Review: Expectations dashed
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 16, 2011
I read Dani's other book "Death by Sarcasm" and loved it. So I went back online and bought two more - "Dead Wood" and "Pound It Home". "Dead Wood" was highly rated so I expected something good. Unfortunately I am greatly disappointed. The Hero, John Rockne, is a pathological liar: he lies to himself, to his wife, to his sister, to the police, to his so-called best friend, to informants and witnesses. I think that only once in the entire book did he tell the truth and that was in the last 10 pages. In addition he is in general a bumbler. He makes some clever guesses but never foresees possible outcomes not does he take obvious precautions. He only survives because our author sends in impossibly unpredictable "reinforcements".I want my hero to be someone I admire and respect - and I don't object if he acts outside the law. But John Rockne has nothing to admire about him. He is an incompetent, spineless fool.The plot twists and turns with several sub-plots. If these sub-plots had been finalized the overall story could rate fairly highly. But they are all left hanging at the end. Who, why, and how are not explained about "the Spook"; nor is the full story of the singing star. Even worse, the story of the first death, Ben, is not tied off at all. All we have is the dark spectre of John's guilt pursuing him all through the book, and its connection to the rest of the story is never given (except for the murderer being the same).The ending itself I considered to be very weak and totally dissatisfying. Our bumbling hero wins out against the best assassin in the world who is allied with one of the most feared men linked to the Mob. Oh, come on!Then I thought maybe "Pound It Home" would make up for my disappointment. But I found it is a one-chapter erotic story! I thought Dani was a crime novelist so I had bought it without reading the individual reviews. As a piece of erotica it is good; but I was looking for a crime story. I would expect it to be specified as erotica, not listed with the crime novels.I feel gypped. I will be very loathe to buy another book by Dani.