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writer_matt's review against another edition
1.0
**Spoilers**
I have rather conflicting feelings about this book - on the one hand, I quite enjoyed the mystery it sets up and plays with throughout; however, on the other hand, I could not stand the grandiose and over the top philosophizing tone it took over and over again. Even more, I found so much in the book that I disliked that I found myself reading purely because I wanted something to redeem the book for more - and I hoped throughout that the resolution of the mystery would do that.
Overall, I found the book to be a messy, confused narrative that wanted to spend much more time on the tortured inner life of its protagonist than it did on the mystery that was supposed to be its backbone. The book, which came highly recommended, proved to be a utter disappointment.
What exactly was this book supposed to be? Was it a gritty crime thriller or a human interest piece about the protagonist's alcoholism - which he refuses to admit to at any point in the novel? Perhaps, if the book just played with these two angles, I would have been fine. But, oh no, the novel couldn't just have these two tensions, it had to take on a strange and unrealistic relationship for Dan Sharp early on, and then the even stranger relationship he develops with a man living on Maine Island in British Columbia.
Nothing about these relationships read true to me. I was annoyed and frustrated every time Dan started whining or philosophizing about the men in his life.
And then there was the relationship Dan had with his son, Ked. Another aspect of the book I found highly unbelievable. Round so wanted to draw parallels between the various father/son relationships throughout this book that Dan and Keds' relationship felt forced and weird. One moment Ked was a teenager dealing with very teenager problems, the next moment he seems more like a 30 year old man with Dan playing the part of the naughty teen. Plus there was the underdeveloped plot line between Ked and his best friend, who suddenly winds up the victim of a drive by shooting. This event gets barely 2 pages of text before it is completely forgotten and the next time we see Ked he is listening to his iPod and appears over the this trauma. What exactly was the point of this event? How did it move ANY of the dozen plot lines forward? Rather than talk about how this impacted Ked, Round seems perfectly happy to let Dan be affected by it. Which just reinforced Dan's already overworked selfish nature. It was needless and only earned another groan from me as I read.
Round's clear utter negative view of Toronto really stood out throughout the novel. This perspective, again, did nothing to advance the plot or really the characters - except make Dan totally unlikeable. By the time the novel ended I just wanted Dan to go away and stop hating on my beloved city.
Then there were the annoying sexual stereotypes littered throughout the novel. Gay men who act more like women. Gay men who are slutty and can't control themselves around sex. Gay men who only club, drink and do drugs. Gay men who have superficial conversations about nothing deep. Gay men who have father issues. Gay men who are only concerned about their public image. Gay men who are obsessed with large cocks. This was so poorly constructed, I nearly put the book down and dropped it in a library donation bin.
Which brings me to my next beef with the novel - Round's obsession with the size of Dan's genitals. I'm I am pretty sure if I went through and counted the number of times it is mentioned, either by other characters or by Dan himself, it would amount to at least two dozens. Why!? What point to the novel or plot did this have? Was this supposed to stand in for character development - if so, it is certainly the strangest and most uncomfortable character development I've ever seen. There was even a point when Dan while drunk (surprise surprise) and pissing in public stops to admire how big he is. HUH?
These are just some of the biggest issues I had with the book. But did they distract me from enjoying the mystery plot line? Well, actually, yes they did. These strange diversions from, what I thought was a very good mystery plot, left huge breaks in the narrative. I would get a hint of the mystery and then have to wait 2-3 chapters while Dan moaned and whined about his life while drinking until I got back to what I was actually interested in. And in the end, the mystery plot gets resolved without Dan being present. While he's pondering on his life, the denouement happens off screen and the reader walks in at the last moment to see the aftermath. On top of that, I felt, the actual resolution was too quickly explained. How did the victim die? Who exactly killed him? The explanation is incredibly vague and not clearly laid out at all. So, in the end, the only thing that kept me reading was a disappointment.
The book had potential, but in the end just managed to annoy me and frustrate me. I really don't see myself picking up Round's next Dan Sharp mystery, unless the problems found in this one are fixed.
