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A review by naonao
Sunrise Highway by Peter Blauner
3.0
Very uneven, but interesting and well done in parts.
The author clearly has good intentions, and a gripping, interesting yarn to tell. The story and idea of a criminal and killer who walks among the "good guys" and the idea of the "Thin Blue Line" have fractures along race and gender is something that drew me to this book. I like mysteries that take place over long spans of time, as this did.
The problem is...the author has NO idea how to write convincing non male, non white characters. The motivations and characterizations seemed flat and stereotyped to me in many ways. Side characters felt 2-D (an aging prostitute who's a world weary trailer park denzien, the worn out DA who's under the criminal's thumb, the Big Bad who's a psychopath, the runway drug abuser Latina character, etc).
I also felt the plot zipped along until the confrontation, when it felt forced and rushed to me. I also really dislike when a villain gets a "sidekick" late in the plot basically to plug plot holes and shore up the story and action.
Overall, a decent "plane/airport" read, but not one of the best efforts out there.
The author clearly has good intentions, and a gripping, interesting yarn to tell. The story and idea of a criminal and killer who walks among the "good guys" and the idea of the "Thin Blue Line" have fractures along race and gender is something that drew me to this book. I like mysteries that take place over long spans of time, as this did.
The problem is...the author has NO idea how to write convincing non male, non white characters. The motivations and characterizations seemed flat and stereotyped to me in many ways. Side characters felt 2-D (an aging prostitute who's a world weary trailer park denzien, the worn out DA who's under the criminal's thumb, the Big Bad who's a psychopath, the runway drug abuser Latina character, etc).
I also felt the plot zipped along until the confrontation, when it felt forced and rushed to me. I also really dislike when a villain gets a "sidekick" late in the plot basically to plug plot holes and shore up the story and action.
Overall, a decent "plane/airport" read, but not one of the best efforts out there.