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Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery #2
Two Time
The New York Times Book Review Sunday, June 4, 2006 CRIME / Marilyn Stasio (Recommended Summer Reading) Beaches are good places for brooding, you’ll have noticed, and Sam Acquillo, the protagonist pf Chris Knopf’s TWO TIME (Permanent Press, $26), is a world-class brooder. A dropout from the corporate world, Sam lives in a humble cottage on Little Peconic Bay in the Long Island resort town of Southampton, where he drinks a bit, fiddles with his 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix and from time to time pulls himself out of his habitual funk to run a quiet, intelligent investigation into local events that pique his curiosity—like the inexplicable firebomb attack on an investment adviser who was sitting in his Lexus in a restaurant parking lot. Knopf has a touch I like—cool, careful, reflective—and a great ear for the comic eccentricities of the human voice. Maybe it comes from sitting out on a deck, listening to the gulls squawk.
248 pages, Paperback
First published December 30, 2005
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June 8, 2012
Rating: 3.75* of five
The Book Report: Sam Acquillo, “retired” (fired for beating up a Fortune 500 stooge who wanted Sam to do unethical stuff) engineer turned curmudgeonly champion of the abused, is back. He's still licking his psychic wounds from The Last Refuge, where his problem-solving skills were used to bring some justice to the world of Southampton Town's unfashionable Bay-side Oak Point. Amanda, the cause of his suffering, owes him her freedom from the workaday world and a husband she didn't like; she really, in fact, owes his silence her absence of jail time.
What's a divorced, lonely, bored guy to do when he falls for a, well, a slightly shopworn angel? Wave bye-bye as she motors out of town, her criminal husband's money in her new suit, that's what. Gratitude, thy name is not Amanda.
But another fun benefit of doing the right thing is that local cop Joe Sullivan now has Sam and his problem-solving skills on the radar, and the fact that Sam is a former big shot with a fancy degree means to Joe that Sam can handle the moneyed elite better than Joe can. And he needs that skill right now.
See, somebody hated investment advisor Jonathan Eldridge enough to blow his narrow ass right up. Taking four innocent people with him.
Almost including Sam. Damaging Sam's pal Jackie enough to send her into months of plastic surgery. So Sam's not exactly unwilling to do the poking around Joe wants him to do, except for his ritual growls and grumbles about ungrateful, illegal, obnoxious...you know the stuff, you have to love at least one curmudgeon, all bark and no bite.
Sam gets to know the vaporized dude's wack-job wife, the sibling rivalry-ridden younger brother, the local up-island mobster, an FBI agent named Ig, and a selection of his billionaire buddy's fellow too-rich-to-steal set. Along the way, Jackie has more surgery to fix the damage the blast did, Joe gets stabbed in Sam's front yard, Sam beats the crap out of some stupid small-time muscle working for the mobster, and puzzles together the damnedest, most WTF solution to this nasty crime that you can't imagine.
Oh. Amanda comes home, and moves in next door to Sam. Like he doesn't have enough trouble.
My Review: I like noir novels. I like stuff set in places I know well. I like guys like Sam, who move through the world fixing shit somebody else broke because they can.
I like simple sentences telling exciting stories, and characters whose motivations aren't obscure or blatant, but grayscaled and textured. I like books that make the experience of reading them effortlessly fun.
I think it's a damn shame that Chris Knopf's name doesn't carry the same “oh, yeah!” response that Steve Berry's does. He deserves to. He writes well, he plots well (there are some holes in this tale, but not more than niggling ones I can't specify without serious spoilering, and some underused characters like Jackie and Ig mentioned above), he decides to tell a particular story and that's what he does from beginning through the middle to the end.
Need something to read for a summer afternoon? Want to be satisfied, at the end of the book, that Right was done? Read Two Time. Populist anti-hoity-toity tract that it is, no one goes home unscathed or unvindicated, and the privilege of the Privileged Class takes it on several of their chins.
