Murder Book
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3.8 • 22 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
An ex-cop takes on a widespread criminal organization targeting midwestern towns in this new thriller from the author of The Old Man
When a sudden crime wave hits several small midwestern towns, the US Attorney for the region calls on Harry Duncan to investigate. An ex-cop known for his unorthodox methods, Duncan is reluctant to go up against a widespread criminal organization—but the attorney in question is Ellen Leicester, the wife who left him fifteen years earlier, and to her, he can't say no.
Initially brought in as a consultant to determine if the racketeering is severe enough to require an all-out investigation by the FBI, Duncan quickly finds himself in conflict with a syndicate far more violent than first suspected. As the investigation develops, he begins compiling a "murder book," the notebook in which a detective keeps records, interviews, photos—everything he needs to build his case. But his scrutiny of the gang soon makes Duncan a target. And Ellen, too.
A thrilling and suspenseful tour of crime-addled midwestern towns, Murder Book is signature Thomas Perry, with characters you won't soon forget, crisply-described action sequences, and breathlessly-tense plotting.
Customer Reviews
A middling take on a mob crime plot
The plot is a new take on mob conspiracy plots, with a touch of the village vs invaders conflict you’d see in Westerns and Kurasawa films with an interesting use of new technology to solve modern crimes.
Overall it’s a great first draft but it needs a lot of work. I can tell where the author wanted to put it down but then felt like it needed to be longer to tie up loose ends.
The characters are flat and get flatter as more are introduced, the antagonists aren’t explored and the side characters feel mostly forgotten by the author as well as the protagonist. Perspectives will change on a dime and you wonder why you’re suddenly getting a new character’s thoughts after just getting another person’s a sentence earlier.
Tension isn’t built in a meaningful way as all conflicts are either handled quickly or are easily avoided within the same paragraph as it was introduced. It’s as if this was a script for a low budget streaming series that couldn’t afford a choreographed fight scene or the blanks for a shootout. Not that all conflicts need action but they have multiple setups for fights and largely it’s avoided. Stakes are risen constantly with no satisfying release of tension, feels like dumb luck rather than smarts which can be fun but it happens too often and feels forgettable, like most of the plot.