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Robert Michals: The Demon in the Trees
Robert Michals has spent his entire life preparing to become an Investigator, like his Father before him. The Watersburg Police Department grants his wish, and he becomes the youngest Investigator in recent history.
When he catches his first case, he’s ready to tackle anything that gets thrown his way. What starts out as a simple robbery develops into something unlike anything the small town of Watersburg, Maine has seen before. When the Daughter of the local District Attorney goes missing, Michals is racing against the clock to find her.
As the information before him begins to make less sense the more he learns, Michals uncovers a terrible secret that has been plaguing his home for years, hiding just beneath the surface. He needs to figure out whether he’s stumbling down a false trail, or what would be worse, that there may be some truth to an old legend. The legend of The Wendigo.
When he catches his first case, he’s ready to tackle anything that gets thrown his way. What starts out as a simple robbery develops into something unlike anything the small town of Watersburg, Maine has seen before. When the Daughter of the local District Attorney goes missing, Michals is racing against the clock to find her.
As the information before him begins to make less sense the more he learns, Michals uncovers a terrible secret that has been plaguing his home for years, hiding just beneath the surface. He needs to figure out whether he’s stumbling down a false trail, or what would be worse, that there may be some truth to an old legend. The legend of The Wendigo.
275 pages, Paperback
First published February 5, 2017
12 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 20, 2018
This was a nice contrasts to the YA and MG I read in March and really enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of the TV show Grimm but in a good way and that made me like it even more. If you're looking for something fast, thrilling, and cool I'd say pick this up ASAP.
- Richard
- Richard
May 20, 2018
I have mixed feelings about this book because there’s stuff to both like and dislike about it. Which I suppose is pretty standard for an indie book.
We have some of the common problems here like spelling/grammar mistakes dotted throughout and a non-standard layout (it’s not justified and there are blank spaces between every paragraph). But really, that’s about it. The only other thing that I’d flag is that for what’s essentially a sort of police procedural novel, there was only one real suspect and they turned out to be the culprit. And they could have stopped him way earlier by just putting a tail on him instead of waiting to get warrants and stuff. When the big reveal came, it was kind of an anticlimax. It was too easy.
But other than that, there’s a lot to enjoy. I liked the way that Sanders tapped into mythology and also how the ending of the book sets him up to write many more of them. And actually, for a debut novel, it’s pretty impressive. There are ways it could be improved, of course, but that’s true of almost everything. And what I will say is that the actual police procedural part of the story felt well-researched and authentic, even when it was mixed with the mythical elements.
And of course, I quite liked the bit with the jerky strips. I mean, sure, it was kind of gross, but I like that from time to time. Like The Silence of the Lambs.
We have some of the common problems here like spelling/grammar mistakes dotted throughout and a non-standard layout (it’s not justified and there are blank spaces between every paragraph). But really, that’s about it. The only other thing that I’d flag is that for what’s essentially a sort of police procedural novel, there was only one real suspect and they turned out to be the culprit. And they could have stopped him way earlier by just putting a tail on him instead of waiting to get warrants and stuff. When the big reveal came, it was kind of an anticlimax. It was too easy.
But other than that, there’s a lot to enjoy. I liked the way that Sanders tapped into mythology and also how the ending of the book sets him up to write many more of them. And actually, for a debut novel, it’s pretty impressive. There are ways it could be improved, of course, but that’s true of almost everything. And what I will say is that the actual police procedural part of the story felt well-researched and authentic, even when it was mixed with the mythical elements.
And of course, I quite liked the bit with the jerky strips. I mean, sure, it was kind of gross, but I like that from time to time. Like The Silence of the Lambs.
July 11, 2017
Loved this debut novel by Ben Sanders.
His character development, plot line, and overall storytelling abilities are phenomenal. I'm so grateful to have been sent this book to review!
I really enjoyed the mythical elements in this book, I think it added a whole new layer to the mystery. I'm not even a mystery/thriller fan, but this book had me turning pages as fast as I could.
His characters, especially Robert Michals and Lieutenant Lynch, have a really nice depth to them. They feel real. I could have met Robert on the street and become his best friend--they felt like actual people. I love the notions of reality that Ben Sanders added throughout the novel: things like having a crook in the neck, tired shoulders, sleep deprivation. They all made the characters feel like actual humans, not invincible superheroes (which is how I feel some crime-fighting characters tend to be).
Overall I truly enjoyed this book. Can't wait to see what the future holds for both Ben Sanders and his characters!
Here is a link to my youtube review of this book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEEMM...
His character development, plot line, and overall storytelling abilities are phenomenal. I'm so grateful to have been sent this book to review!
