Review: Give it a go!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 17, 2012
Main character Liam is from the typical immigrant neighborhood. He's of Irish decent and his mother expects her boys home every Sunday for family dinner. His father is a retired police officer, one brother is a priest, one a businessman, and one of course following in the old man's footsteps. Liam was expected to be the boxer of the family. Much to his father's chagrin he graduates with an Art Degree. He gets caught up in the wrong crowd and ends up using his talents forging paintings. He gets busted and does some time in the pen. Being an ex-con doesn't leave a lot open to him. He's on probation and banned from picking up a paint brush.A childhood friend, Nora's father, takes him under his wing and gives him a job as a PI for his insurance firm. Liam takes cases and makes sure everything is on the up and up or bust people trying to scam the insurance company. The opening is of him busting a biker that was supposedly dead and his "old lady" was waiting to cash in on his life insurance. He lays the biker and the biker's friend out cold in a pool hall when they try to use his head as a baseball with a pool cue.He gets a case of a painting robbery that is just a bit hinkey. While going around to question witnesses to the crime he is jumped by tough guys, picked up for lunch with the local mob boss, and other exciting run ins. And he's fighting his love for long time "BF" Nora. He's always been in love for her, but never thought he was good enough for her. So, he settles for being best friends with her. But how does Nora really feel?This was a really fun book for me. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is, but this book reminds me a bit of reading my fave Nero Wolfe novels. There is something about Liam that reminds me of Archie Baldwin from those novels. They just share that same "feel" for me. I LOVE those books. If you are a fan of Nero's I would definitely suggest reading this book to you. If you haven't had the privilege to read any of Rex Stout's Nero books and enjoy this one I would suggest you go to the local library and give those a go. Either way, I would definitely give this a go.