Friday, August 5, 2016

Robert B. Parker's Slow Burn by Ace Atkins [Book recommendation]


Book obtained from: Library New Books shelf, audio book

Description:  The previous year, a fire at a boarded-up Catholic church killed three firefighters.  Now, at the one-year anniversary, a surviving firefighter not satisfied with the official conclusion asks Boston PI Spenser to investigate.

Plot:  Spenser investigates the church fire at the same time as a series of arson fires plagues the city.  As Spenser gets closer to the truth, the arson fires increase in number and intensity.  The author includes several chapters in the villain's POV, so the reader knows the answer, but it is still interesting to learn how Spenser figures it out.

Characterization:  This appears to be a book written by an author using the characters and setting created by an original author who is now deceased.  Amazon indicates it is book 44 in the series.  There were a few places where characters were not well-developed, like the author expected the reader to know who these people were because they had read previous books.  I haven't read any previous books in this series, so in those places it took a few pages before I figured out what was going on.  Readers who have read the original author's books will presumably know these characters from the previous books.

Setting:  Boston.  Nicely described.

Other:  There was quite a bit of foul language in this book, some of which I don't believe was necessary to the story.  The book was narrated by Joe Mantegna and he was really good.

Overall:  Good story.  It's always interesting when the reader knows who the “bad guys” are, to learn how the main character figures it out.

Grade: B+


No comments:

Post a Comment