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CSI: Miami #7
Cut and Run
By air, sea, and land the members of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab are called out. In a field outside the Everglades a balloon has just set down; the lone man inside the basket is dead -- an apparent suicide. A yacht riddled with bullets limps into the Port of Miami; only a gravely wounded hijacker survives, confessing that there are drugs somewhere on board, but he can't find them. A local journalist, looking to break out of the rat race with a novel based on the people he covers on his beat, is found dead.
In the yacht's galley is a record-setting sunfish that seems to be the key piece of evidence to just what was being smuggled on the ship, yet the lab is stumped when they discover no more than the normal parasites infesting the fish. A raunchy video of a citrus heiress having sex in a public place gives her the motive to kill the journalist-turned-novelist, but she has an alibi. All small pieces of the puzzles that Horatio Caine and the member of his team have to unravel to find out why all these people were killed. Before it is over the members of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab are caught up in an intrigue that reaches to the heart of Castro's Cuba.
345 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 26, 2008
7 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Donn Cortez
36 books18 followersPseudonyms: Don DeBrandt & DD Barant
Donn Cortez is a pseudonym for Canadian author Don DeBrandt. Born in Saskatchewan, he currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. In addition to North America, his books have been published in Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. His influences include Spider Robinson and John D. MacDonald, among others.
He took a darker turn for The Closer, a hard-edged story about a serial killer hunting other serial killers.
His follow-up, The Man Burns Tonight (set at Burning Man) was more of a classic mystery. This was followed in rapid succession by five CSI: Miami tie-in novels and two CSI: Vegas novels.He has also contributed numerous pop-culture essays to BenBella’s SmartPop anthologies, on subjects such as Angel, Firefly, The Golden Compass, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, King Kong, the X-Men, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
He was the guest editor (as well as a contributor) to the essay anthology Investigating CSI.
Donn Cortez is a pseudonym for Canadian author Don DeBrandt. Born in Saskatchewan, he currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. In addition to North America, his books have been published in Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. His influences include Spider Robinson and John D. MacDonald, among others.
He took a darker turn for The Closer, a hard-edged story about a serial killer hunting other serial killers.
His follow-up, The Man Burns Tonight (set at Burning Man) was more of a classic mystery. This was followed in rapid succession by five CSI: Miami tie-in novels and two CSI: Vegas novels.He has also contributed numerous pop-culture essays to BenBella’s SmartPop anthologies, on subjects such as Angel, Firefly, The Golden Compass, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, King Kong, the X-Men, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
He was the guest editor (as well as a contributor) to the essay anthology Investigating CSI.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 16, 2020
Needed a pallet cleanser and an easy read, and that was exactly what I got. A good fun time. It's isn't great by any means but fun nevertheless
January 7, 2024
Why I'm interested in this book at the first place
This could be my first CSI novelization ever recorded in Goodreads? Probably. Prior to that, I'm a big fan of the tv series.
What do I think of this book... now that I've done reading it
There's three stories that the team needs to investigate:
Story #1: A hot air balloon crashed next to a busy road. Turns out there is a casualty in the crash, but it is not a typical balloon accident.
Story #2: A private yacht crashed and when inspected, the whole structure was full of gunshot holes. The first deduction is this yacht could be used for some narcotic dealings, that has gone wrong. Or could it be?
Story #3: A prolific journalist- author was found deceased at his home, while he was working on a new publication, what seems like an expose tell-all book. Horatio and his team must investigate the possibility that this person of interest that is mentioned in his drafted manuscript could be a potential suspect.
+
1. The stories featured played out like like a typical case that has been featured in CSI Miami many times - bizzare, yet interesting.
2. The progression of the investigation, keeps me hooked, no boring moments.
-
1. CSI as a whole, requires visual representation/stimuli to fully understand what's going on. Sometimes, description via wording is not enough.
2. If you're not familiar with who's who in CSI Miami team prior to reading this, I'd advise to watch the series first. There's quite a number of characters that could either eased your reading experience, or make you more confused.
