Truth or Justice

Max Kane #1

by Trevor Scott

Max Kane spent twenty years in the military fighting terrorists and investigating crimes. Now, with his twin sister, Robin, they work together taking on cases that others have ignored, running their business from an internet-funded page. When a grieving mother in Marquette, Michigan hires them to find the truth about what happened to her daughter who drowned in Lake Superior, Max and Robin are at first skeptical. After all, when the gales of November come early to the big lake, nearly anything can happen to young people who get too close. But it doesn’t take long before things don’t add up. And not everyone likes the idea of outsiders poking their noses around in Yooper business. Truth is not always a wanted commodity in a world where justice can be hard to come by, leaving Max and Robin in a precarious predicament of life or death.

"Akin to Ludlum and Higgins. . .”—Dale Brown, New York Times bestselling author

“A damned good writer.”—David Hagberg, New York Times bestselling author

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller Suspense, Mystery Thriller

230 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 2, 2018

About the author

Trevor Scott is the best selling author of more than 70 mystery/thriller novels in the Jake Adams International Espionage Thriller Series, the Karl Adams Series, and the Max Kane Series. He has sold more than 1.3 million copies of his books in a number of languages. He earned a master's in creative writing from Northern Michigan University, and a bachelor's in writing from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He served in the U.S. Navy as an ordnanceman on the flight deck of aircraft carriers, and as an officer in the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War and the first Gulf War, where he retired as a captain. He previously worked as a writer and editor at a daily newspaper, and in the PR department at a small private college. He has traveled to more than 100 countries, all seven continents, and he currently resides in Nevada. He grew up in a small town near Duluth. He's a dual citizen of the U.S. and Italy.

Reviews

[S.A. Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read
Max Kane and his twin sister are great as a team. Whereas, he is a great detective, she offers her help in the legal aspects of the case. Nice twists and turns to keep it unpredictable till the very end. Very interesting read.

[Zoe Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but lacking depth

I think this book has a lot of promise and I liked the mystery, but there were a couple of things that kept drawing me out of the story. The novel takes place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the descriptions of the land and demographics are fascinating. The first chapter especially had me hooked with all the imagery of the cold Lake Superior setting. The “topper” talk and stereotypes were fun and a unique idea for a novel.

Unfortunately, the characters are not as well-described as the landscape. The female characters are frequently described as “beautiful” or “hotties,” which is fine once or twice, but it’s in almost every description and you really don’t get much beyond that, or even information about their personalities. Even the female protagonist, Robin, is reduced to her looks for the majority of the novel. She’s a basic bombshell who uses her looks for 90% of the plot points and gets whatever she wants because everyone’s in love with her. It’s hard to get attached to the victim, protagonist, or any of the female characters because none of them are relatable. They’re flat.

The same goes for the male protagonist, Max. The novel repeats a lot that he’s afraid of nothing and that people should be— and are— afraid of him. Max is a stereotypical hero figure with no flaws, which means there’s no real suspense in the novel because he can best anyone and everything. In the middle of gunfire, he is calm, cool, and confident that everything will be just fine. In every confrontation, he bests his opponent with basically the flick of a wrist. Max perfectly reads every situation and characters are miraculously at ease around him, willing to trust him with information they realistically wouldn’t tell anyone. There weren’t any characters I could invest in, and the dialogue was unrealistic. It also was a bit uncomfortable— Max and Robin supposed to be twins, but they describe each other in weirdly sexual terms.

The novel had a really slow build. I was at least 25% of the way through before there was any confirmation of a mystery. The premise is that a girl died during a college party at Presque Isle Park, but we don’t really know much about what happened that night. Eye witness accounts are dismissed as unhelpful but as a reader, we don’t actually get to hear them. The cops write it off as an accident and there’s never actually any evidence that would lead anyone to believe it wasn’t. The only reason there’s any mystery at all is because an entirely different subplot occurs that just conveniently happens to tie in to the victim’s death. I don’t actually mind this, but if you’re looking for a fast paced suspense novel, this is not your book. This novel is much more about describing Michigan’s UP stereotypes than it is about the plot.

