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jenicasalazar_2003's review
4.0
This is my first Rolly Waters adventure and now I must go download the first 3! This story is about dolphins, murder and tons of action. There are a handful of suspects and each one is a distraction from the real culprit. It opens in the admiral's ballroom where a party with military personnel is underway. A boat comes crashing in and a solitary woman kills herself in front of plenty of people, including her parents. What made her do that? In comes Rolly Waters, musician and private detective. He is approached by Melody, a close friend of Janis, the woman who killed herself. She wants him to investigate. This opens a slew of doors full of mystery and intrigue which involves, of all things, dolphins! I mean, seriously??? I loved it! You won't believe the roads this story takes you down, just when you think you've figured it all out, you haven't! I thoroughly enjoyed this one and look forward to the rest!
tswynters's review
3.0
Guitar-playing private detective Rolly Waters finds himself pulled into the case when he connects Janis to a pair of dog tags left behind by Butch Fleetwood, a member of the Dolphin Divers who disappeared during a training exercise twenty years earlier. This book is more fun than I expected, especially with the secret military program involving dolphins.
The opening scene was fun and action packed. But it didn't ground me into the characters and I kind of felt thrust into a book where I wasn't sure what was going on exactly. I think it needed to slow down a bit to settle the reader. But then no one really reacted in the second chapter, and they just moved along. There are also numerous twists, red herrings and coincidental connections, that I felt was a bit too much and started to pull me out of the story a bit.
But ultimately it was the suspension of disbelief that I was asked to have that ultimately made it hard to get into the book. No one ever felt anxiety or worried. They felt like drones or robots. Even if you are trained, having a gun pointed at you will lead to feelings, maybe not at the moment if you are trained, but later that will catch up. Just look at what American Sniper showed...soldiers were able to control their blood pressure and anxiety out in the field, but when they were home all that spiked.
There were other issues I had with the book. Characters would pop up then disappear, no one had any sense of urgency, law breaking had no consequences. And then the book dissolves into common and overused tropes of sex, revenge, and money. I was hoping for more, especially with the opening scene. But in the end felt disappointed.
The opening scene was fun and action packed. But it didn't ground me into the characters and I kind of felt thrust into a book where I wasn't sure what was going on exactly. I think it needed to slow down a bit to settle the reader. But then no one really reacted in the second chapter, and they just moved along. There are also numerous twists, red herrings and coincidental connections, that I felt was a bit too much and started to pull me out of the story a bit.
But ultimately it was the suspension of disbelief that I was asked to have that ultimately made it hard to get into the book. No one ever felt anxiety or worried. They felt like drones or robots. Even if you are trained, having a gun pointed at you will lead to feelings, maybe not at the moment if you are trained, but later that will catch up. Just look at what American Sniper showed...soldiers were able to control their blood pressure and anxiety out in the field, but when they were home all that spiked.
There were other issues I had with the book. Characters would pop up then disappear, no one had any sense of urgency, law breaking had no consequences. And then the book dissolves into common and overused tropes of sex, revenge, and money. I was hoping for more, especially with the opening scene. But in the end felt disappointed.
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