I have rather conflicting feelings about this book - on the one hand, I quite enjoyed the mystery it sets up and plays with throughout; however, on the other hand, I could not stand the grandiose and over the top philosophizing tone it took over and over again. Even more, I found so much in the book that I disliked that I found myself reading purely because I wanted something to redeem the book for more - and I hoped throughout that the resolution of the mystery would do that.
Overall, I found the book to be a messy, confused narrative that wanted to spend much more time on the tortured inner life of its protagonist than it did on the mystery that was supposed to be its backbone. The book, which came highly recommended, proved to be a utter disappointment.
What exactly was this book supposed to be? Was it a gritty crime thriller or a human interest piece about the protagonist's alcoholism - which he refuses to admit to at any point in the novel? Perhaps, if the book just played with these two angles, I would have been fine. But, oh no, the novel couldn't just have these two tensions, it had to take on a strange and unrealistic relationship for Dan Sharp early on, and then the even stranger relationship he develops with a man living on Maine Island in British Columbia.
Nothing about these relationships read true to me. I was annoyed and frustrated every time Dan started whining or philosophizing about the men in his life.
And then there was the relationship Dan had with his son, Ked. Another aspect of the book I found highly unbelievable. Round so wanted to draw parallels between the various father/son relationships throughout this book that Dan and Keds' relationship felt forced and weird. One moment Ked was a teenager dealing with very teenager problems, the next moment he seems more like a 30 year old man with Dan playing the part of the naughty teen. Plus there was the underdeveloped plot line between Ked and his best friend, who suddenly winds up the victim of a drive by shooting. This event gets barely 2 pages of text before it is completely forgotten and the next time we see Ked he is listening to his iPod and appears over the this trauma. What exactly was the point of this event? How did it move ANY of the dozen plot lines forward? Rather than talk about how this impacted Ked, Round seems perfectly happy to let Dan be affected by it. Which just reinforced Dan's already overworked selfish nature. It was needless and only earned another groan from me as I read.
Round's clear utter negative view of Toronto really stood out throughout the novel. This perspective, again, did nothing to advance the plot or really the characters - except make Dan totally unlikeable. By the time the novel ended I just wanted Dan to go away and stop hating on my beloved city.
Then there were the annoying sexual stereotypes littered throughout the novel. Gay men who act more like women. Gay men who are slutty and can't control themselves around sex. Gay men who only club, drink and do drugs. Gay men who have superficial conversations about nothing deep. Gay men who have father issues. Gay men who are only concerned about their public image. Gay men who are obsessed with large cocks. This was so poorly constructed, I nearly put the book down and dropped it in a library donation bin.
Which brings me to my next beef with the novel - Round's obsession with the size of Dan's genitals. I'm I am pretty sure if I went through and counted the number of times it is mentioned, either by other characters or by Dan himself, it would amount to at least two dozens. Why!? What point to the novel or plot did this have? Was this supposed to stand in for character development - if so, it is certainly the strangest and most uncomfortable character development I've ever seen. There was even a point when Dan while drunk (surprise surprise) and pissing in public stops to admire how big he is. HUH?
These are just some of the biggest issues I had with the book. But did they distract me from enjoying the mystery plot line? Well, actually, yes they did. These strange diversions from, what I thought was a very good mystery plot, left huge breaks in the narrative. I would get a hint of the mystery and then have to wait 2-3 chapters while Dan moaned and whined about his life while drinking until I got back to what I was actually interested in. And in the end, the mystery plot gets resolved without Dan being present. While he's pondering on his life, the denouement happens off screen and the reader walks in at the last moment to see the aftermath. On top of that, I felt, the actual resolution was too quickly explained. How did the victim die? Who exactly killed him? The explanation is incredibly vague and not clearly laid out at all. So, in the end, the only thing that kept me reading was a disappointment.
The book had potential, but in the end just managed to annoy me and frustrate me. I really don't see myself picking up Round's next Dan Sharp mystery, unless the problems found in this one are fixed.
shile87's review against another edition
4.0
Audiobook – 5 stars
Story - 3.85 stars
“I don’t think that’s — am I really that complex?”
“No, you’re that simple.”
