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Jeri Halston
Don't Order Dog
Twenty-six year old Jeri Halston is brilliant, with looks as stunning as her intellect. She should be killing it on Wall Street or speed-climbing the corporate ladder. But she isn’t. Maybe her father’s death the year before is to blame. Maybe it’s a quarter-life crisis. Even Jeri doesn’t know for sure. That’s why she’s pouring drinks for baby-faced co-eds and geriatric men at Joe’s Last Stand Saloon. Tending bar at the old saloon on Historic Route 66 seems like the perfect way to sort things out.
At least, that was the plan.
But then the letters started arriving. Funny, rambling confessions of love from an unknown admirer, postmarked from every corner of the world. A Polaroid photo in each letter reveals a tantalizing glimpse of their sender, but never his identity. And always the same strange sign off – Don’t order dog. Jeri can’t help but be intrigued, and after posting the letters in the saloon, so is everyone else. But it isn’t until an overzealous Homeland Security agent named Tom Coleman begins investigating the trail of Jeri’s mysterious writer that a pattern starts to appear. A terrifying pattern. A pattern that will throw Jeri’s life into turmoil and force her question to everything she knows about the world, her country, and even herself.
At least, that was the plan.
But then the letters started arriving. Funny, rambling confessions of love from an unknown admirer, postmarked from every corner of the world. A Polaroid photo in each letter reveals a tantalizing glimpse of their sender, but never his identity. And always the same strange sign off – Don’t order dog. Jeri can’t help but be intrigued, and after posting the letters in the saloon, so is everyone else. But it isn’t until an overzealous Homeland Security agent named Tom Coleman begins investigating the trail of Jeri’s mysterious writer that a pattern starts to appear. A terrifying pattern. A pattern that will throw Jeri’s life into turmoil and force her question to everything she knows about the world, her country, and even herself.
466 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2013
141 people are currently reading
1176 people want to read
About the author
C.T. Wente
3 books16 followersC. T. Wente is an American writer currently living in San Diego, California with his wife Linda. When not pursuing his passion for writing, Wente works as a marketing executive for a sports technology company.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
February 17, 2014
I almost gave this 5 stars. It's a very good book, I read it quickly, because I just had to know how it ended. I'm interested to see how Wente makes this story into a series now that the element of surprise is gone. But one thing is for sure - I'll be reading to find out!
January 6, 2014
Exceptional! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery/action packed book. This one will have you hanging on the edge of your seat guessing at the next move. Can't wait to read more by this author.
Jeri should be killing it on Wall Street or speed-climbing the corporate ladder. But she isn’t. Maybe her father’s death the year before is to blame. Maybe it’s a quarter-life crisis. Even Jeri doesn’t know for sure. That’s why she’s pouring drinks for baby-faced co-eds and geriatric men at Joe’s Last Stand Saloon.Tending bar at the old saloon on Historic Route 66 seems like the perfect way to sort things out.
At least, that was the plan.
But then the letters started arriving. Funny, rambling confessions of love from an unknown admirer, postmarked from every corner of the world. A Polaroid photo in each letter reveals a tantalizing glimpse of their sender, but never his identity. And always the same strange sign off – Don’t order dog. Jeri can’t help but be intrigued, and after posting the letters in the saloon, so is everyone else. But it isn’t until an overzealous Homeland Security agent named Tom Coleman begins investigating the trail of Jeri’s mysterious writer that a pattern starts to appear. A terrifying pattern. A pattern that will throw Jeri’s life into turmoil and force her question to everything she knows about the world, her country, and even herself.
Jeri should be killing it on Wall Street or speed-climbing the corporate ladder. But she isn’t. Maybe her father’s death the year before is to blame. Maybe it’s a quarter-life crisis. Even Jeri doesn’t know for sure. That’s why she’s pouring drinks for baby-faced co-eds and geriatric men at Joe’s Last Stand Saloon.Tending bar at the old saloon on Historic Route 66 seems like the perfect way to sort things out.
At least, that was the plan.
But then the letters started arriving. Funny, rambling confessions of love from an unknown admirer, postmarked from every corner of the world. A Polaroid photo in each letter reveals a tantalizing glimpse of their sender, but never his identity. And always the same strange sign off – Don’t order dog. Jeri can’t help but be intrigued, and after posting the letters in the saloon, so is everyone else. But it isn’t until an overzealous Homeland Security agent named Tom Coleman begins investigating the trail of Jeri’s mysterious writer that a pattern starts to appear. A terrifying pattern. A pattern that will throw Jeri’s life into turmoil and force her question to everything she knows about the world, her country, and even herself.
