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billymac1962's review against another edition
2.0
Wow, what happened?
I loved The Poison Artist. Five-starred it, in fact.
This was something I was very excited about because the only reason I read it was because of a review I had read for The Night Market but wanted to read the first two novels in this very loosly linked trilogy first.
The Dark Room hooked me immediately. I was totally engaged and the central crime was horrific beyond imagination. But somewhere around the 40% mark tedium set in. The investigation slowed to a snail's pace and for the most part the characters did not touch me at all.
The tedium continued until about 66%, at which point I had decided that I would finish the book that day, essentially skimming to about 90% and finally slowing down to cut to the chase. If this wasn't a short novel I wouldn't have bothered.
Maybe the fact that this was geared to be a predominantly police procedural that made it so dull. But dull it was. Dull enough to question whether I want to read the last book after all. (Oddly, The Dark Room is the highest ranked of the three).
What a letdown. I had thought I'd found a new favorite author.
I'll likely change my mind and give him another chance. It'll be a while, though.
I loved The Poison Artist. Five-starred it, in fact.
This was something I was very excited about because the only reason I read it was because of a review I had read for The Night Market but wanted to read the first two novels in this very loosly linked trilogy first.
The Dark Room hooked me immediately. I was totally engaged and the central crime was horrific beyond imagination. But somewhere around the 40% mark tedium set in. The investigation slowed to a snail's pace and for the most part the characters did not touch me at all.
The tedium continued until about 66%, at which point I had decided that I would finish the book that day, essentially skimming to about 90% and finally slowing down to cut to the chase. If this wasn't a short novel I wouldn't have bothered.
Maybe the fact that this was geared to be a predominantly police procedural that made it so dull. But dull it was. Dull enough to question whether I want to read the last book after all. (Oddly, The Dark Room is the highest ranked of the three).
What a letdown. I had thought I'd found a new favorite author.
I'll likely change my mind and give him another chance. It'll be a while, though.
djwills369's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
agmaynard's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Fantastic! Moody at moments, atmospheric, strong dialogue . Bit of HBC. Moves crisply and swiftly, until hurtling to a Chandleresque close. Definitely seeking out more Jonathan Moore!
jmclincoln's review against another edition
4.0
Beware of an eyebrow raising coincidence very early in the book. Stick with it. All will be explained. Shrewdly.
kellerko's review against another edition
4.0
A while since I had read a good detective mystery. This did not disappoint.
justjoel's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty solid police procedural/thriller. I had part of the mystery figured out, which wasn't really a factor in the rating. I had thought this was going to be a 5-star read for quite a while, but it definitely fell off a bit at the end with a couple of unanswered questions remaining in my mind. Still, overall very solid, and I'll definitely be looking for more from the author.
4 out of 5 stars.
4 out of 5 stars.
boti's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
usbsticky's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic! This is possibly the best book I've read in 2016 and that's impressive considering how many good books I've read this year.
Synopsis: SFPD inspector exhumes coffin to find strange body, then is pulled from case to investigate blackmail of SF mayor.
I'm amazed that the author has only written 3 previous books because his writing is top notch. His writing is very smooth and easy to get into. I got into the story within the first few pages. There is only one protagonist (Gavin Cain, the SFPD inspector) and everyone else is a supporting character. That makes the plot line very easy to follow. The action is fast and there are no boring parts. His writing is also impressive in its brevity. He is able to describe action or a character in just a few words, there are no long boring sentences that are just written for the sake of poetic license or verbiage. He just knows what to say to make the character or action feel real.
And there is just enough development of the character to move the story along and not so much that you felt it was too much. This is exactly how I felt about the early Law and Order episodes from oh so long ago - the actors were as real as they needed to be in the show but it skipped their personal histories and what they did at home, etc.
The only extraneous subplot I felt was the romantic one. I don't know if this is a stand alone book or the romantic entanglement was a followup from a previous book. Either way, this was one part that I felt didn't need to be there.
The plot was very well designed. It was complex but not confusing. The beauty of the plot was in the unraveling at the end so you could marvel how it all finally fit together and explained everything.
So in summary you got a fast reading and engrossing mystery. The characters were well described and the plot was pleasing. The only letdown is that I won't be able to find a novel as good as this one for a while. I got this book free as a review copy. I'm definitely going to read this author's other books.
Synopsis: SFPD inspector exhumes coffin to find strange body, then is pulled from case to investigate blackmail of SF mayor.
I'm amazed that the author has only written 3 previous books because his writing is top notch. His writing is very smooth and easy to get into. I got into the story within the first few pages. There is only one protagonist (Gavin Cain, the SFPD inspector) and everyone else is a supporting character. That makes the plot line very easy to follow. The action is fast and there are no boring parts. His writing is also impressive in its brevity. He is able to describe action or a character in just a few words, there are no long boring sentences that are just written for the sake of poetic license or verbiage. He just knows what to say to make the character or action feel real.
And there is just enough development of the character to move the story along and not so much that you felt it was too much. This is exactly how I felt about the early Law and Order episodes from oh so long ago - the actors were as real as they needed to be in the show but it skipped their personal histories and what they did at home, etc.
The only extraneous subplot I felt was the romantic one. I don't know if this is a stand alone book or the romantic entanglement was a followup from a previous book. Either way, this was one part that I felt didn't need to be there.
The plot was very well designed. It was complex but not confusing. The beauty of the plot was in the unraveling at the end so you could marvel how it all finally fit together and explained everything.
So in summary you got a fast reading and engrossing mystery. The characters were well described and the plot was pleasing. The only letdown is that I won't be able to find a novel as good as this one for a while. I got this book free as a review copy. I'm definitely going to read this author's other books.
literarycreature's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0