The Book Report: Sam Acquillo, “retired” (fired for beating up a Fortune 500 stooge who wanted Sam to do unethical stuff) engineer turned curmudgeonly champion of the abused, is back. He's still licking his psychic wounds from The Last Refuge, where his problem-solving skills were used to bring some justice to the world of Southampton Town's unfashionable Bay-side Oak Point. Amanda, the cause of his suffering, owes him her freedom from the workaday world and a husband she didn't like; she really, in fact, owes his silence her absence of jail time.
What's a divorced, lonely, bored guy to do when he falls for a, well, a slightly shopworn angel? Wave bye-bye as she motors out of town, her criminal husband's money in her new suit, that's what. Gratitude, thy name is not Amanda.
But another fun benefit of doing the right thing is that local cop Joe Sullivan now has Sam and his problem-solving skills on the radar, and the fact that Sam is a former big shot with a fancy degree means to Joe that Sam can handle the moneyed elite better than Joe can. And he needs that skill right now.
See, somebody hated investment advisor Jonathan Eldridge enough to blow his narrow ass right up. Taking four innocent people with him.
Almost including Sam. Damaging Sam's pal Jackie enough to send her into months of plastic surgery. So Sam's not exactly unwilling to do the poking around Joe wants him to do, except for his ritual growls and grumbles about ungrateful, illegal, obnoxious...you know the stuff, you have to love at least one curmudgeon, all bark and no bite.
Sam gets to know the vaporized dude's wack-job wife, the sibling rivalry-ridden younger brother, the local up-island mobster, an FBI agent named Ig, and a selection of his billionaire buddy's fellow too-rich-to-steal set. Along the way, Jackie has more surgery to fix the damage the blast did, Joe gets stabbed in Sam's front yard, Sam beats the crap out of some stupid small-time muscle working for the mobster, and puzzles together the damnedest, most WTF solution to this nasty crime that you can't imagine.
Oh. Amanda comes home, and moves in next door to Sam. Like he doesn't have enough trouble.
My Review: I like noir novels. I like stuff set in places I know well. I like guys like Sam, who move through the world fixing shit somebody else broke because they can.
I like simple sentences telling exciting stories, and characters whose motivations aren't obscure or blatant, but grayscaled and textured. I like books that make the experience of reading them effortlessly fun.
I think it's a damn shame that Chris Knopf's name doesn't carry the same “oh, yeah!” response that Steve Berry's does. He deserves to. He writes well, he plots well (there are some holes in this tale, but not more than niggling ones I can't specify without serious spoilering, and some underused characters like Jackie and Ig mentioned above), he decides to tell a particular story and that's what he does from beginning through the middle to the end.
Need something to read for a summer afternoon? Want to be satisfied, at the end of the book, that Right was done? Read Two Time. Populist anti-hoity-toity tract that it is, no one goes home unscathed or unvindicated, and the privilege of the Privileged Class takes it on several of their chins.
September 9, 2020
Rating: 3.75* of five
The Publisher Says: Sam Acquillo – ex-boxer, ex-corporate executive and accidental hero of The Last Refuge – is back in this action-packed, page-turning sequel. All Sam wants to do is hammer a few nails into his ramshackle cottage, drink a great deal of vodka, hang out with his dog, Eddie, and stay out of trouble. But trouble seems to find him anyway. When a car bomb outside a trendy waterfront restaurant kills a prominent financial consultant and injures Sam and his lawyer friend Jackie Swaitkowski, he is drawn into the investigation. Where the police have met roadblocks, Sam makes inroads with his trademark wit, instinct and charm. Also, he just wants to know: Why would someone go to such lengths not only to kill someone, but annihilate them?
Set, once again, against the backdrop of Southampton, Long Island, Two Time is full of moody sunsets, beachfront properties and beautiful people with an extraordinary amount of money and very dangerous secrets.
My Review: Sam Acquillo, “retired” (fired for beating up a Fortune 500 stooge who wanted Sam to do unethical stuff) engineer turned curmudgeonly champion of the abused, is back. He's still licking his psychic wounds from The Last Refuge, where his problem-solving skills were used to bring some justice to the world of Southampton Town's unfashionable Bay-side Oak Point. Amanda, the cause of his suffering, owes him her freedom from the workaday world and a husband she didn't like; she really, in fact, owes his silence her absence of jail time.
