Rating: 1 Star
Source: NetGalley
Description: Disgraced lawyer and bookstore owner Michael Bevan is shocked when a little publicized auction of erotica sells for an exorbitant amount, he's more shocked when he notices a fellow dealer stealing a book from the collection and even more shocked when that dealer ends up dead.
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: The bookstore angle got me again. Please stop letting me pick books out solely because they involve a bookstore or library. It's not working for me right now.
My Impression:
Pros: I enjoyed the book talk with the mention of different editions of books both in the erotica genre and not. I found some of the information about Hemingway's book habits interesting. The pacing was good so this was a fairly fast read. The main character actually behaves logically at some points by hiring a lawyer when he realizes there is substantial evidence against him for the murder of Gareth.
Cons: I really didn't like Michael or find him in anyway sympathetic. While I don't have to like the characters in the books I read there has to be something that appeals to me and this book really just never did that. The people were unlikable, I didn't find the plot particularly intriguing and I really was fine with Michael going to jail for Gareth's murder innocent or not. Every character had either an unpleasant back story with Michael (his employees, his daughter, his lawyer's wife) or a kind of twisted back story of their own (the elderly dominatrix, the desperate has-been movie star) and it just got to be a bit too much.
Overall: While this was well written neither the plot or the characters intrigued or appealed to me.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Despite not really liking this one it did move quickly and with a more appealing story line I think the author would be worth trying again.
Would I Recommend this Book?: No
No thanks, not for me. Thanks for sharing your honest opinion though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd have been sucked in by the bookstore angle and I'd have had a hard time with the people being unlikable too. They have to grab me in some way, give me a reason to care about them.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been hearing such great things about this book recently, so know you are not alone. It's too bad because the premise sounds interesting enough.
ReplyDelete