Helpful Score: 1
I started reading this book after meeting the author in an online mystery group and then in person at a booksigning in a local mystery bookstore. At first I was worried, as after just a few pages, thought to myself, "Oh no! It's a MOB book!" Mob books and movies are definitely not my favorites. As in, I would not knowingly pick one up. LOL But I kept reading for a few more pages, and the next thing you know, I was coming up for air at the end of chapter nine! This is the best hardboiled PI mystery that I've read in a long time, mob book or no. PI Ray Dudgeon is a likable, if doomed character with a set of very interesting friends and acquaintances, some of whom are affiliated with the Chicago "Outfit" as we're told the Mafia are referred to there. Excellent book. Fast-paced, well-plotted and with well-fleshed characters, it's hard to believe that it's a first novel--and I'm not just saying that because the author is a nice guy, either! LOL
A good first book by the author that I was able get through quickly, and the author has set up a number of characters for a potential ongoing relationship. Unfortunately I read this book immediately after "Shadow Man" and I'm afraid this book may have been unfairly overwhelmed by "Shadow Man's" impression on me. Might be best to re-read this one in the future.