What's a divorced, lonely, bored guy to do when he falls for a, well, a slightly shopworn angel? Wave bye-bye as she motors out of town, her criminal husband's money in her new suit, that's what. Gratitude, thy name is not Amanda.
But another fun benefit of doing the right thing is that local cop Joe Sullivan now has Sam and his problem-solving skills on the radar, and the fact that Sam is a former big shot with a fancy degree means to Joe that Sam can handle the moneyed elite better than Joe can. And he needs that skill right now.
See, somebody hated investment advisor Jonathan Eldridge enough to blow his narrow ass right up. Taking four innocent people with him.
Almost including Sam. Damaging Sam's pal Jackie enough to send her into months of plastic surgery. So Sam's not exactly unwilling to do the poking around Joe wants him to do, except for his ritual growls and grumbles about ungrateful, illegal, obnoxious...you know the stuff, you have to love at least one curmudgeon, all bark and no bite.
Sam gets to know the vaporized dude's wack-job wife, the sibling rivalry-ridden younger brother, the local up-island mobster, an FBI agent named Ig, and a selection of his billionaire buddy's fellow too-rich-to-steal set. Along the way, Jackie has more surgery to fix the damage the blast did, Joe gets stabbed in Sam's front yard, Sam beats the crap out of some stupid small-time muscle working for the mobster, and puzzles together the damnedest, most WTF solution to this nasty crime that you can't imagine.
Oh. Amanda comes home, and moves in next door to Sam. Like he doesn't have enough trouble.
I like noir novels. I like stuff set in places I know well. I like guys like Sam, who move through the world fixing shit somebody else broke because they can.
I like simple sentences telling exciting stories, and characters whose motivations aren't obscure or blatant, but grayscaled and textured. I like books that make the experience of reading them effortlessly fun.
I think it's a damn shame that Chris Knopf's name doesn't carry the same “oh, yeah!” response that Steve Berry's does. He deserves to. He writes well, he plots well (there are some holes in this tale, but not more than niggling ones I can't specify without serious spoilering, and some underused characters like Jackie and Ig mentioned above), he decides to tell a particular story and that's what he does from beginning through the middle to the end.
Need something to read for a summer afternoon? Want to be satisfied, at the end of the book, that Right was done? Read Two Time. Populist anti-hoity-toity tract that it is, no one goes home unscathed or unvindicated, and the privilege of the Privileged Class takes it on several of their chins.
The Publisher Says: Sam Acquillo – ex-boxer, ex-corporate executive and accidental hero of The Last Refuge – is back in this action-packed, page-turning sequel. All Sam wants to do is hammer a few nails into his ramshackle cottage, drink a great deal of vodka, hang out with his dog, Eddie, and stay out of trouble. But trouble seems to find him anyway. When a car bomb outside a trendy waterfront restaurant kills a prominent financial consultant and injures Sam and his lawyer friend Jackie Swaitkowski, he is drawn into the investigation. Where the police have met roadblocks, Sam makes inroads with his trademark wit, instinct and charm. Also, he just wants to know: Why would someone go to such lengths not only to kill someone, but annihilate them?
Set, once again, against the backdrop of Southampton, Long Island, Two Time is full of moody sunsets, beachfront properties and beautiful people with an extraordinary amount of money and very dangerous secrets.
My Review: Sam Acquillo, “retired” (fired for beating up a Fortune 500 stooge who wanted Sam to do unethical stuff) engineer turned curmudgeonly champion of the abused, is back. He's still licking his psychic wounds from The Last Refuge, where his problem-solving skills were used to bring some justice to the world of Southampton Town's unfashionable Bay-side Oak Point. Amanda, the cause of his suffering, owes him her freedom from the workaday world and a husband she didn't like; she really, in fact, owes his silence her absence of jail time.
What's a divorced, lonely, bored guy to do when he falls for a, well, a slightly shopworn angel? Wave bye-bye as she motors out of town, her criminal husband's money in her new suit, that's what. Gratitude, thy name is not Amanda.
But another fun benefit of doing the right thing is that local cop Joe Sullivan now has Sam and his problem-solving skills on the radar, and the fact that Sam is a former big shot with a fancy degree means to Joe that Sam can handle the moneyed elite better than Joe can. And he needs that skill right now.
