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Contrived
When Tyler, a Wall Street fund manager, comes to Dallas to attend his father's birthday party he finds his father murdered and a family member is the prime suspect, a series of murders and an intriguing story follows as Tyler goes on a crusade to find the killer as he loses his job, girlfriend and comes close to kissing his own death.
- GenresMystery
275 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 9, 2012
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38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 10, 2013
The storyline and plot was interesting in the novel. I believe the author has a good beginning in this work and has a good future ahead for him. I am one of those people who demands perfection in the books that I read and grimace when I see errors. If this novel had good editing, it would be an exceptional read because the author definitely has talent.
Jeannie Walker Award Winning Author
TRUE CRIME: "Fighting the Devil" - A True Story of Consuming Passion, Deadly Poison, and Murder
Jeannie Walker Award Winning Author
TRUE CRIME: "Fighting the Devil" - A True Story of Consuming Passion, Deadly Poison, and Murder
January 3, 2013
Contrived by Jay Deb is an interesting story. The premise, the youngest son of a supposed millionaire searching for the killer of his father and brothers, grabbed me from the beginning. The story kept my interest and at times had me turning the pages as fast as I could. However, at other times I had to reread sections to understand and try to find missing pieces.
I believe the author has a future, but also needs the use of an editor. There are many grammatical errors, fragmented sentences and missing words that an editor would find and fix. Also the storyline could use a little help. There are many places where more information about a location or a certain character would enhance the plot and overall feel of the book.
This being Deb’s first attempt at a novel gives me hope that with a little fine tuning he could have a great future.
That being said, I will give the plot and story a 4-star review, but must give the overall editing and feel of the book a 2-star rating. So if I average those out, Contrived gets a 3-star rating from this author.
I received a free copy of this book from the author for an honest review.
I believe the author has a future, but also needs the use of an editor. There are many grammatical errors, fragmented sentences and missing words that an editor would find and fix. Also the storyline could use a little help. There are many places where more information about a location or a certain character would enhance the plot and overall feel of the book.
This being Deb’s first attempt at a novel gives me hope that with a little fine tuning he could have a great future.
That being said, I will give the plot and story a 4-star review, but must give the overall editing and feel of the book a 2-star rating. So if I average those out, Contrived gets a 3-star rating from this author.
I received a free copy of this book from the author for an honest review.
January 14, 2013
Jay Deb's debut novel is a murder mystery of a millionaire who was killed and the youngest son searches for its killer. Tyler attends the birthday party of his father and a family member becomes a suspect as murder continues and his own life is in danger. There are believable characters in the story as well as dialougue. The vernacular of the different characters is good. Jennifer was my favorite character as she seemed like she had the most interesting personality.
I like the premise, but I have to be honest with my criticism. There is much work that needs to be done in terms of editing, with confusing sentences that I often had to reread to understand. There is too much dialogue and not enough describing scenes. I didn't really feel compassion for any of the characters. There were way too many characters introduced at once in the beginning, even harder when they have generic names.
All in all, I encourage Jay to keep writing and follow his passion. Seeing that this was a debut piece, I'll give this a three star.
I like the premise, but I have to be honest with my criticism. There is much work that needs to be done in terms of editing, with confusing sentences that I often had to reread to understand. There is too much dialogue and not enough describing scenes. I didn't really feel compassion for any of the characters. There were way too many characters introduced at once in the beginning, even harder when they have generic names.
All in all, I encourage Jay to keep writing and follow his passion. Seeing that this was a debut piece, I'll give this a three star.
August 3, 2013
This is an interesting storyline, a good debut novel that needed some fine tuning.
My take:
With a little bit of editing to eliminate the errors such as typos, fragmented sentences, missing words and repeated ones the flow of the saga would have been better, mistakes are always distracting for a reader. This aside the novel has good qualities. “Contrived” is a captivating read, a good storyline that grabbed interest from the start and can sustained it to the last page, I admit energetically tapping my reader for the next page. IMO, the characters were correctly portrayed to represent who they were, although I felt no empathy for any of them and dislike most of them. I wouldn't say it is dialogue driven but there are a lot of voices to keep track of. In all we have a great beginning and I would say Mr. Deb has definitely a talent with words, good job.