I really enjoyed the mythical elements in this book, I think it added a whole new layer to the mystery. I'm not even a mystery/thriller fan, but this book had me turning pages as fast as I could.
His characters, especially Robert Michals and Lieutenant Lynch, have a really nice depth to them. They feel real. I could have met Robert on the street and become his best friend--they felt like actual people. I love the notions of reality that Ben Sanders added throughout the novel: things like having a crook in the neck, tired shoulders, sleep deprivation. They all made the characters feel like actual humans, not invincible superheroes (which is how I feel some crime-fighting characters tend to be).
Overall I truly enjoyed this book. Can't wait to see what the future holds for both Ben Sanders and his characters!
Here is a link to my youtube review of this book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEEMM...
June 12, 2017
Invigorating and just... freaking cool.
(I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)
Writing/style: 3/4
Characters: 3/4
Story: 3/4
Pacing: 4/4
Ending: 4/4
Total: 17/20
Video review here: https://goo.gl/6y9zlb
This book was so cool. A mystery/thriller/detective novel with paranormal flavor. I felt like I was watching a modern day version of an old-timey 1940's detective movie. Like Robert Michals what narrating in my head. A great reading experience with a fantastic story. Kept me turning pages, and had me holding my breath. A lot of fantastic women characters (who weren't used as plot devices!!) who added SO MUCH to the story. Great read!
(I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)
Writing/style: 3/4
Characters: 3/4
Story: 3/4
Pacing: 4/4
Ending: 4/4
Total: 17/20
Video review here: https://goo.gl/6y9zlb
This book was so cool. A mystery/thriller/detective novel with paranormal flavor. I felt like I was watching a modern day version of an old-timey 1940's detective movie. Like Robert Michals what narrating in my head. A great reading experience with a fantastic story. Kept me turning pages, and had me holding my breath. A lot of fantastic women characters (who weren't used as plot devices!!) who added SO MUCH to the story. Great read!
September 9, 2017
I was surprised by how much I liked this book.
A newly minted police inspector takes on his first case. As time goes on, the case involves much more than a missing person.
Ok. It's not Dorothy Sayers or Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, but I enjoyed this police procedural with a bit of urban fantasy.
A newly minted police inspector takes on his first case. As time goes on, the case involves much more than a missing person.
Ok. It's not Dorothy Sayers or Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, but I enjoyed this police procedural with a bit of urban fantasy.
February 7, 2017
I am leaving the review for a time when I'm more capable of putting my words together! But you should be warned. This book is amazing. That's it. (I'll be back for more- promise).
Read
March 10, 2017I'm not gonna rate this yet because I read an earlier version but I REALLY FUCKING ENJOYED IT.
December 10, 2018
I read this book as part of Todd and Dane's Indie Readalong! The plot involves Detective Robert Michals, mysterious deaths/murders and the supernatural! I thought Ben Sanders did a really good job writing his debut novel! I gave this one 4 stars!
June 10, 2018
3 Stars - Liked it
Initial Note - I am friends with this author, Ben Sanders, as we met via having similar Booktube (Youtube) Channels. I will do my absolute best to remove bias, but it would be impossible to say whether it affected my reading experience or not.
Pros
If I was to summarise the feeling that the first book in the Robert Michals series left me with, it would be intrigue. The story felt like a comprehensive origin story to your classic brooding, 'rule book out the window' detective, which strangely, I enjoyed. If you can imagine a Constantine-ish character at their roots (although maybe switch the cigarette addiction for coffee haha) you would be quite close.
The choice of first person went well with this story as a lot of the story's pull came from Detective Michals' thought process as he unravelled the mystery. The largest pro and the funnest part of reading this may have been trying to solve the mystery with him. I loved the clue elements and I hope to see more of this going forward.
Cons
The biggest con I have is that I think there were lots of lost opportunities for an action sequence in this story. There were only 2 or 3 scenes I would consider action and huge chunks of this story were fluff that, if removed, wouldn't have changed the story. Some of the travelling to question people, back and forth could have been switched out with Detective Michals seeing an unrelated crime along the way and stopping that, as a sub plot.
I also don't know if the choice of having portions of the story told from the perspective of other characters was necessary. It didn't really give me any insight into those characters that we weren't already preview too and towards the end, it ruined what could have been a great point of suspense. Is Erica Cera alive? Well yes, because we read about her being in a cell not doing much.
All in all, I was thoroughly impressed. I was worried about there being a very real possibility I would have to write a negative review about a mate's story, but it was enjoyable! Once you get past the few lengthy fluff scenes, there is a solid origin story to a fantastic character (which is rare for a main)
I will be reading on (when Ben actually gets it done ;) )
Initial Note - I am friends with this author, Ben Sanders, as we met via having similar Booktube (Youtube) Channels. I will do my absolute best to remove bias, but it would be impossible to say whether it affected my reading experience or not.