See, somebody hated investment advisor Jonathan Eldridge enough to blow his narrow ass right up. Taking four innocent people with him.
Almost including Sam. Damaging Sam's pal Jackie enough to send her into months of plastic surgery. So Sam's not exactly unwilling to do the poking around Joe wants him to do, except for his ritual growls and grumbles about ungrateful, illegal, obnoxious...you know the stuff, you have to love at least one curmudgeon, all bark and no bite.
Sam gets to know the vaporized dude's wack-job wife, the sibling rivalry-ridden younger brother, the local up-island mobster, an FBI agent named Ig, and a selection of his billionaire buddy's fellow too-rich-to-steal set. Along the way, Jackie has more surgery to fix the damage the blast did, Joe gets stabbed in Sam's front yard, Sam beats the crap out of some stupid small-time muscle working for the mobster, and puzzles together the damnedest, most WTF solution to this nasty crime that you can't imagine.
Oh. Amanda comes home, and moves in next door to Sam. Like he doesn't have enough trouble.
I like noir novels. I like stuff set in places I know well. I like guys like Sam, who move through the world fixing shit somebody else broke because they can.
I like simple sentences telling exciting stories, and characters whose motivations aren't obscure or blatant, but grayscaled and textured. I like books that make the experience of reading them effortlessly fun.
I think it's a damn shame that Chris Knopf's name doesn't carry the same “oh, yeah!” response that Steve Berry's does. He deserves to. He writes well, he plots well (there are some holes in this tale, but not more than niggling ones I can't specify without serious spoilering, and some underused characters like Jackie and Ig mentioned above), he decides to tell a particular story and that's what he does from beginning through the middle to the end.
Need something to read for a summer afternoon? Want to be satisfied, at the end of the book, that Right was done? Read Two Time. Populist anti-hoity-toity tract that it is, no one goes home unscathed or unvindicated, and the privilege of the Privileged Class takes it on several of their chins.
October 29, 2011
Sam Acquillo and Eddie are back in Long Island, New York. So are other recognizable characters and a whole new set of thugs, victims, and bizarre cast members.
Eddie is fairly low key this time. He is still shagging balls, but Sam must be bored of talking about it. Still his behavior with the Shih Tzu, during his boat excursion and his fickleness when a treat is around, is all canine.
Chris Knopf knows how to tell a good story. Sailing in Little Peconic Bay, I could hear the flap of the canvas and feel the water spray across my sun-burned face. I will be waiting in Sam’s Adirondack chair for the next Southampton sunset...oh, and his solution to the mystery.
Eddie is fairly low key this time. He is still shagging balls, but Sam must be bored of talking about it. Still his behavior with the Shih Tzu, during his boat excursion and his fickleness when a treat is around, is all canine.
Chris Knopf knows how to tell a good story. Sailing in Little Peconic Bay, I could hear the flap of the canvas and feel the water spray across my sun-burned face. I will be waiting in Sam’s Adirondack chair for the next Southampton sunset...oh, and his solution to the mystery.
July 27, 2021
Just not for me. Should be great to other readers.
May 9, 2017
A good follow up to the strong debut The Last Refuge. The plot seemed a bit over complicated but I did like how Sam used his engineering skills to solve problems and enjoyed the Southhampton setting.
December 25, 2015
This was actually my first mystery, action book and I am glad my cousin gave it to me because I am now into these genres.
Okay so this took me six months to finish it. SIX MONTHS!
At first it didn't spark my interest, there were long parts in this book where I was just bored and all I wanted it to do was put it down.
But I have to admit that the end satisfied me, I am a huge fan of unexpected endings and fortunately this was the case with 'Two Time'.
Although there were some uninteresting parts, I was fond of the characters, I loved Sam and Jackie. I also liked the relationship between Amanda and Sam. Almost all the characters are so real, quirky and developed. Not to mention that I loved the descriptions in this book, they are so rich and interesting.
This was my first 'Chris Knopf' book and it surely won't be my last. Looking forward to reading more of his books.
Okay so this took me six months to finish it. SIX MONTHS!
