Description: The back
cover tells us the book is narrated by Chet, the canine partner
of Bernie, an Arizona private detective. The team travels to
Washington DC to visit Bernie's girlfriend, a reporter working on a
big story she won't divulge. A source gets himself killed, and
Bernie is arrested. After he's released, he and Chet work to solve
the mystery.
Plot: The book is a bit
more gritty than my usual “light, fun read,” altho Chet is a
really funny narrator. The storyline is sufficiently complicated to
make for an interesting read. It wasn't really a who-done-it,
because Chet gives the “who” away with something he sees and
reports but doesn't know why it's important at the time. The process
of Bernie figuring out the “who” as well as the “why” was
interesting. The end included a somewhat-high-tension [altho not as
scary as many books I read] experience and a satisfying twist. The
main problem I had with the plot is that the triggering incident
[where the story question began], didn't happen until the end of
chapter 4. If Chet wasn't such a funny narrator, I may not have been
sufficiently interested to read through the end of chapter 4.
Characterization: The
characters are well-developed. Chet is really funny in what he
reports as important. He notices all the smells and sounds he
encounters, and gives the reader hints of things that Bernie doesn't
know about because he doesn't have a dog's keen sense of smell or
hearing. I wanted Bernie and Chet to succeed, altho the tension and
danger level wasn't as high as I expected from this grittier story.
Setting: Washington DC.
The descriptions were very good, I was able to picture every scene
without it being over-described.
Other: The narrator, Jim
Frangione, took a while to get used to. I heard sharp intakes of
breath frequently. In the beginning few chapters, his style kind of
grated on me, but as I got used to it, it did get better.
Overall: started too
slowly, but the humor carried it to where it really started. I would
read more by this author.
Grade: B+
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