Pros
If I was to summarise the feeling that the first book in the Robert Michals series left me with, it would be intrigue. The story felt like a comprehensive origin story to your classic brooding, 'rule book out the window' detective, which strangely, I enjoyed. If you can imagine a Constantine-ish character at their roots (although maybe switch the cigarette addiction for coffee haha) you would be quite close.
The choice of first person went well with this story as a lot of the story's pull came from Detective Michals' thought process as he unravelled the mystery. The largest pro and the funnest part of reading this may have been trying to solve the mystery with him. I loved the clue elements and I hope to see more of this going forward.
Cons
The biggest con I have is that I think there were lots of lost opportunities for an action sequence in this story. There were only 2 or 3 scenes I would consider action and huge chunks of this story were fluff that, if removed, wouldn't have changed the story. Some of the travelling to question people, back and forth could have been switched out with Detective Michals seeing an unrelated crime along the way and stopping that, as a sub plot.
I also don't know if the choice of having portions of the story told from the perspective of other characters was necessary. It didn't really give me any insight into those characters that we weren't already preview too and towards the end, it ruined what could have been a great point of suspense. Is Erica Cera alive? Well yes, because we read about her being in a cell not doing much.
All in all, I was thoroughly impressed. I was worried about there being a very real possibility I would have to write a negative review about a mate's story, but it was enjoyable! Once you get past the few lengthy fluff scenes, there is a solid origin story to a fantastic character (which is rare for a main)
I will be reading on (when Ben actually gets it done ;) )
April 2, 2019
I enjoyed this book. When I saw this as a recommendation on Amazon and saw it had Wendigos in it I immediately added it to my wishlist. I enjoyed the main character and most of the characters actually. The mystery wasn't really much of a mystery but I liked seeing where the story went.
I found the formatting of the copy I have a little odd. The spaces between paragraphs didn't seem necessary but that's not really something I took against the book, more something I noticed. I also noticed some typos and missing punctuation but again not something I take against the content, more just something I noticed.
I will say writing wise I mostly enjoyed this but there were a few points where who the characters were talking to was a little unclear and I wish the characters were given a little more descriptions at times. I also didn't quite see the point in the descriptions of Michals' dreams.
I do wish the 2 newer characters we got at the end were given more time to develop or more time in the story.
Overall I enjoyed this book and the writing was entertaining.
I found the formatting of the copy I have a little odd. The spaces between paragraphs didn't seem necessary but that's not really something I took against the book, more something I noticed. I also noticed some typos and missing punctuation but again not something I take against the content, more just something I noticed.
I will say writing wise I mostly enjoyed this but there were a few points where who the characters were talking to was a little unclear and I wish the characters were given a little more descriptions at times. I also didn't quite see the point in the descriptions of Michals' dreams.
I do wish the 2 newer characters we got at the end were given more time to develop or more time in the story.
Overall I enjoyed this book and the writing was entertaining.
dnf
June 22, 2019DNF @ 90-ish pages.
I should note 50-ish of those pages were at the beginning and 40-ish at the end.
Herein lies why I decided to skip from page 50 to the end.
I didn't like the dialogue. It felt clunky and unrealistic. There were also way too many characters for me to keep track or understand/remember who half of them were. Within the first 50 pages there were approximately 30 characters mentioned, by name, typically with either no explanation for their existence at all, or more backstory than I would think necessary.
By page 50 I already knew who the bad guy was and their motivations. I read the few pages at the end to see if I had guessed correctly. I had.
I don't feel right rating this, because I didn't actually read the whole thing, so, no rating from me.
I think this story could have been great with a little more revision and I will pick up from this author again in the future and give him another try.
I should note 50-ish of those pages were at the beginning and 40-ish at the end.
Herein lies why I decided to skip from page 50 to the end.
I didn't like the dialogue. It felt clunky and unrealistic. There were also way too many characters for me to keep track or understand/remember who half of them were. Within the first 50 pages there were approximately 30 characters mentioned, by name, typically with either no explanation for their existence at all, or more backstory than I would think necessary.
By page 50 I already knew who the bad guy was and their motivations. I read the few pages at the end to see if I had guessed correctly. I had.
I don't feel right rating this, because I didn't actually read the whole thing, so, no rating from me.
I think this story could have been great with a little more revision and I will pick up from this author again in the future and give him another try.
March 22, 2018
At first, I wasn't sure how much I would like this book. Now that I have finished it though, I thoroughly enjoyed it! There are a lot of great things about this book, and I can't wait for the second book. But there are a few cons to this books too. The cons I have are not too bad, but really just allude to the book having needed another round of editing before being printed.
