Genre: Crime
Fiction
Description:
“When bodies start to turn up on the rich farmlands of Michigan’s
Thumb region, news reporter Nick Steele jumps on the trail of a serial killing
family from Bay City. The victims, who come from cities across mid-Michigan,
share one thing in common. As the reporter closes in on the murderous family,
the cold-blooded killers are stopped in their tracks by the unlikeliest of
smoking gun. Follow Nick Steele as he unravels the details of a murder wrapped
in a murder mystery in this fast-paced novel you won’t want to put down.”
Author:
“Dave Vizard is a former award winning newspaper and magazine writer
and editor. He has taught journalism and writing at the college level. Each of
his murder mysteries is rooted in Michigan and revolves around the exploits of
news reporter Nick Steele.”
Vizard and his wife live in Michigan’s Thumb region where his book
take place.
Appraisal:
This is the second Nick Steele book I’ve
read. My first (the fifth of Vizard’s books featuring Nick Steele) took place
in Key West, Florida, so this is my first time reading one that is happening in
Steele’s home territory. The rural area in what they call the “thumb” of
Michigan and the culture of that area figure into this story and make it
distinct from a lot of crime fiction or murder mysteries you might read.
Actually, the normal “mystery” in a book like this, the whodunit part, is
something the reader knows fairly early on in this book. But that doesn’t mean the
tension is over, both because we don’t know if the authorities are going to
figure who is committing the murders, on some level for part of the book the
reader might have ambiguous feelings as to whether they even want the murderer
caught.
All of this makes for an interesting read
that keeps the reader engaged throughout. Just to keep things interesting, a
teaser at the end might have you wishing for the next book in the series to
come quickly.
FYI:
Although this author has several books
featuring reporter Nick Steele, each book stands alone. Reading the prior books
isn’t necessary in order to understand what is going on in the current story.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
Format/Typo
Issues:
My review is based on a pre-publication copy and may not be reflective
of the final product, so I didn’t evaluate in this area.
Rating: ****
Four Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
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