At first it didn't spark my interest, there were long parts in this book where I was just bored and all I wanted it to do was put it down.
But I have to admit that the end satisfied me, I am a huge fan of unexpected endings and fortunately this was the case with 'Two Time'.
Although there were some uninteresting parts, I was fond of the characters, I loved Sam and Jackie. I also liked the relationship between Amanda and Sam. Almost all the characters are so real, quirky and developed. Not to mention that I loved the descriptions in this book, they are so rich and interesting.
This was my first 'Chris Knopf' book and it surely won't be my last. Looking forward to reading more of his books.
November 21, 2019
Audiobook review. Narrator Stefan Rudnicki once again is the perfect voice for this, the second novel featuring a most unusual protagonist in this murder mystery. Set in the Hamptons, with plenty of regular folks plus some wealthy ones, it’s as clever as the first novel, and even better written. There are some fun twists, and Sam’s dog, Eddie, is always a welcome addition to the story.
There are some blue streaks of profanity, a bit of sex but nothing graphic, and no graphic violence. There are several descriptions of blue oceans, sandy beaches, tides, and sounds of the waves that may have you booking a flight to your favorite beach (or settling for that Ocean Sounds track) though.
There are some blue streaks of profanity, a bit of sex but nothing graphic, and no graphic violence. There are several descriptions of blue oceans, sandy beaches, tides, and sounds of the waves that may have you booking a flight to your favorite beach (or settling for that Ocean Sounds track) though.
January 26, 2017
I had some trouble getting into this mystery, but ultimately I enjoyed it. It's set in the Hamptons and features life-long Long Islander Sam Acquillo, former boxer, former engineer, in his second appearance. I got a little tired of hearing our authors views on everything, thinly disguised as Acquillo's, but I did enjoy the engineer's take on problems large and small.
January 8, 2018
This the second in a series with character Sam Acquillo. It was a good story, clever verbage, good descriptions of where it took place and other characters involved. I will continue on in this series. But........sometimes it gets so "wordy" that i find myself skimming thru parts that don't affect the plot. Shame on me, but hope with the next one I am drawn in completely.
October 5, 2021
The 2nd Sam Acquillo mystery.
I enjoyed this one much more than the 1st one.
This story fills out Jackie Swaotkowski's story-she gets her own series and the events in this novel are referred to a lot.
Sam sees a car bomb go off.
He is soon investigating why....
I loved the characters in this story.
Sam is much easier to like, in this second novel.
I enjoyed this one much more than the 1st one.
This story fills out Jackie Swaotkowski's story-she gets her own series and the events in this novel are referred to a lot.
Sam sees a car bomb go off.
He is soon investigating why....
I loved the characters in this story.
Sam is much easier to like, in this second novel.
April 2, 2018
It took a long time to get through this book ... did not want to bail on it but the writing is very dense and time consuming to digest ... not sure I want to continue with series but still interested in sam acquillo character
September 9, 2019
Loving this series
Really good "who done it", with good strong main characters.
As a retired journalist...I catch errors in the lay out...hope Chris catches them, too...and gets then fixed.
Keep writing.
Really good "who done it", with good strong main characters.
As a retired journalist...I catch errors in the lay out...hope Chris catches them, too...and gets then fixed.
Keep writing.
August 22, 2022
I listened to this and again, half the fun is the narrator. I see he's not narrating the next one, so who knows if I will listen. The story was great, but I feel like it got wrapped up too fast. Happens alot!
June 12, 2018
Continue to like this character and the Eastern Long Island setting.
October 14, 2019
One of the 13 best mysteries I read in 2006.
October 2, 2021
Dnf, too slow for me.
February 4, 2022
4.25 stars
April 2, 2022
I enjoyed the first one, this one not so much. Probably won't continue the series.
July 6, 2023
Trying to write a review on my phone is hard.
Just gonna say it was a great book. Have read several by this author and will continue to read more
Just gonna say it was a great book. Have read several by this author and will continue to read more
December 5, 2007
TWO TIME (Traditional Mystery/Amateur Sleuth-Sam Acquillo-Long Island, NY-Cont) – G+
Knopf, Chris – 2nd in series
The Permanent Press, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 1579621295
First Sentence: Sometimes at sunset over the East End of Long Island God plays artist, spraying pinky red paint all over the sky.