January 13, 2015
REVIEW: THE ICE MAN COMETH
An engrossing and delightfully convoluted thriller/suspense with parallel plot lines and an original premise. One plot line focuses on a cold-hearted, quite possibly sociopathic and definitely cruel, contract killer (international killer-for-hire). The other, much more puzzling plot thread revolves around a young lady in Flagstaff, Arizona, a college graduate with multiple degrees, who periodically receives air mail missives from a deliberately anonymous "admirer," posted from different overseas locales. Author C. T. Wente seamlessly interweaves these threads into a heckuva story.
THE ICE MAN COMETH will be released on January 13, 2015. A previous edition had the title "Don't Eat Dog."
An engrossing and delightfully convoluted thriller/suspense with parallel plot lines and an original premise. One plot line focuses on a cold-hearted, quite possibly sociopathic and definitely cruel, contract killer (international killer-for-hire). The other, much more puzzling plot thread revolves around a young lady in Flagstaff, Arizona, a college graduate with multiple degrees, who periodically receives air mail missives from a deliberately anonymous "admirer," posted from different overseas locales. Author C. T. Wente seamlessly interweaves these threads into a heckuva story.
THE ICE MAN COMETH will be released on January 13, 2015. A previous edition had the title "Don't Eat Dog."
November 23, 2015
This just irritated me as offensive, so I abandoned it before I threw something at something breakable.
March 4, 2016
This book started out with promise and then went terribly wrong. The characters were weak and people kept being added. Most awful was the inter-agency fighting. Ugh... if that's how our country were actually run, we'd all need to find other countries to live in. I don't want to spoil this for anyone who might read my review so I'll just say that the long and winding path to the end did NOT payoff. I started to stop reading this and after finishing it, I think I would have been better off stopping earlier. There were gaping loose ends and maybe I'm not smart enough, but there were questions that were left a little too open to interpretation for my taste. I would not read another of these books.
September 7, 2014
At first I was thinking, Oh no this is going to be a crappy romance story, but then it turns out to be totally not! I'm not sure if the next book in the the series will be as compelling, but it was a good enough read that I'd probably try the 2nd one when it comes out.
April 11, 2015
Amazing Plot!!!
This is one of the best books that I've read in a very long time. Incredible plot with many twists and turns. Great character development. You won't believe the ending. It starts out slow but once it starts, hang on!! You won't be able to put it down!
This is one of the best books that I've read in a very long time. Incredible plot with many twists and turns. Great character development. You won't believe the ending. It starts out slow but once it starts, hang on!! You won't be able to put it down!
December 13, 2016
Clever, creative, amusing approach to a mystery/kinda thriller. The mystery holds until the end with several unexpected twists and turns. If you are a mystery lover read this one - it's funny, intriguing and just fun to read.
September 26, 2017
Kind of too much back and forth and I did not like the ending. It was too fake
May 6, 2019
This read like a movie script. The cliche characters bothered me the most.
January 11, 2021
Oh, I wanted more. I have so many questions but not enough interest to read a second book to find out. I am not a reader who is afraid to walk away from a book and this one kept me reading. I guess it had that going for it. A throw away action book? Maybe. But there wasn't even that much action.
I wish all of the characters had been better fleshed out. It would have made their actions more believable. For a book that is over 500 pages I would have liked better character development. I won't be reading the second Jeri Halston book but I don't COMPLETELY regret reading this one...
I wish all of the characters had been better fleshed out. It would have made their actions more believable. For a book that is over 500 pages I would have liked better character development. I won't be reading the second Jeri Halston book but I don't COMPLETELY regret reading this one...
February 5, 2019
Second Time Can Be Better
I read this novel when it first came out and was struck by the clever and mysterious letter writer. Like the heroine, I was bedazzled and fooled by his actions. The second time around, and many years later, I paid greater attention to some of the other characters and realized how seamlessly the author developed the story. A great read for anyone who likes mystery and adventure.
