brian Springer|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1308383652p2/2958012.jpg] was going to develop the first of these sub-plots, and the second sub-plot is intended to be an overarching idea through any sequels written- and the book is very, very open to sequels. Unfortunately, these meandering sub-plots resulted in the novel itself becoming somewhat convoluted. This didn't lower my enjoyment of the book in any way, but it did mean the plot itself got drawn out unnecessarily.
Furthermore, there were two 'twists' that I could see coming from the start. I won't state what they are here, but I kept thinking throughout the whole book, 'wait, wouldn't x have been dead already?'.
There are a lot of errors- continuity, just plain 'seriously??'- in here that bothered me a little. One that stands out involves the rapist in the start. He states that he has raped thirty-four women in the beginning. Later one, Kelton states our friend has raped thirty-seven women 'by [rapist's] own admission'. Three extra women in less than twenty-four hours. A lot of injuries also get brushed off without a second thought. Massive head wounds, gunshot wounds, that sort of thing. And things are also made very easy for Kelton and Jessica- car doors are left open and ready to be driven away in, they take a trip to freaking Disneyland. Yeah.
Now, this book isn't bad to read. It's very simple, and I could have easily read it in a day or two if I didn't have anything wrong. It moves fast, and it's not challenging, which is nice if you're looking for something simple to read. It's also enjoyable, in a James Bond kind of way. It's an escapist book, and that's not a bad thing. I can't hate on it, and I'm not, but I do feel that a bit of gentle editing would have fixed some of the errors in the book, or at least smoothed them over some. I liked it, even though it's not my style.