Review: Deep Mystery and Masterful Storytelling
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2014
This was a good one, let's start by saying that. From the first few pages, I could tell that I would enjoy the writing of this killer thriller. The most important thing for me when I read a book is the quality of the prose and the ability of an author to create a scene so vivid that I want to re-read descriptions because they are so tangible, packed with metaphors, and unique in a way that other author's have simply never thought of before. Every opportunity for beautiful writing was taken advantage of in this novel, but on top of that, the story was also fascinating and complex.Every few chapters, he would pull the reader into a deeper layer of this mystery, and I dutifully followed. Kenney and Mellor make a great team and their personalities create some sparkling dialogue and a realistic plot (despite how convoluted and high-stakes it is) that I really believed in. The book touched on so many interesting elements of human nature as well; calling this book one-dimensional would be a terrible mistake. I think that it would appeal to the vast majority of people, whether you are a suspense fiend, a character-hungry reader, or a reader that simply like to feel lost in the midst of a vast mystery full of twists and turns. I am pretty good at predicting where books are headed, but Belle Chasse kept me guessing. More importantly, I knew that the author wasn't predictable, but I was still encouraged to lay my own predictions on the prose, hoping to be right, but equally pleased when Lovejoy pulled the rug out and unveiled something that changed the game completely.All in all, this book must have taken an extreme level of outlining and thought before it got put on paper, which is the mark of a great mystery writer (and a great writer in general). I'll definitely be checking out more of Lovejoy's novels, as I can only imagine that they are just as well-crafted, entertaining, and exciting as this one.