I read this novel when it first came out and was struck by the clever and mysterious letter writer. Like the heroine, I was bedazzled and fooled by his actions. The second time around, and many years later, I paid greater attention to some of the other characters and realized how seamlessly the author developed the story. A great read for anyone who likes mystery and adventure.
March 2, 2015
I am going to be honest. I hate giving bad reviews. Sometimes when I find a book I don’t take to I try very hard to go through it again and again to find some redeming quality among the disappointment and despair. Sometimes I succeed and I am able to celebrate that one thing the author got right even when everything else feel so very short of my expectations. This is not the case with Wente’s story of industrial espionage and assassination which attempts far too much and ends up becoming a pale and weak story that I almost gave up on more than once.
Ice Man Cometh follows a multi-layered story with multiple viewpoint characters based all over the world. It starts with a great deal of promise in that regard as well as Wente opens the scene to a terrible accident that revealed to be something far more sinister as the story unfolded. Here we see the titular 'Ice Man', a man only passingly referred to later in the text as Chilly, appear to fake a murder by masking it as an accident. Meanwhile on the otherside of the world in Flagstaff Arizona, a young woman called Jeri has become the recipient of a number of mysterious love letters that seem to be coming from all over the world with no rhyme nor reason to them. Jeri herself, a clever and bright young woman and a genius in economics is wasting her life working in a bar, hiding from a recent bereavement and unable to move on with her life. Parallel to this Tom Coleman, an agent for the Department of Homeland Security finds himself embroiled in the mystery as he pieces together a string of killings all over the world that are tied up with Jeri’s mysterious letters.
If you managed to get through that as a premise, then congratulations you have a cast iron mind for disparate and disjointed storylines. This is in essence the major problem I had with Ice Man Cometh, specifically that there is so much going it reads as though several smaller stories have been pressed together until they’re forced to twist into each other. While this may not have been a fatal flaw, it became one because the narratives of each part start off in such wildly different places. Jeri’s story is one of a single girl trying to find her place in the world while Tom’s is a story of ambition and investigation. Chilly’s story differs again as it follows a more tense area which leads us to death and destruction. For the first part of the book these diffuse elements don’t feel like they can be brought together which makes it all the more hard to treat this as a whole piece of fiction. While it does slowly begin to come together in a cohesive story it may well be too little too late for some as it would have meant trudging through well over a third of the book to get anywhere worth going.
A weak overall story does not necessarily destroy a good book either. However, here Wente creates his characters with almost a sense of contempt. That is to say that I found no way to appreciate them or find good in them as they were in themselves all so selfish and hard to relate to. Jeri is a nice enough character but she is far too dull and passive, and while her agony over the death of her father is understandable, the fact that it seems to have paralysed her life seems a little less than organic. Similarly Tom is a boar of a man who doesn’t seem to understand he is the architect of his own tragedy on more than one occasion. While it might seem true to life on some occasions the rest of the time it just becomes tedious as I found myself seeing him bump from one bad move to the next with no overall awareness. These issues with characters leaves them feeling one dimensional for me and I was unable to relax and let them lead the way, leaving me lost and disconnected to an already weak and pontificating narrative.
The one area where Ice Man Cometh truly failed in my opinion was in it’s shocking finale, or to be more exact it’s lack of shocking finale. The central mystery was one which persisted well into the climax which did at some level make me really want to know what was really going on behind the scenes of all these seemingly patterned killings and disappearances. However I ultimately found myself less than impressed with the final revelation which, while being explanatory, failed to be anything more than a huge anticlimax. It left me feeling cheated, and after sticking with the book for as long as I had I felt like my time was wasted. When a story like this fails in its big reveal it is a terrible thing, for it to fail here as well as in so many other areas it is pretty unforgivable.
Getting right down to it Wente had an idea for a book, but rather than editing it down and streamlining his story he added too much making it come across as a bloated frankensteins monster of ideas. I have to stress that not one of these stories was totally bad on it’s own, but bound together as it was it felt too hodge podge and inconsistent to be any good, leaving me very unsure if I will ever want to pick up a Wente book again. It may be that there is an audience for this book somewhere, but if that is true then that is not a place I would like to visit.
Rating: 0.5 out of 5
If you like my review and want to see more feel free to come find me on http://myemptylibrary.blogspot.co.uk and show your support by subscribing.
