Review: Great cliffhanger
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 15, 2014
Ex-army Ranger, cop David Wolf, in the middle of an investigation in Rocky Points, Colorado, learns his brother John was murdered in Italy but the local police have ruled it as a suicide. So, without knowing a word in Italian, he travels to Lake Como to investigate, and gets mixed up with an international crime cartel.Foreign Deceit is great escape fiction written in the tough guy style of James Patterson. A fast-paced cliffhanger. I was racing though it until the wee hours to see whoudunit. The conclusion took me by surprise, though clues were embedded throughout the story. I loved the idea of an American cowboy cop meets the Italian carabinieri, and the story within a story framework (plot, sub-plot). So, I was willing to overlook the fact that the protagonist couldn't really solve a crime in one week in Italy.It's clear that the author has spent time in Colorado and the Italian Alps, and his veracity shines through in his writing. There's wit and intelligence. No fluff n' stuff; lean meat-and-potatoes prose. But too many awkward sentences spoiled the flow--especially in the scene where Connell tries to kill Wolf. Inadvertently comedic: "There were definitely three pairs of shoes pointing up the trail.." made me laugh. Shoeprints?But Jeff Carson's new professional editor missed a few errors and typos. Wrong words and verbs: "Burton...had...given over the reigns to Wolf" and "Rossi took the reigns...". Reins, Dude. Reins. A horse bridle has reins, a king reigns. "Wolf laid back fast, grabbed underneath the log," and "He laid back and rolled..." Laid? Really? Cluck, cluck, cluck. How about "leaned"? She..."laid down some coins.." is OK, but how about "tossed"? Avoid the layed/laid controversy altogether. (Lie is intransitive. lie, lay, lain (animate); lay is transitive. lay, laid, laid (inanimate)--two different verbs.)Weak words: Jeff repeatedly used the word "property" several times, when he should've used "grounds" to describe the observatory setting. It's not a real estate listing up for sale.There are other level words besides 'flat."Wrong punctuation. "No dad." needs to be capitalized to "No, Dad" when it's a direct address. (Otherwise, it means he has no dad!). "My dad" (a generic noun) is lower case.Jeff also needlessly capitalized generic nouns, (the Upper trail). Needs another edit.Amazing first novel debut. I look forward to reading The Silversmith (David Wolf #2), Alive and Killing (David Wolf #3), and Deadly Conditions (David Wolf #4). David Wolf is an interesting, compelling character.