Review: Police Procedural with a Psychological twist & real-life horror story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 31, 2012
This couldn't happen in real life. Innocent men don't get arrested for discovering their healthy, young, beloved wife has died in the night - a shock that would be hard to recover from, but to have her death ruled a murder and to be hauled off by the police before the medics have given up on her... well, I might have exaggerated the order of events here, but not by much. And, incredibly enough, something like this did happen in real life.This story begins with a a guilty-until-proven innocent mindset by police and neighbors, and our hero's quest for the truth is tense, agonizing and full of surprises.I rarely read procedurals or whodunnits, so my opinion of the plot itself may be irrelevant. The boxes in the attic, the subplot with a co-worker, the odd behavior of a counselor for suddenly single people - various scenes had me backing up and re-reading for clarity. I suspect it's just me, not the writer. As I said, "whodunnit" is not my category. That said, this novel kept me turning pages, wondering what Meeker was so hell bent on proving, and who the girl in -- well, I won't say more. Except to say that there had better be a sequel, because Bruce, by the end of the novel, still hasn't located the girl I'm not talking about here.BONUS: Roger Stark does indeed show up in this novel! Yay! Unfortunately, his role was much smaller than I'd have liked. And, Rick, I'm still waiting for you to bring Phil back....in a novel all his own. With more secrets than Heather ever hid in her box in the attic. See my review of Rick Bylina's ONE PROMISE TOO MANY if you wonder who Phil is...By the way, I read an Advanced Review Copy of this novel. It's the third Rick Blyina novel I've read and enjoyed.