Tuesday, July 16, 2013

REVIEW: Deep Blood

Title: Deep Blood
Genre: mystery
Price: $12.70 (paperback) / $7.69 (Kindle)
Publisher: Roundfire Books
ISBN978-1782791782
Point of Sale: Amazon
Reviewed by: Chris Gerrib

Deep Blood is Phillip Thompson’s third novel.  If his other two are anywhere near as good as this, I’ll have to add both to my list. 

Thompson, a Marine who served in the First Gulf War, was born and raised in a small town in Mississippi, and in Deep Blood he returns to those roots.  Deep Blood’s protagonist is Sam “Colt” Harper, a newly-elected sheriff in Lowndes County, Mississippi.  Colt was also a Marine, fought in Iraq and as sheriff he brought one of his Marine buddies in as deputy.  Oh, and Colt’s dad is the town’s drunk.

The story essentially starts with Colt finding a body in the local reservoir, that of Clifford Raines, a black teenager.  Figuring out who killed the boy is part of the story, as well as sorting out his personal life and family history.  Deep Blood is “southern-fried noir.”  It has that dark edge, with characters who most definitely aren’t saints, dealing with tough hands dealt them by life as best they can. 

I have to say that Thompson takes a dark view of race relationships, and his character’s language runs from salty to crude.  But then this is noir, not Disney, so one should expect that.  Having warned the sensitive reader, I have to say that I found Deep Blood a gripping read, and well worth the effort.  There’s a saying in vaudeville to “always leave your audience wanting more.”  Deep Blood is a short novel, and so I wanted more, but in a good way.

In short, for fans of hard-boiled crime novels, Deep Blood is a great read.  Highly recommended.


8/10

Sunday, July 14, 2013

REVIEW: Disconnect

Title: Disconnect: Book One of the Divided Worlds Trilogy
Author: Imran Siddiq
Genre: science fiction/YA
Price: Free (ebook)
Publisher: eBookPartnership.com
ISBN: B00B4ZE87G
Point of Sale: Amazon
Reviewed by: Psyche

Disconnect is a very readable YA dystopian story where a space station that has drifted far from its primary mission has divided into two entrenched classes.  Our hero, Zach, a lowly scavenger accidentally makes contact with a girl from the world above, just before their whole society begins to change. 

The fast pace and high stakes make this a very enjoyable story and there is an interesting twist at the end.  However, to me, the world building has implausible elements, the characters sometimes lack depth, and Zach gets a lucky break on several dozen occasions. So I ultimately had trouble with how Zach fell into his central role in the brewing revolution.

A lot of readers are probably not going to get hung up on those elements like I was so--so if you are looking for any easy-reading adventure with elements of sci fi and romance, this is probably a good book to choose.