Review: good quick read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 29, 2011
I enjoy Scott Nicholson's short stories just about as much as I do his full length novels.In Crime Beat we get a new reporter taking a job at a sleepy town newspaper.  The paper has a circulation of about 3000  people doing the usual 'small town reporting'.  Bake sales, obituaries, ground breakings, slice of life of stuff.  When John Morentz comes on the scene however, things in the town change.  There's suddenly news to report..big news...grisly news...serial killer news..John is always one step ahead of the police on the investigations...does he know something?  Is he on the up and up?Some good twists and turns in this one although I found the end to be a little on the sudden side.  Still, Nicholson packs a lot of story into his novellas and it's enjoyable as always.Included with this was the short story Do You Know Me Yet which was sort and entertaining.  About a paranoid self proclaimed 'idea man' and novelist who hasn't written anything yet because certain famous authors steal his ideas and beat him to the punch.  The supposed idea thieves are never named for 'legal' reasons but it's pretty obvious who the narrator is talking about which makes it actually pretty funny.Good stuff all around!