Ice Man Cometh follows a multi-layered story with multiple viewpoint characters based all over the world. It starts with a great deal of promise in that regard as well as Wente opens the scene to a terrible accident that revealed to be something far more sinister as the story unfolded. Here we see the titular 'Ice Man', a man only passingly referred to later in the text as Chilly, appear to fake a murder by masking it as an accident. Meanwhile on the otherside of the world in Flagstaff Arizona, a young woman called Jeri has become the recipient of a number of mysterious love letters that seem to be coming from all over the world with no rhyme nor reason to them. Jeri herself, a clever and bright young woman and a genius in economics is wasting her life working in a bar, hiding from a recent bereavement and unable to move on with her life. Parallel to this Tom Coleman, an agent for the Department of Homeland Security finds himself embroiled in the mystery as he pieces together a string of killings all over the world that are tied up with Jeri’s mysterious letters.
If you managed to get through that as a premise, then congratulations you have a cast iron mind for disparate and disjointed storylines. This is in essence the major problem I had with Ice Man Cometh, specifically that there is so much going it reads as though several smaller stories have been pressed together until they’re forced to twist into each other. While this may not have been a fatal flaw, it became one because the narratives of each part start off in such wildly different places. Jeri’s story is one of a single girl trying to find her place in the world while Tom’s is a story of ambition and investigation. Chilly’s story differs again as it follows a more tense area which leads us to death and destruction. For the first part of the book these diffuse elements don’t feel like they can be brought together which makes it all the more hard to treat this as a whole piece of fiction. While it does slowly begin to come together in a cohesive story it may well be too little too late for some as it would have meant trudging through well over a third of the book to get anywhere worth going.
A weak overall story does not necessarily destroy a good book either. However, here Wente creates his characters with almost a sense of contempt. That is to say that I found no way to appreciate them or find good in them as they were in themselves all so selfish and hard to relate to. Jeri is a nice enough character but she is far too dull and passive, and while her agony over the death of her father is understandable, the fact that it seems to have paralysed her life seems a little less than organic. Similarly Tom is a boar of a man who doesn’t seem to understand he is the architect of his own tragedy on more than one occasion. While it might seem true to life on some occasions the rest of the time it just becomes tedious as I found myself seeing him bump from one bad move to the next with no overall awareness. These issues with characters leaves them feeling one dimensional for me and I was unable to relax and let them lead the way, leaving me lost and disconnected to an already weak and pontificating narrative.
The one area where Ice Man Cometh truly failed in my opinion was in it’s shocking finale, or to be more exact it’s lack of shocking finale. The central mystery was one which persisted well into the climax which did at some level make me really want to know what was really going on behind the scenes of all these seemingly patterned killings and disappearances. However I ultimately found myself less than impressed with the final revelation which, while being explanatory, failed to be anything more than a huge anticlimax. It left me feeling cheated, and after sticking with the book for as long as I had I felt like my time was wasted. When a story like this fails in its big reveal it is a terrible thing, for it to fail here as well as in so many other areas it is pretty unforgivable.
Getting right down to it Wente had an idea for a book, but rather than editing it down and streamlining his story he added too much making it come across as a bloated frankensteins monster of ideas. I have to stress that not one of these stories was totally bad on it’s own, but bound together as it was it felt too hodge podge and inconsistent to be any good, leaving me very unsure if I will ever want to pick up a Wente book again. It may be that there is an audience for this book somewhere, but if that is true then that is not a place I would like to visit.
Rating: 0.5 out of 5
If you like my review and want to see more feel free to come find me on http://myemptylibrary.blogspot.co.uk and show your support by subscribing.
October 4, 2017
Interesting read. It kept pulling me forward to see what all the connections were and where the story was going. Easy read and enjoyable.
I received a copy of this book through the GoodReads giveaway
I received a copy of this book through the GoodReads giveaway
September 4, 2019
I thought this was a well written first book. It kept my interest throughout the book. Some of his characters were likeable some not so much. There was no idea in my mind how this book would end, but I liked it.
September 8, 2017
The book had a good story, but wasn't interesting until last 100 pages. almost shucked it a few times, but I hate to stop, even in a disinteresting style of writing
September 14, 2017
L
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2018
Interesting story as to what could be.
Slow to develop, but such an interesting twist on government ineptness. A twisted fun read, but could have been a shorter read.
Slow to develop, but such an interesting twist on government ineptness. A twisted fun read, but could have been a shorter read.
May 9, 2018
Slow read
It was hard to get thru this one but it was pretty good. It makes you think and has a nice twist.
It was hard to get thru this one but it was pretty good. It makes you think and has a nice twist.
April 21, 2020
Jeri was very much a manic pixie dream girl, but the plot was really good if you can get past the writing style.
April 11, 2021
Great surprise
This is not the typical type of book I read, but i enjoyed it tremendously. It kept me guessing and wanting to read more.
This is not the typical type of book I read, but i enjoyed it tremendously. It kept me guessing and wanting to read more.
October 30, 2021
Oh my! Made me think. One of the rare books I sat up to read into the night!
January 7, 2022
Fun and surprising
February 17, 2015
I received a copy of this book through the GoodReads First Read giveaway and oh, wow, am I glad that I did! This story takes the reader on a roller coaster of emotion as they see things through the different POVs. I laughed ( multiple time), I cried, I growled in frustration, and I cheered on the terrorist... Wait? What?
First, a quick synopsis:
Jeri Halston is a beautiful and brilliant bartender at a little dive bar called "Joe's Last Stand Saloon" in Flagstaff, Arizona. Not only is she sitting on a bar-stool, but she is also sitting on a Major in Economics. As she grieves the death of her beloved father (see, I cried), her ever present companion is the warm-hearted regular, Chip. Then she starts to receive cryptic (and yet hilarious- I laughed) love letters from an anonymous admirer. Addressed from various exotic locations throughout the globe, the letters are accompanied by cleverly staged Polaroids that only reveal a handsome form with dark curly hair and the iconic blue souvenir t-shirt from her place of employment.
Tom Coleman is a Homeland Security Agent with dark burning aspirations to make it into the CIA. He will do and say anything to accomplish this (I growled). He stumbles upon the "Shrine of Letters" and after a slight nudge from Chip, he begins to try piece together a terrorist plot hidden behind the letters. He soon drags in his CIA Agent Brother-in-Law in his own selfish desire to make himself look good. Unfortunately, as it goes up the chain of command, it turns out he's not he only self-server.
Meanwhile, the final significant POV is that of the mysterious letter writer as he travels around as he completes his missions. However, things aren't always as they seem and the "terrorist" might be more benevolent than he first appears (I cheered!)
This was a delightful read. The plotline was composed of just the right amount of twists and turns that one would hope to keep one guessing. The characters were full to brim with personality and backstories. Even minor characters were given just the right amount of detail (i.e. the little girl that witnesses the first incident). Almost all of the ends were tied up at the end of the story in nice little package. My thanks to the author for sharing this wonderful experience.
First, a quick synopsis:
Jeri Halston is a beautiful and brilliant bartender at a little dive bar called "Joe's Last Stand Saloon" in Flagstaff, Arizona. Not only is she sitting on a bar-stool, but she is also sitting on a Major in Economics. As she grieves the death of her beloved father (see, I cried), her ever present companion is the warm-hearted regular, Chip. Then she starts to receive cryptic (and yet hilarious- I laughed) love letters from an anonymous admirer. Addressed from various exotic locations throughout the globe, the letters are accompanied by cleverly staged Polaroids that only reveal a handsome form with dark curly hair and the iconic blue souvenir t-shirt from her place of employment.
Tom Coleman is a Homeland Security Agent with dark burning aspirations to make it into the CIA. He will do and say anything to accomplish this (I growled). He stumbles upon the "Shrine of Letters" and after a slight nudge from Chip, he begins to try piece together a terrorist plot hidden behind the letters. He soon drags in his CIA Agent Brother-in-Law in his own selfish desire to make himself look good. Unfortunately, as it goes up the chain of command, it turns out he's not he only self-server.
Meanwhile, the final significant POV is that of the mysterious letter writer as he travels around as he completes his missions. However, things aren't always as they seem and the "terrorist" might be more benevolent than he first appears (I cheered!)
This was a delightful read. The plotline was composed of just the right amount of twists and turns that one would hope to keep one guessing. The characters were full to brim with personality and backstories. Even minor characters were given just the right amount of detail (i.e. the little girl that witnesses the first incident). Almost all of the ends were tied up at the end of the story in nice little package. My thanks to the author for sharing this wonderful experience.
April 22, 2015
Technically, I did not finish reading this book. However, I put a solid 8 hours into reading/listening (WhisperSync w/Audible) and, as I've said before, that effort deserves to be acknowledged.
Overall, VERY disappointed with this book. I got it on a recent Kindle Daily Deal and was so excited to read it that I began it immediately. The second I began reading it I became confused about what book I had purchased & actually checked to make sure it was the right one. Basically, I found the summary very misleading. Upon purchasing this book, I was under the impression that this would be a serial killer/stalker kind of story. (I know it doesn't say that in the summary, but that is what I was expecting.) Had I known it was a governmental/political/anti-terrorist/blahblahblah book, I would not have bought it as those stories do not interest me.
In reality, this book centers around the actions of: 1) a career killer/international terrorist traveling the world, killing people, and being as conspicuous as possible; 2) the bar-keep he is kind of stalking, but not really - (at least not at the point I made it to); 3) a kind of pathetic, desperate-to-get-into-the-CIA Homeland Security agent Tom something-or-other, (because what kind of loser "only" works for Homeland Security...?); and 4) about a zillion other secondary/tertiary characters that are near impossible to keep up with, (maybe a slight exaggeration...).
For the most part, I listened to the audio of this book, and to say I found it confusing would be a vast understatement. The story jumps around to several different events and to the perspectives of several different characters, and I found it a chore to try and keep up. I realize that this was the author's way of "casually" following the actions of our antagonist without giving anything away, but it felt like several unfinished half stories strung together with no clear connection between them. Many times I found myself zoning out because I didn't see the relevance of what I was reading, (and frankly just didn't care).
Several other GR reviewers have raved over the twists and turns of the story's ending but, sadly, it is just not worth my time to find out what those are. Putting this one down unfinished. 1.5 stars...rounded up.
Overall, VERY disappointed with this book. I got it on a recent Kindle Daily Deal and was so excited to read it that I began it immediately. The second I began reading it I became confused about what book I had purchased & actually checked to make sure it was the right one. Basically, I found the summary very misleading. Upon purchasing this book, I was under the impression that this would be a serial killer/stalker kind of story. (I know it doesn't say that in the summary, but that is what I was expecting.) Had I known it was a governmental/political/anti-terrorist/blahblahblah book, I would not have bought it as those stories do not interest me.
In reality, this book centers around the actions of: 1) a career killer/international terrorist traveling the world, killing people, and being as conspicuous as possible; 2) the bar-keep he is kind of stalking, but not really - (at least not at the point I made it to); 3) a kind of pathetic, desperate-to-get-into-the-CIA Homeland Security agent Tom something-or-other, (because what kind of loser "only" works for Homeland Security...?); and 4) about a zillion other secondary/tertiary characters that are near impossible to keep up with, (maybe a slight exaggeration...).
For the most part, I listened to the audio of this book, and to say I found it confusing would be a vast understatement. The story jumps around to several different events and to the perspectives of several different characters, and I found it a chore to try and keep up. I realize that this was the author's way of "casually" following the actions of our antagonist without giving anything away, but it felt like several unfinished half stories strung together with no clear connection between them. Many times I found myself zoning out because I didn't see the relevance of what I was reading, (and frankly just didn't care).
Several other GR reviewers have raved over the twists and turns of the story's ending but, sadly, it is just not worth my time to find out what those are. Putting this one down unfinished. 1.5 stars...rounded up.
October 10, 2014
I honestly didn't know how many stars to give this book. Writers take quite a while to compile a novel, and I guess I always feel bad if I give a mediocre/bad review.. but well.. here goes.
This book basically talks about letters that a "beautiful" (read: average) bartender named Jeri receives from a man she doesn't know. This man's letters are pretty witty (hell, I fell in love with him!). Long story short, these letters basically link this man to a bunch of murders that happen in different parts of the world. Now, here's where it gets "interesting": Tom, an OCD homeland-security employee, starts deciphering these letters when he walks into the bar. Tom is your average (read: boring) guy that just wants to make it into the CIA, just like his brother in law Alex (an arrogant a**hole).The plot involves Tom and Alex sorta trying to "prove themselves" in their own fields, while trying to figure out who this man is, and why these murders are happening. I won't spoil the ending, but it was a surprising one, and that is the one of the main reasons I gave this book three stars, and not one.
Personally, I felt like this book was well-thought out; the writer did give the plot quite some thought I must admit. The characters were nothing extraordinary. It took too long for things to happen in this book; it just sort of skipped around from event to event. Tom really was a pathetic character, and I think he was meant to be, BUT COME ON there is a limit. You sorta feel sorry for him after some time though. Alex is just your average idiot-with-an-ego.
What I can say is this: this book took FOREVER to finish. A good book usually takes me anywhere from a few days to 2 weeks max (if I'm busy with other things). This one managed to take about 3 months? God.
Like I said, the ending was good, and when I say "ending", I mean the last 3% (according to my Kindle).
I also felt like there was a lot left undone. I'm not sure if there is a part two to the book; I'm also unsure as to whether or not I'd be interested in reading it.
This book basically talks about letters that a "beautiful" (read: average) bartender named Jeri receives from a man she doesn't know. This man's letters are pretty witty (hell, I fell in love with him!). Long story short, these letters basically link this man to a bunch of murders that happen in different parts of the world. Now, here's where it gets "interesting": Tom, an OCD homeland-security employee, starts deciphering these letters when he walks into the bar. Tom is your average (read: boring) guy that just wants to make it into the CIA, just like his brother in law Alex (an arrogant a**hole).The plot involves Tom and Alex sorta trying to "prove themselves" in their own fields, while trying to figure out who this man is, and why these murders are happening. I won't spoil the ending, but it was a surprising one, and that is the one of the main reasons I gave this book three stars, and not one.
Personally, I felt like this book was well-thought out; the writer did give the plot quite some thought I must admit. The characters were nothing extraordinary. It took too long for things to happen in this book; it just sort of skipped around from event to event. Tom really was a pathetic character, and I think he was meant to be, BUT COME ON there is a limit. You sorta feel sorry for him after some time though. Alex is just your average idiot-with-an-ego.
What I can say is this: this book took FOREVER to finish. A good book usually takes me anywhere from a few days to 2 weeks max (if I'm busy with other things). This one managed to take about 3 months? God.
Like I said, the ending was good, and when I say "ending", I mean the last 3% (according to my Kindle).
I also felt like there was a lot left undone. I'm not sure if there is a part two to the book; I'm also unsure as to whether or not I'd be interested in reading it.
April 3, 2015
Review initially published on my blog, Writing by Numbers, here.
Bartender Jeri Halston starts getting witty letters from an anonymous man, each one sent from a new country and signed “Don’t order dog.” At first they seem like an innocent prank, perhaps an elaborate secret admirer. But Jeri and her coworkers/friends are soon drawn into an international mystery. Wente has a strong handle on plot and pacing, and the novel trots along smoothly. There were some nice unexpected twists and enough suspense to keep me engaged.
But Wente’s characterization is nothing special, relying mostly on tropes, wedged-in backstory, and competent physical descriptions. Jeri herself is quite dull. Wente shills her brains, by having her read about economics (…isn’t economics too hard for YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN?!) or telling us she “should be killing it on Wall Street.” But nothing she actually knows, says, or does ever indicates that I should be stunned by Jeri’s intellect.
Moreover, the book is self-published, seemingly without a copy-editor. While the writing quality is fine, every author makes mistakes, and I found the surface errors distracting. Wente could benefit substantially from a comparatively small amount of revision.
If Don’t Order Dog falls into your hands, sure, give it a read. Take it to the beach or on a plane. A decent piece of storytelling, but nothing exceptional in either direction.
The 214 in 2014 series chronicles every book I read in 2014. Each review contains exactly 214 words. For more, visit http://www.ararebit.wordpress.com.
Bartender Jeri Halston starts getting witty letters from an anonymous man, each one sent from a new country and signed “Don’t order dog.” At first they seem like an innocent prank, perhaps an elaborate secret admirer. But Jeri and her coworkers/friends are soon drawn into an international mystery. Wente has a strong handle on plot and pacing, and the novel trots along smoothly. There were some nice unexpected twists and enough suspense to keep me engaged.
But Wente’s characterization is nothing special, relying mostly on tropes, wedged-in backstory, and competent physical descriptions. Jeri herself is quite dull. Wente shills her brains, by having her read about economics (…isn’t economics too hard for YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN?!) or telling us she “should be killing it on Wall Street.” But nothing she actually knows, says, or does ever indicates that I should be stunned by Jeri’s intellect.
