A review by kerveros
A Reason To Kill by Michael Kerr
2.0
I actually finished this book a couple of days ago but chose not to review it immediately as I really wasn't sure what I thought of it. I hoped some time to mull it over would help... unfortunately not.
So, for one thing. I finished the book early Saturday morning, and promptly forgot I had read or finished it until Sunday. I know I read some dross at times, but I don't think I have ever read a book that is quite so forgetable before!
The characters I felt to be rather bland, they don't stand out from the crowd - and in the crime/thriller genre there are a lot of reasons to want to stand out. There was a good effort at rounding them out but it came across more as an attempt as opposed to creating a reality.
I found the hitman to be rather stereotypical. It seems that a lot of serial killers have some sort of psychological problem that authors seem to take to the extreme to create what feels like a caricature as opposed to someone who could be living next door. His easy belief in the therapist felt more like a plot device as opposed to something that would happen based on previous interactions.
The psychologist was... naive to my mind. Her intelligence was shown in the things she owned but it never felt like she was intelligent - or it came across as an after-thought!
Matt, our lead, our hero... he did feel realistic if you ignore the falling in love with a woman he'd met maybe 3 times previously and have spent a couple of hours with. Wait, did I say love? Surely I mean lust! His ability with a gun, and his physical limitations felt realistic (for the most part... not sure about driving with a busted leg - even for the person you love).
The 'mob'.. well, think of five stereotypes for cartels or mobs and I bet you they were all covered off in this book.
In terms of the plot, this was pretty by the numbers as well. There are some minor changes but I bet you can get this plot in a lot of other books of this genre. The part with the second hitman I found particularly redundant. Could have saved a few minutes of reading time and a handful of pages by just deleting that entire sub-plot. It wouldn't change the story in any way.
This author also fell into a trap that I particularly dislike. DROPPING IN A MAJOR HINT AT A POTENTIAL FUTURE THREAT - because that'll draw me in to read any sequels.... in my case the opposite effect has been achieved.
I didn't find this book to be a waste of reading time, it killed time on the train and I was clearly invested enough to read it on the weekend but... not a book series I'd knowingly pick-up in the future.
So, for one thing. I finished the book early Saturday morning, and promptly forgot I had read or finished it until Sunday. I know I read some dross at times, but I don't think I have ever read a book that is quite so forgetable before!
The characters I felt to be rather bland, they don't stand out from the crowd - and in the crime/thriller genre there are a lot of reasons to want to stand out. There was a good effort at rounding them out but it came across more as an attempt as opposed to creating a reality.
I found the hitman to be rather stereotypical. It seems that a lot of serial killers have some sort of psychological problem that authors seem to take to the extreme to create what feels like a caricature as opposed to someone who could be living next door. His easy belief in the therapist felt more like a plot device as opposed to something that would happen based on previous interactions.
The psychologist was... naive to my mind. Her intelligence was shown in the things she owned but it never felt like she was intelligent - or it came across as an after-thought!
Matt, our lead, our hero... he did feel realistic if you ignore the falling in love with a woman he'd met maybe 3 times previously and have spent a couple of hours with. Wait, did I say love? Surely I mean lust! His ability with a gun, and his physical limitations felt realistic (for the most part... not sure about driving with a busted leg - even for the person you love).
The 'mob'.. well, think of five stereotypes for cartels or mobs and I bet you they were all covered off in this book.
In terms of the plot, this was pretty by the numbers as well. There are some minor changes but I bet you can get this plot in a lot of other books of this genre. The part with the second hitman I found particularly redundant. Could have saved a few minutes of reading time and a handful of pages by just deleting that entire sub-plot. It wouldn't change the story in any way.
This author also fell into a trap that I particularly dislike. DROPPING IN A MAJOR HINT AT A POTENTIAL FUTURE THREAT - because that'll draw me in to read any sequels.... in my case the opposite effect has been achieved.
I didn't find this book to be a waste of reading time, it killed time on the train and I was clearly invested enough to read it on the weekend but... not a book series I'd knowingly pick-up in the future.