This was some good messy shit.
Our main MC is Dan Sharp. Dan is a P.I, he specializes in Missing Persons cases. I loved Dan from the moment I started this book. Dan is one complex character. He is an amazing single Dad, he acts without thinking sometimes, he is funny, and sometimes he needs to be spanked for his stupid decisions. I freaking love him. He got issues on top of issues.
The writing is good, thought it was dangling around being soapy at times, good thing the author didn't cross that line. The story flowed so well, i liked some prose, other times not. We get to know the characters through Dan’s eyes. He is somehow an unreliable narrator but what I have come to learn is, they make the best stories. The characters felt so real and i loved the diversity.
The secondary characters were amazing. Donny! Dan’s friend. He was funny, knows how to dish it and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. We all need a Donny.
Ked! Dan’s son, I loved that he was just your typical teenager. His relationship with Dan was the best, what a wonderful, open, Dad/Son relationship.
The case was interesting, got me hooked and engaged until the end. Dan really needs to have his priorities straight. I did understand some of his actions, sometimes, we act out of anger then regret later. some of his actions were so realistic and hurtful.
As for the relationship, let’s just say, Dan needs lots of therapy before getting into any relationship. And i don't think even that will help.
Overall, I had a good time.
Story - 3.85 stars
“I don’t think that’s — am I really that complex?”
“No, you’re that simple.”
This was some good messy shit.
Our main MC is Dan Sharp. Dan is a P.I, he specializes in Missing Persons cases. I loved Dan from the moment I started this book. Dan is one complex character. He is an amazing single Dad, he acts without thinking sometimes, he is funny, and sometimes he needs to be spanked for his stupid decisions. I freaking love him. He got issues on top of issues.
The writing is good, thought it was dangling around being soapy at times, good thing the author didn't cross that line. The story flowed so well, i liked some prose, other times not. We get to know the characters through Dan’s eyes. He is somehow an unreliable narrator but what I have come to learn is, they make the best stories. The characters felt so real and i loved the diversity.
The secondary characters were amazing. Donny! Dan’s friend. He was funny, knows how to dish it and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. We all need a Donny.
Ked! Dan’s son, I loved that he was just your typical teenager. His relationship with Dan was the best, what a wonderful, open, Dad/Son relationship.
The case was interesting, got me hooked and engaged until the end. Dan really needs to have his priorities straight. I did understand some of his actions, sometimes, we act out of anger then regret later. some of his actions were so realistic and hurtful.
As for the relationship, let’s just say, Dan needs lots of therapy before getting into any relationship. And i don't think even that will help.
Overall, I had a good time.
suze_1624's review
4.0
Definitely on the grittier side of life, with references to Dan’s youth and current run aways, mental abuse, murder, drug addiction, alcoholism - you name, we had it here.
Dan is borderline not functioning - alcohol dependency, anger issues, bad family memories. So this is as much about him starting to claw his way out of his depression as it is about the murders on the lake.
I did enjoy the Toronto and surrounds descriptions as I have family there, lots of googling.
The two murders were kind of unresolved - we knew why, who and how in one but no body, we knew how but not really who in the other.
Dan’s current immediate family - son Ked, best friend Donny - struggle to make him see he needs help.
But we do end on a slightly upbeat note for Dan.
Will be getting the next one
Dan is borderline not functioning - alcohol dependency, anger issues, bad family memories. So this is as much about him starting to claw his way out of his depression as it is about the murders on the lake.
I did enjoy the Toronto and surrounds descriptions as I have family there, lots of googling.
The two murders were kind of unresolved - we knew why, who and how in one but no body, we knew how but not really who in the other.
Dan’s current immediate family - son Ked, best friend Donny - struggle to make him see he needs help.
But we do end on a slightly upbeat note for Dan.
Will be getting the next one
regencyfan93's review against another edition
3.0
The story kept drawing me along, though it took quite a while for me to see how the prologue fit with the current events. I didn't like Bill very much as was glad to see that he showed some loyalty eventually.
I received this from Book Reviews & More by Kathy.
I received this from Book Reviews & More by Kathy.
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