*** Sam Acquillo is a retired engineer and ex-boxer living in East Hampton, Long Island. While at a restaurant, Sam sees a man, financial consultant, get into his car, answer his cell phone and be firebomed to the point of evaporation and severely injuring Sam’s lady friend.. Sam, informally assisting his friend and cop, Joe Sullivan, finds the victim’s agoraphobic widow, obstructive attorney, strange artist brother and mother who has been virtually abandoned in a senior’s home. But Sam also find a possible relationship with his neighbor, Amanda.
*** What makes this book different from others is the perspective of an engineer’s approach to solving a murder, as well as the protagonist living in the Hamptons, but not being among the moneyed set. Sam is an interesting character who has grown since the first book. Knopf knows how to create diverse characters and has a great ear for dialogue. I enjoyed the setting but found it read a bit like MapQuest at times with all the exact directions. Still, Knopf is an interesting writer and I’m definitely looking forward to his third book.
Knopf, Chris – 2nd in series
The Permanent Press, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 1579621295
First Sentence: Sometimes at sunset over the East End of Long Island God plays artist, spraying pinky red paint all over the sky.
*** Sam Acquillo is a retired engineer and ex-boxer living in East Hampton, Long Island. While at a restaurant, Sam sees a man, financial consultant, get into his car, answer his cell phone and be firebomed to the point of evaporation and severely injuring Sam’s lady friend.. Sam, informally assisting his friend and cop, Joe Sullivan, finds the victim’s agoraphobic widow, obstructive attorney, strange artist brother and mother who has been virtually abandoned in a senior’s home. But Sam also find a possible relationship with his neighbor, Amanda.
*** What makes this book different from others is the perspective of an engineer’s approach to solving a murder, as well as the protagonist living in the Hamptons, but not being among the moneyed set. Sam is an interesting character who has grown since the first book. Knopf knows how to create diverse characters and has a great ear for dialogue. I enjoyed the setting but found it read a bit like MapQuest at times with all the exact directions. Still, Knopf is an interesting writer and I’m definitely looking forward to his third book.
Read
February 20, 2010Two Time, by Chris Knopf, b-plus, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
This is the second in the Sam Acquillo series. Sam, who used to box, who was an engineer and a corporate executive, and who is now retired on Long Island, finds himself again entangled in a mystery. He is waiting for his friend, Jackie, the lawyer from the first book, at a trendy restaurant when a car pulls up with a man and a dog. They both get out and the man starts throwing a ball for the dog to retrieve. Sam is sitting there, bored by the conversations around him, when they all hear a cell phone ring. The man gets back into the car, fumbles with the cell phone, and then the carbursts into flames. Then he sees Jackie, realizes more explosions are to come, grabs her, throws her and himself over a table and saves their lives while everyone else in the restaurant is killed. Jackie has serious burns and needs plastic surgery. Sam becomes involved in trying to sort out who the man was who was blown up, (judging by the car he was in, he’s a well established financial broker) why he was killed, and who did it. His friend, the cop, gets him to interview people he doesn’t think he’ll have the right questions for, (the only unbelievable part of the book). It’s a good read with more than one puzzle to solve and some satisfying twists and turns.
This is the second in the Sam Acquillo series. Sam, who used to box, who was an engineer and a corporate executive, and who is now retired on Long Island, finds himself again entangled in a mystery. He is waiting for his friend, Jackie, the lawyer from the first book, at a trendy restaurant when a car pulls up with a man and a dog. They both get out and the man starts throwing a ball for the dog to retrieve. Sam is sitting there, bored by the conversations around him, when they all hear a cell phone ring. The man gets back into the car, fumbles with the cell phone, and then the carbursts into flames. Then he sees Jackie, realizes more explosions are to come, grabs her, throws her and himself over a table and saves their lives while everyone else in the restaurant is killed. Jackie has serious burns and needs plastic surgery. Sam becomes involved in trying to sort out who the man was who was blown up, (judging by the car he was in, he’s a well established financial broker) why he was killed, and who did it. His friend, the cop, gets him to interview people he doesn’t think he’ll have the right questions for, (the only unbelievable part of the book). It’s a good read with more than one puzzle to solve and some satisfying twists and turns.