My take:
With a little bit of editing to eliminate the errors such as typos, fragmented sentences, missing words and repeated ones the flow of the saga would have been better, mistakes are always distracting for a reader. This aside the novel has good qualities. “Contrived” is a captivating read, a good storyline that grabbed interest from the start and can sustained it to the last page, I admit energetically tapping my reader for the next page. IMO, the characters were correctly portrayed to represent who they were, although I felt no empathy for any of them and dislike most of them. I wouldn't say it is dialogue driven but there are a lot of voices to keep track of. In all we have a great beginning and I would say Mr. Deb has definitely a talent with words, good job.
June 8, 2018
Normally, I love the debut novels of all authors .
That being said , while I found the mystery aspect of Contrived to be intriguing , the book as a whole leaves a lot to be desired . The depth of the book falls slightly short of a YA book and I don't think that was the intent . The time line of events isn't smooth and flows poorly . A few of the characters are well developed , but the events seem over the top after a while . Then there is the editing ....
I am not usually a stickler when it comes to minor issues in editing , but the problems with Contrived is distracting . I wish I had a dollar for every " the " that is missing ! I would be a rich gal ;-)
I do hope that Mr. Deb continues to write . I see promise for better things to come .
That being said , while I found the mystery aspect of Contrived to be intriguing , the book as a whole leaves a lot to be desired . The depth of the book falls slightly short of a YA book and I don't think that was the intent . The time line of events isn't smooth and flows poorly . A few of the characters are well developed , but the events seem over the top after a while . Then there is the editing ....
I am not usually a stickler when it comes to minor issues in editing , but the problems with Contrived is distracting . I wish I had a dollar for every " the " that is missing ! I would be a rich gal ;-)
I do hope that Mr. Deb continues to write . I see promise for better things to come .
August 1, 2014
Contrived - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
Tyler arrived in Dallas from New York to attend his father's 69th birthday party. His flight was late getting in, and he checked his watch - 9:05 p.m. - as he stepped off the plane. He had grown up in Dallas, but now lived in New York City with his girlfriend, Lisa. He had graduated Harvard cum laude and was working as a fund manager at a hotshot hedge fund company on Wall Street. He had not visited Dallas in three years. Lisa didn't like his family, particularly his dad and Tyler couldn't blame her. His dad alienated many in the family with his philandering nature. Over the years, Tyler felt as though he had been losing touch with his family. He was looking forward to this trip as a way to reconnect with his dad and his two brothers - Wolf and Ron.
What Tyler walked into was no longer a birthday party but a murder scene. Someone had been shot in the head in one of the upstairs bedrooms and Tyler's nephew Nick was the one to find the body. With blood on his shirt, he was also a suspect. Then came the 2nd murder.
This book takes you through so many possibilities. I shifted from one suspect to another with almost every chapter. I would convenience myself that I knew who did the killings and possibly why but seems I was wrong each time. This book will really keep you guessing. This is the 1st book I've read by Jay Deb but I hope it won't be my last.
Tyler arrived in Dallas from New York to attend his father's 69th birthday party. His flight was late getting in, and he checked his watch - 9:05 p.m. - as he stepped off the plane. He had grown up in Dallas, but now lived in New York City with his girlfriend, Lisa. He had graduated Harvard cum laude and was working as a fund manager at a hotshot hedge fund company on Wall Street. He had not visited Dallas in three years. Lisa didn't like his family, particularly his dad and Tyler couldn't blame her. His dad alienated many in the family with his philandering nature. Over the years, Tyler felt as though he had been losing touch with his family. He was looking forward to this trip as a way to reconnect with his dad and his two brothers - Wolf and Ron.
What Tyler walked into was no longer a birthday party but a murder scene. Someone had been shot in the head in one of the upstairs bedrooms and Tyler's nephew Nick was the one to find the body. With blood on his shirt, he was also a suspect. Then came the 2nd murder.
This book takes you through so many possibilities. I shifted from one suspect to another with almost every chapter. I would convenience myself that I knew who did the killings and possibly why but seems I was wrong each time. This book will really keep you guessing. This is the 1st book I've read by Jay Deb but I hope it won't be my last.
March 25, 2013
The author has got some good skills in writing , the quality of book for self published work surpasses than that of many Indian authors. The story failed to create an impact and the characters and the plot required quite an improvement. Overall a good attempt for debut.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews