First, apologies to Samuel Marquis and Andra Maguran (she is part of the marketing firm he uses). I accepted this book in exchange for an honest review and it has taken me months to get around to it. I stopped accepting books for review when my "to be read" got too high and this was one of the last ones under the wire. Not that it is not a quick and easy read, just gathered dust for far too long leading to my unconscionable delay.
It would get 2.5 stars if that were possible. I hate to disparage the work of a hard working author (after all, he has actually written a novel, I have not) but this book came across to me as over-written, simplistic, predictable and full of just about every cliched action and stereotypical character from the action/thriller genre. It tends to be repetitive and contains situations that truly stretch credulity.
Indie published books tend to be under edited and copy read. This is no exception given the usual typos (wrap for rap, accept for except) that can't be picked up by word processing programs. The dialogue tends to be loaded with references to pop culture and branding which will date the book in coming years. Do I really need to know the brand, model number and specs of a pair of binoculars? Do I really need to know the title of two songs written by John Lennon which pops up when describing the Dakota in New York where one of the characters lives? How about being given the name of a nurse as shown on her name tag and having it referenced to a song by the Grateful Dead? Literary, movie and product allusions abound so if this is your thing, you will probably have a great time! One line "Jesus Christ he was sweating buckets-his goddamned Ermenigildo Zegna was soaked!" sent me to google to find out that is a reference to a designer who sells $3,000 suits. Oh, yeah, lots of profanity in thought and speech which seems to fit the vernacular these days which is not something I feel comfortable with. Not that I'm squeamish but because overuse of the terminology lessens the impact when it might truly be appropriate.
You are familiar, I am sure with declamatory sentences, given when a character is surprised or mystified. Get this one, a true classic. Character is awakened by his father coming in late at night after thinking "I heard a noise in the hallway." and returns wearing his trench-coat and carrying a gun. His son remarks, after being told to go back to bed - "Go back to bed? How on earth can I do that when you're wearing a trench coat, a French beret, reflective sunglasses, and have a bulge signifying the presence of a handgun in your pocket? A bulge so prominent, in fact, it resembles the prodigious testicular Battle of the Bulge on the cover of my favorite Traffic album "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. I say, did you just go for a stroll through Central Park? It can't be very safe at three o'clock in the morning -even with a gun." Pretty realistic dialogue, right? Great candidate for the "It was a dark and stormy night ..." bad fiction contest.
Speaking of a lack of realism, the entire premise that a young author from Denver finds out his book has been plagiarized, sold millions of copies and has been made into a high grossing movie heads to New York to get what? An apology! That's all. No money, no punishment, just an apology. Sure, folks. In this day and age, even the most idealistic will admit that is a bit tough to swallow.
This book has a number of Goodreads reviews (most of them startlingly high). When I went to post on Amazon, the only thing available in this title is an advanced readers copy selling for $400 and 4 reviews, all 5 star. Well, if it can't be bought on Amazon, maybe it has not done that well, even with it's Denver Post #1 sales rank and an award from the Beverly Hills Book Awards. What, did folks buy it from the author's website? Did not see it at my local Books-A-Million or Barnes and Noble.
Anyway, those who love the bashing of the literary and publishing establishment will probably get a kick out of the story.
Sorry, again for the delay.