March 6, 2016
this is the series where the man is living in the house his dad built with a dog. its on the shore. in the first book the old lady next door died next door in the tub and he solved the murder
this book opens when he is at the restaurant with his lady friend, a car is on fire and he notices the color of the flame. he grabs his friend and takes her inside and turns the table over to hide behind as he knows there will be a blast. her face is badly injured and both lost hearing.
the police ask his help in solving the case. the man who died in the car (it was rigged with explosives) has a wife who cant leave the house. he didnt have degrees in what he claimed he did. dont know if the person who killed him had anything to do with his business dealings
i love his dog eddie.
the cop who asked him to help got stabbed and knocked in the head. when he woke up in the hospital he cant remember what happened but sam noticed his right hand knuckles were sore so he thinks the cop got a good punch in.
i love this series and im going to read them all. he has another series going as well with the girlfriend lawyer im going to read too. totally love this author!
this book opens when he is at the restaurant with his lady friend, a car is on fire and he notices the color of the flame. he grabs his friend and takes her inside and turns the table over to hide behind as he knows there will be a blast. her face is badly injured and both lost hearing.
the police ask his help in solving the case. the man who died in the car (it was rigged with explosives) has a wife who cant leave the house. he didnt have degrees in what he claimed he did. dont know if the person who killed him had anything to do with his business dealings
i love his dog eddie.
the cop who asked him to help got stabbed and knocked in the head. when he woke up in the hospital he cant remember what happened but sam noticed his right hand knuckles were sore so he thinks the cop got a good punch in.
i love this series and im going to read them all. he has another series going as well with the girlfriend lawyer im going to read too. totally love this author!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2016
I didn't care for this Chris Knopf novel as much as the others I've read, but I didn't want to give it only two stars. Perhaps I shouldn't have tackled two mysteries featuring Sam Acquillo in a row.
In "Two Time," the author is concerned mainly with developing interesting characters and conveying a sense of place. The plot is shoved at the end, with too few clues leading up to the dénouement, at least too few for me.
The book opens with Sam just barely able to protect his lawyer friend from death when a car bomb vaporizes a guy near the restaurant where the two were meeting. Investigations into the victim's life and death lead to several dissatisfied investment clients, none of whom seem plausible as the perp.
Sam gets material assistance in solving the mystery from a local Long Island cop, a couple lawyer friends, and his sometimes-estranged daughter.
The ending is surprising, but not in a way that made me care.
Even though I had just finished the previous story, I couldn't quite get why Sam thinks his pretty nextdoor neighbor is untrustworthy, and I thought the book would have benefited from more explanation about that.
In "Two Time," the author is concerned mainly with developing interesting characters and conveying a sense of place. The plot is shoved at the end, with too few clues leading up to the dénouement, at least too few for me.
The book opens with Sam just barely able to protect his lawyer friend from death when a car bomb vaporizes a guy near the restaurant where the two were meeting. Investigations into the victim's life and death lead to several dissatisfied investment clients, none of whom seem plausible as the perp.
Sam gets material assistance in solving the mystery from a local Long Island cop, a couple lawyer friends, and his sometimes-estranged daughter.
The ending is surprising, but not in a way that made me care.
Even though I had just finished the previous story, I couldn't quite get why Sam thinks his pretty nextdoor neighbor is untrustworthy, and I thought the book would have benefited from more explanation about that.
March 8, 2010
Sam Acquillo is sitting on the deck of the Windsong Restaurant in East Hampton, waiting for his friend, Jackie. He watches a man get out of his car and start throwing a all for a small dog to chase. He notices Jackie walking up to the restaurant just as the man sits down in his car to answer the ringing cell phone. The car explodes in a hail of debris and Sam is only able to save Jackie by pushing her behind a table he upends. He cannot rescue the other four people sitting on the deck. His polieman friend, Joe, comes to him four months later and asks for his assistance becauase the case has grown cold. Sam starts digging and soon he is being chased by bad guys and one thing leads to another. I like Sam; he is trying to reconnect with people after spending five years dropping out of society. He realizes reconnecting opens him up to bad things, but the good things may well outweigh the bad. It's all still up in the air for him.
