"Misc. Monday": The Monticello Project by Paul Snare

Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller. 262 pages

Price: $ 8.99 ebook, $11.66 paperback (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Paul Snare. September 17, 2014

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating: 

Price I Paid: Zip,**I received a free copy in return for an honest review**

My Rating: 

My Thoughts:  Highly Narrative Crime Novel

       The story was vey complex mixed with an array of characters and their situations. The story was narrated in both a first person sleuth noir sort of way and then third person perspective to enhance the story and characters.

      The protagonist is Jon Scott who is a thirty something man who works as an advisor to the manager at the Monticello's Project. However, what he is real objective on the site is to weed out the scams that pop up during big construction projects, as greed happens when money is around. What shakes up this job for Jon is when a sub contractor is caught up in distributing cocaine, the murder of a state trooper and all that connects to the project in some way making it Jon's concern. The FBI and DEA end pulling Jon into their case as an investigative asset to help solve the crimes surrounding the Monticello's Project. 

      Overall, the book was okay, it wasn't spectacular but okay and it was a lot to read. I could definitely tell the author knew his stuff and was all about letting his readers be well informed. The story was very "he said, she said" kind of a story. And the tone stayed very steady not too dramatic till the end. The plot flowed relatively well, though it switched from present to past and between 1st and 3rd perspective all in an effort to flush out the story for readers to get the whole picture. Also there was a bit of romance between Jon and a woman named Kathy Sullivan, but it felt really forced at the beginning, actually it felt very awkward. The reason was the character's voices all sounded the same as Jon's, so when Kathy and Jon flirted, it was very flat, not romantic. However, this is a crime novel, not a romance novel, so no one can fault the author for his lack of character chemistry, but I will say chapter 9 was awkward. In the end if you're looking for a story about a guy ferreting out crimes on a construction site who gets caught up in a situation more than his pay grade, this book would be good to try out.

"Misc. Monday": Mickey Outside by David Lender

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Fiction. 244 pages

Price: $4.99 ebook, $10.90 paperback (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Thomas & Mercer. April 1, 2014.

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating:  .8

Price I Paid: Zip, Due to Amazon First Prime Subscription.

My Rating:  

My Thoughts: White Collar Easy Read

       I rated this book 3 stars simply because it wasn't a terrible book it was just an okay book that took me a while to get into, but towards the end once the plan was enacted and the setup/character background was told the storyline became worth while to finish.

       Mickey is painted as this white collar criminal that just got sucked into the life of easy money when he fell into wall street schemes. He turned on his partner in order to get a plea deal and was sent to Yankton a minimum-security prison. It's there he learns his ex-wife, Rachel, is going to marry a slime-ball gallery owner named Goldstein, whom he realizes was possibly a reason he was sent to prison. Mickey finds Paul a fellow inmate who will need a new beginning once out and concocts an art forgery scheme that should set them up financially if all goes accordingly to plan. Especially since Mickey aims to win back his ex-wife while ruining Goldstein's reputation and financials.

       The writing style of this author is choppy at times and like I stated before the flow is a bit slow but once the plot is set up the story plays out well. The very end made it seem like there could be a sequel I'm not sure, perhaps that's just the authors writing style as I said Lender writes a bit choppy in going from scene to scene almost like a movie or a screenplay.

        Overall I enjoyed the book it was a light easy read that seemed very Ocean's, whatever number, mixed in with the fascination people seem to have with Wall Street and New York elite, who apparently have nothing better to do with their money then spend it on stolen artwork that they can't even show people in public but can only whisper about. The fact that the main characters had in fact been white collar criminals and then come together to rip off a traveling european fraud makes the book interesting, since your essentially cheering for criminals to win over the other criminal. But in the end like I said it was an easy read with a bit of thrill mixed in that kept the reader on edge, while you hope Mickey's plan works and they all have their HEA.