Moreover, the book is self-published, seemingly without a copy-editor. While the writing quality is fine, every author makes mistakes, and I found the surface errors distracting. Wente could benefit substantially from a comparatively small amount of revision.
If Don’t Order Dog falls into your hands, sure, give it a read. Take it to the beach or on a plane. A decent piece of storytelling, but nothing exceptional in either direction.
The 214 in 2014 series chronicles every book I read in 2014. Each review contains exactly 214 words. For more, visit http://www.ararebit.wordpress.com.
March 10, 2015
Synopsis:
Jeri Halston should be working on Wall Street, not in a forgotten old bar in Flagstaff. But the brilliant, gorgeous twenty-six-year-old prefers bartending at Joe’s Last Stand Saloon to climbing the corporate ladder. When Jeri starts receiving love letters from an anonymous admirer, she’s amused by their far-flung postmarks and coy Polaroids that never quite show the writer’s face. Their postscripts are even more intriguing: “Don't order dog.” Hilarious but harmless, the letters don’t raise any red flags to Jeri—until a hyper-vigilant homeland security agent discovers that the letters are originating from places where the world’s top energy researchers keep turning up dead.
As the mailed missives turn from tame to threatening, Jeri realizes that her nameless, faceless pen pal just might have dragged her into an international terrorism plot. And there’s no marking “Return to Sender” on this nightmare.
My review:
In the beginning this book was a wonderful mixture of twists and turns, to the extent that I had to keep my wits about me with all the characters involved. It was building up to a wonderful ending.... and then it fell flat. The story line made you expect an explosive finish, but truth be told it was a bit unsatisfying... as if the author was sitting with a hot potato end had no idea what to do with it. But seeing as this is the first in a series, maybe this is the cliffhanger. Who knows maybe book 2 will end better
Jeri Halston should be working on Wall Street, not in a forgotten old bar in Flagstaff. But the brilliant, gorgeous twenty-six-year-old prefers bartending at Joe’s Last Stand Saloon to climbing the corporate ladder. When Jeri starts receiving love letters from an anonymous admirer, she’s amused by their far-flung postmarks and coy Polaroids that never quite show the writer’s face. Their postscripts are even more intriguing: “Don't order dog.” Hilarious but harmless, the letters don’t raise any red flags to Jeri—until a hyper-vigilant homeland security agent discovers that the letters are originating from places where the world’s top energy researchers keep turning up dead.
As the mailed missives turn from tame to threatening, Jeri realizes that her nameless, faceless pen pal just might have dragged her into an international terrorism plot. And there’s no marking “Return to Sender” on this nightmare.
My review:
In the beginning this book was a wonderful mixture of twists and turns, to the extent that I had to keep my wits about me with all the characters involved. It was building up to a wonderful ending.... and then it fell flat. The story line made you expect an explosive finish, but truth be told it was a bit unsatisfying... as if the author was sitting with a hot potato end had no idea what to do with it. But seeing as this is the first in a series, maybe this is the cliffhanger. Who knows maybe book 2 will end better
November 12, 2013
I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, which I think is self-published. Save three minor errors I noticed in the Kindle edition, I could not see the difference, except possibly for how many times the word 'flatly' is used. Not a big deal considering how captivated I was by the unusual plot. It drew me in early on when Jeri, a bartender in flagstaff, AZ starts receiving letters from a mysterious admirer from different parts of the world. I couldn't put it down until it was over. It is very different than anything I've read. It's witty, creative and well-written. The ending, along with all the explanation of what everything meant, came a bit as a surprise and I experienced a tiny let down, but considering this novel is the set-up for a future series, it made sense. If it hasn't happened already, I think some big publisher will find this novel and do very well with it. I recommend it!
February 26, 2015
Great book so great I read it in 2 days!!! The book starts out with a mystery prologue. The actual books starts off random and then the letters start coming in, the letters are from a person she's never met and are witty and funny and soooo mysterious. While much of the book rotates around the mystery of the sender and the letters, of course we have the "wanna be sleuth" who ignites a national security nightmare because of the job he is in and the story explodes as the layers get thicker with suspense. Could not wait to see how it would turn out. I see some think it took too long but I was really pleased with how the characters fit and the way it played out seemed to work perfectly for the story that was to be told. I can't believe it almost a 500 page book! I started it yesterday, that's how good it is! I hope there are more books about maybe Chip's story, especially Tall Tommy.
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