June 15, 2012
Oh goodness, I read this a while ago, maybe a month or so ago, but forgot to write a review.
This whole series is awesome. The first book moves a bit slow to start, but the characters are fantastic and some of the descriptions read like poetry. The setting almost acts like another character, it has that much presence.
This series is very character driven, not just plot, plot, plot all the time. But the pleasure is with the characters, they are very real, very quirky, just awesome. They start to feel like friends after awhile, you just want to know what happens to them. The banter and conversation are spot on, sense of humour in place give a good chuckle. Lots of witty observations of modern life.
I enjoyed this series very much. Lovely combo of mystery, depth of character, wit.
If you like your mysteries with some bite and depth to them, this series is for you!
Highly highly recommend.
This whole series is awesome. The first book moves a bit slow to start, but the characters are fantastic and some of the descriptions read like poetry. The setting almost acts like another character, it has that much presence.
This series is very character driven, not just plot, plot, plot all the time. But the pleasure is with the characters, they are very real, very quirky, just awesome. They start to feel like friends after awhile, you just want to know what happens to them. The banter and conversation are spot on, sense of humour in place give a good chuckle. Lots of witty observations of modern life.
I enjoyed this series very much. Lovely combo of mystery, depth of character, wit.
If you like your mysteries with some bite and depth to them, this series is for you!
Highly highly recommend.
February 7, 2015
I think I may have found a new working class hero for myself. I find Sam Acquillo's disposition and outlook on life appealing and resonant with my own. This story sheds more light on his past as a design/research engineer in the corporate world and his disillusionment with executives who treat people as if they were objects/property. I find Acqullo's cynicism mostly rational and I empathize with his anti-authoritarian tendencies. Flashbacks of his vengeful acts toward his former employers and ex-wife are charmingly described. Here is a man who understands the basis for monkey wrenching on a deeply personal level.
I found this mystery engrossing and pleasingly complex. I want to get the print edition to copy some of the more euphonious and humorous phrases.
Recommend this series to those who appreciate cerebral mysteries and disgruntled middle aged men with belligerent attitudes. What's not to love?
I found this mystery engrossing and pleasingly complex. I want to get the print edition to copy some of the more euphonious and humorous phrases.
Recommend this series to those who appreciate cerebral mysteries and disgruntled middle aged men with belligerent attitudes. What's not to love?
May 2, 2009
This was my first Christ Knopf book, and chances are it will be my last. I have no problem with philosophizing in a mystery, so long as the person doing it can actually philosophize. Mostly the plot was thin, although interesting, and the gaps filled in with front porch philosophy that didn't quit hit the mark.
The setting is Long Island, the descriptions of the island and it's many facets was interesting, I'll give him that. When the plot was unfolding it was interesting, but there were just too many other sidelines that didn't interest me at all.
December 25, 2012
I liked this one better than the first one, but start there for the series setup, or you'll miss a lot of context. Sam does less brooding, and more investigating here, with Jackie and Burt playing parts. I'm not keen on Amanda as a love interest, but Knopf seems to avoid sex scenes (yay!), so I can deal with that.
A quibble: part of the "resolution" involves access to census records implied to be from the 1960s/70s or so. Ummm ... when this book went to press everything after 1930 was completely sealed!
A quibble: part of the "resolution" involves access to census records implied to be from the 1960s/70s or so. Ummm ... when this book went to press everything after 1930 was completely sealed!
January 18, 2015
Chris Knopf was a new author for me and, overall, I enjoyed the audio version of Two Time. Although I can't figure out why the central character, who is not a policeman or PI, is permitted free access to investigate crimes, I went along for the ride anyway. And an interesting ride it was with a surprise ending that the title subtly hints at. The characters are interesting and their relationship to Sam are probably introduced in earlier books. Guess I'll have to investigate further ...
Read for yourself and judge.
DD@Phila
Read for yourself and judge.
DD@Phila
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