Get this
1. If you love CSI the series in general, also enjoyed watching CSI Miami; this is for you.
This could be my first CSI novelization ever recorded in Goodreads? Probably. Prior to that, I'm a big fan of the tv series.
What do I think of this book... now that I've done reading it
There's three stories that the team needs to investigate:
Story #1: A hot air balloon crashed next to a busy road. Turns out there is a casualty in the crash, but it is not a typical balloon accident.
Story #2: A private yacht crashed and when inspected, the whole structure was full of gunshot holes. The first deduction is this yacht could be used for some narcotic dealings, that has gone wrong. Or could it be?
Story #3: A prolific journalist- author was found deceased at his home, while he was working on a new publication, what seems like an expose tell-all book. Horatio and his team must investigate the possibility that this person of interest that is mentioned in his drafted manuscript could be a potential suspect.
+
1. The stories featured played out like like a typical case that has been featured in CSI Miami many times - bizzare, yet interesting.
2. The progression of the investigation, keeps me hooked, no boring moments.
-
1. CSI as a whole, requires visual representation/stimuli to fully understand what's going on. Sometimes, description via wording is not enough.
2. If you're not familiar with who's who in CSI Miami team prior to reading this, I'd advise to watch the series first. There's quite a number of characters that could either eased your reading experience, or make you more confused.
Get this
1. If you love CSI the series in general, also enjoyed watching CSI Miami; this is for you.
February 11, 2020
Horatio Caine and his crack team of CSI investigators tackle a trio of cases in this original novel based on the long running TV series. A newspaper columnist is murdered as he is writing an explosive novel, a shootout on an expensive yacht leads to a mystery involving a huge fish and a treasure-obsessed balloonist is killed in mid-air, leading to a question of suicide or murder.
I will give this book the highest praise I can for a novel based on a series in that it is just like watching an expanded episode of the show. The author, who has also written novels based on the original CSI series, captures the characters perfectly and tosses in bits of background from the show.
Pick up this book, find a comfy spot and head to Miami with H and his team as they tackle crime in the Sunshine State. Oh, and don't forget to slip on your sunglasses when you know who the killer is!
I will give this book the highest praise I can for a novel based on a series in that it is just like watching an expanded episode of the show. The author, who has also written novels based on the original CSI series, captures the characters perfectly and tosses in bits of background from the show.
Pick up this book, find a comfy spot and head to Miami with H and his team as they tackle crime in the Sunshine State. Oh, and don't forget to slip on your sunglasses when you know who the killer is!
February 6, 2018
Another solid effort from Cortez, who continues to do a good job in the CSI: Miami universe, bringing it to life in novel form with very faithful treatments of Horatio Caine and his Miami-Dade Crime Lab crew. If you enjoy the show, you'll enjoy this book.
May 6, 2024
Erg goed boek met onverwachte wendingen, waardoor ik door wilde blijven lezen.
Er zijn 3 zaken die worden behandeld in dit boek, dus er zijn veel verdachten. Het verhaal beschrijft de verdachten zo goed dat je met sommige gaat meeleven en andere gelijk gaat verdenken de moordenaar te zijn.
Er zijn 3 zaken die worden behandeld in dit boek, dus er zijn veel verdachten. Het verhaal beschrijft de verdachten zo goed dat je met sommige gaat meeleven en andere gelijk gaat verdenken de moordenaar te zijn.
December 19, 2019
I Loved the Book and I Love the Show!!!
April 3, 2013
This was the first CSI: Miami book that I have read; I only read original CSI ones before, and to be honest, I prefer those - as of now. I kind of think the cases in the original CSI books are more interesting, and also more relatable. Actually, I was kind of getting tired of the way too many drug dealer/baron-type of stories in CSI: Miami the TV series as well, and here two substories had a plot somewhat surrounding international conflict and drugs. I like reading more about stories which involve emotions and personal motivation more. And for the bigger part, I tend to enjoy the characters in the original CSI series more (but it's a shame my favorite Greg Sanders didn't get too much recognition in the earlier books :P). I have to love Wolfe, though, with him being OCD, joking around a lot, and caring so much about his fashion (the suit line in this book was making me laugh out loud!).
