THE CATCH by Michael Leese

2.5* Full of stilted, uncolloquial, non-contracted speech that belied any urgency in this tale.

I'm new to this series, which sounded pretty good, especially as Martha was a working mum and police officer. Unfortunately, I never felt any aspect of danger, as the whole posse seemed to drink endless tea, make meals together, sit around the kitchen table chatting, and the 6yo child came home from having been kept safe?? 

Harry was the most interesting character, reminding me of the Harry Brown character played by Sir Michael Caine in the film of the same name.

Dialogue was pretty awful and unrealistic. At the end of the tale, Martha's newly back ex-husband rushes to hug her and their daughter, saying 'I'm so pleased you are both safe.' - where's the passion, fright, relief? There's more, but this felt the most out of place. 

The physical telegraphing of Martha's plan of attack should've been obvious to an ex-copper like Green, after all, we'd been privy to his recollection of body language and what he'd been taught, and there's no way he'd have been distracted the way he was and allowed her to get the jump on him. Just no way. The tale fell apart in the final 5 pages, for me. It lost all credibility, especially where not a single one of the posse saw the writing on the wall when one character went awol just before their part in the plan extraordinaire that wasn't.

Unfortunately this book needs a good edit and dialogue needs to be looked at. No one talks like that, especially not as if there's all the time in the world. 

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Joffe Books for my reading pleasure. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE SECOND GRAVE by Jeffrey B Burton

 4* Good intro to this series, and it didn't matter that I'm late to the party. This is an engrossing and engaging tale, partly because of the dynamics of the brother-sister duo, partly because of the brother's telling of the tale, partly because of the storyline but mostly because there are dogs in it, dogs that save the day, literally, and that don't get hurt. It's easy to start and there's enough told that I didn't find myself wondering about the previous book. It's quite fast paced and Cory is unaffected and literal and his 'voice' is youthful and believable and carries the tale well. The storyline is sad at the start, but that's just a facilitator for the plot, which is a good one. A sad one for some of the people involved, and boy is it good that justice of a sort, the type I find satisfying when someone's gotten away with something for too long, got done. 'Al' definitely deserved what they got. But those involved in the dec...
Read more

ALWAYS YOU AND ME by Dani Atkins

5* Even though I don't believe in HEAs anymore, this book had me crying because of THAT ending. I'm going to try and review without spoilering, but ugh, I started the book almost in tears and ended it in actual tears, and with hope that sometimes love does last.  This book is so much more than a second chance at love. It's about loving and loved but flawed characters whose lives with each other had their time, and when that time was gone, the love continued. Like Finn and Matt by Charlie Winters, this is a book I loved but won't ever read again. A part of me can't believe the author went there with the ending, but another part of me, the romantic-but-hurt part, wants to believe in the power of everlasting love.  ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my reading pleasure. 
Read more

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by Mike Gayle

3* A pleasant enough 15-minute deckchair read. This isn't a deep novel with a big plot, but pretty much what the blurb offers. I didn't feel much for either character but the tale ended well for both - not going to spoiler, but it wasn't what I expected and it didn't quite ring true. 
Read more