I will list both my pros and cons down below.
Cons:
-Grammar/Spelling/General Editing could have been better. There were quite a few mistakes such as 'her' instead of 'here', 'of' instead of 'off', dialogue that either didn't begin or end with ", and paragraphs that ended with " but didn't contain dialogue.
-Every paragraph was spaced the same, even for scene changes, which could be confusing at times.
-There is a scene in which Inspector Michals is telling two people about a tragic event that should elicit some kind of shocked or saddened reaction, yet neither gave such reactions. In fact one of them didn't even speak until a few minutes later on a different topic. I don't understand why neither of these characters reacted in any way to such terrible news. (page 132)
-I feel that the explanation given of how a certain thing happened was insufficient. I would have liked for something a little more complex to explain how Smith did what he did. (Trying not to give spoilers here haha)
-I do wish that the ending was a bit longer and more indepth. It was just a little too sudden, the talk that Michals had at the end should have been a little farther away time wise.
Pros:
-I enjoyed all the characters in the book, and that each character had a good, individual personality. Inspector Michals character had definite flaws that he was trying to deal with, and once or twice he almost let his anger fly. His flaws made him seem like an ordinary person and I liked his character overall. I can't wait to see more of him and learn more about his past. He is also a bookworm, which is awesome.
-There are two sweet moments that happened with nominal side characters, that I really felt for and I hope that they show up in the background later in the series. The first moment was a letter of thanks from a neighbor kid to Robert Michals (page 138). The second moment was another neighbor who ended up asking Michals for personal help and I really applaud that character (page 96-98). I hope that character overcomes his difficulties.
-The overall plot line is terrific and the ending was awesome. It had me holding my breath, which I didn't realize until I took a breath.
Now I know that I technically have more cons than pros, but most of the cons are minor and I feel that the pros far outweigh them. Definitely a 4 star read!
I will list both my pros and cons down below.
Cons:
-Grammar/Spelling/General Editing could have been better. There were quite a few mistakes such as 'her' instead of 'here', 'of' instead of 'off', dialogue that either didn't begin or end with ", and paragraphs that ended with " but didn't contain dialogue.
-Every paragraph was spaced the same, even for scene changes, which could be confusing at times.
-There is a scene in which Inspector Michals is telling two people about a tragic event that should elicit some kind of shocked or saddened reaction, yet neither gave such reactions. In fact one of them didn't even speak until a few minutes later on a different topic. I don't understand why neither of these characters reacted in any way to such terrible news. (page 132)
-I feel that the explanation given of how a certain thing happened was insufficient. I would have liked for something a little more complex to explain how Smith did what he did. (Trying not to give spoilers here haha)
-I do wish that the ending was a bit longer and more indepth. It was just a little too sudden, the talk that Michals had at the end should have been a little farther away time wise.
Pros:
-I enjoyed all the characters in the book, and that each character had a good, individual personality. Inspector Michals character had definite flaws that he was trying to deal with, and once or twice he almost let his anger fly. His flaws made him seem like an ordinary person and I liked his character overall. I can't wait to see more of him and learn more about his past. He is also a bookworm, which is awesome.
-There are two sweet moments that happened with nominal side characters, that I really felt for and I hope that they show up in the background later in the series. The first moment was a letter of thanks from a neighbor kid to Robert Michals (page 138). The second moment was another neighbor who ended up asking Michals for personal help and I really applaud that character (page 96-98). I hope that character overcomes his difficulties.
-The overall plot line is terrific and the ending was awesome. It had me holding my breath, which I didn't realize until I took a breath.
Now I know that I technically have more cons than pros, but most of the cons are minor and I feel that the pros far outweigh them. Definitely a 4 star read!
January 11, 2018
Good Debut Novel
This book was a good read. The story follows a detective as he tries to solve a kidnapping that may be tied to something supernatural. The characters are well thought out and the ending was good. The pacing was a bit slow which kept me from feeling a need of urgency till the latter end of the book and there was a little too much banter between the characters I felt neither moved the story along or let me know more about the characters. Otherwise a good novel and I look forward to reading this authors other books if and when he publishes them.
This book was a good read. The story follows a detective as he tries to solve a kidnapping that may be tied to something supernatural. The characters are well thought out and the ending was good. The pacing was a bit slow which kept me from feeling a need of urgency till the latter end of the book and there was a little too much banter between the characters I felt neither moved the story along or let me know more about the characters. Otherwise a good novel and I look forward to reading this authors other books if and when he publishes them.
July 6, 2023
Would definitely be interested in a sequel
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September 24, 2018DNF Couldn't follow
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