I would definitely read more from this author, but I hope the characters develop a lot more. Robin and Max could be much more interesting characters if they had flaws beyond not having romantic partners, especially flaws that related to the mystery at hand. All in all, a quick and interesting read, but lacks depth.

A special thanks to the publisher and sponsors of the Goodreads giveaway for a copy of the book.

[Joe Vitucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max, former Seal, and his twin sister solve cases for people that need closure.
A smart girl dies in Lake Superior, and the police say it is accidental. The autopsy shows a trace amout of oxy in her blood. Was she using, unbeknownst to her mom? Her mom doesn't buy it and thinks foul play could be involved.
Max was involved in criminal investigations when in the service. His sister is a lawyer. When they take a case, she creates a go fund me page to cover as many of the expenses as possible. They are a good team. But are they good enough to figure out the oxy culture in the small college town, as well as gangs fighting for control of the drug market?
A pretty good read, and fast.

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mother and daughter that was close, texted often. Leena sold her house and move close to the college, even though her daughter wanted to stay in the dorm for the first year. A good student and didn’t drink, a late night party with other college kids. The police verdict said she slipped and fell death by drowning. The twins looking at the dvd of the funeral why were there two dark suits at the funeral, and now following them. A nice flowing story with Max doing the detective and her the organizing.

[Sue Hallett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read & A good story, well written, intriguing.

I like mystery but really don't need much profanity. While this has some, it's not overpowering. I know in reality, our world is can be ugly, but for older readers, we like a bit more class. This book offered that, not squeaky clean but also not filthy rot. I enjoyed the story & will read more of Trevor Scott's offerings.

[Nicholle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good quick read. Being from the area, I appreciated all the references to all the places that are so familiar. There were some things that the Author got wrong about the area but you can tell they either spent some time in the area or did a lot of research. It was a little cliche at times. I did, overall, enjoy the read and wanted to see how it ended.

[Elaine Mccaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very suspenseful read

Loved the story and the suspense. The setting was also good and described very well. Although there was no obscene language, there were a few sexually explicit lines that could have been left out without taking away from the story. But thanks, for leaving out the obscene language!

[Stacey Fuentes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected.

I have read a lot of Trevor Scott's books and generally enjoyed them. This book, however, was full of spelling and grammatical errors. The story was thin and formulaic. Disappointing.

[Phil Jacobsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story...easy read. I like the Kane twins and their interaction with ea ch other. (Reminds me of my twins) The ending was a shocker! On to the second book in the series and I hope it is as good as the first.

[John Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent new series

I'm not normally into detective type novels but this series will be an exception. Well written and a storyline that makes it hard to put down.

[Samantha Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to Trevor Scott!

I love Max & Robin Kane! I brother/sister duo detectives and crime fighters, twins no less! This was a great book & I can't wait to read the next one.

[P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

This was an interesting story of small town drugs and violence and a brother-sister combo pursuing the bad guys whoever they may be

[Lilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring book

I was trying hard to finish this book. I thought it would get better but it didn't. It was a waste of time.

[J.D. Schechter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action plus

Well written and more believable than most special operator turned PI stories. A fast read that leaves you wanting the next book

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enoyable action

I enjoyed reading Truth or Justice, the first book in the Max Kane series, and will definitely read the next book in the series.

The style of Truth or Justice reminded me of modern action mystery movies where you have just a couple of hours to establish some character points while moving the action along in a “Hollywood-believable” setting (seems plausible but some things appear too easy for it to be realistic). The story moved along fairly quickly, following the sympathetic ex-military hero who is almost dragged into taking the “ignored case” and saves the day. There is a fair amount of action in the story to balance the perceived detective legwork and conversations. For me, the solution to the mystery/case of the college girl’s death is not very much of a surprise once you are in the story.

I found reading this similar to a screenplay without the stage directions. There is enough scenery description to paint a braid picture of the Michigan U.P. The glimpses of Max’s more civilian/human side are shown through his relationship with his twin sister Robin. However, her character is less developed in the storyline, which I feel is a missed opportunity.

Would recommend for anyone who wants a quicker read, moderate mystery and action.

I received a free copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. I am leaving this review voluntarily, and all opinions stated are my own.

[Wancket Enterprises · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

Good story and full of interesting characters. I like books with hero's from the special forces. We need more hero's in our world!