But I liked the portrayal of the staff more than in the CSI books that I have read so far. Here I didn't feel that each character was described so redundantly, especially concerning their storylines within the stories and their physical appearance - like there was no recital of what each character looked like. Which was kind of pointless, as most people reading these books are fans of the series as well (maybe except for my mum, but she's in for any kind of detective story :D). Also, I liked that most main characters had their fare share of action in the book :).
Maybe I'm too lazy or comfortable, but 3 sub-investigations in the book was too much for me, especially as the point of view was changing really quickly, and sometimes it wasn't even signalled starkly with a three star line or something. Two would have been enough. Especially as there were differences between the "limelight" each story had. I thought the Davey-line could have been more developed, for example. And sometimes all really felt rushed. As for the stories... well, they were exciting, but nothing wow... and I didn't really care for the yacht and sunfish line.
As for the writing, I'm not sure if it was the translation's problem, but it, sometimes, felt kind of poorly written. There were some instances, when I thought the dialogues and the way people talked were forced, unrealistic and not credible; and sometimes I was feeling as if they wanted to adapt the style of the series so forcedly and so badly to a book... I mean, I was reading a dialogue, and I was like, hmmm... I totally see it coming out quite good on the screen with the editing and pictures, but in a book, it just didn't work. Also, sometimes kind of unnecessary little details were added, which either should have been more elaborate, or should have been neglected.
But I liked the portrayal of the staff more than in the CSI books that I have read so far. Here I didn't feel that each character was described so redundantly, especially concerning their storylines within the stories and their physical appearance - like there was no recital of what each character looked like. Which was kind of pointless, as most people reading these books are fans of the series as well (maybe except for my mum, but she's in for any kind of detective story :D). Also, I liked that most main characters had their fare share of action in the book :).
Maybe I'm too lazy or comfortable, but 3 sub-investigations in the book was too much for me, especially as the point of view was changing really quickly, and sometimes it wasn't even signalled starkly with a three star line or something. Two would have been enough. Especially as there were differences between the "limelight" each story had. I thought the Davey-line could have been more developed, for example. And sometimes all really felt rushed. As for the stories... well, they were exciting, but nothing wow... and I didn't really care for the yacht and sunfish line.
As for the writing, I'm not sure if it was the translation's problem, but it, sometimes, felt kind of poorly written. There were some instances, when I thought the dialogues and the way people talked were forced, unrealistic and not credible; and sometimes I was feeling as if they wanted to adapt the style of the series so forcedly and so badly to a book... I mean, I was reading a dialogue, and I was like, hmmm... I totally see it coming out quite good on the screen with the editing and pictures, but in a book, it just didn't work. Also, sometimes kind of unnecessary little details were added, which either should have been more elaborate, or should have been neglected.
March 11, 2013
Zur Gestaltung:
Im Buch selbst gibt es keine aufwendige Gestaltung.
Das Cover allerdings trägt das serientypische Logo von "CSI: Miami". Oberhalb ist allein für das Logo vorgesehen und geht dadurch nicht in einem Bild unter. Für den Untertitel hat man sich etwas einfallen lassen, was für mich auf die kriminaltechnische Seite der Serie hinweisen soll. Das liegt wohl an den leichten Kästchen in der Leiste :)
Außerdem schafft der Untitel in der "Röhre" eine Verbindung zwischen dem schwarzen Hintergrund oberhalb des Covers und dem Bild unterhalb. Der Name des Autors finden unten im Cover seinen Platz. Die gesamte Gestaltung des Covers gefällt mir sehr gut. Es passt für meinen Geschmack einfach richtig gut zur Serie.
Meine Meinung:
Ich war sehr überrascht als ich das Buch in die Hände nahm und anfing zu lesen. Ich kenne die Serie ziemlich gut und konnte mich direkt gut einfinden. Die Charaktere werden ausreichend beschrieben und entsprechen denen aus der Serie.
Selbst die Art wie sie miteinander umgehen und kommunizieren wurde klasse umgesetzt, so hatte ich wirklich das Gefühl, die Serie vor Augen zu haben.
Da wir es mit 3 unterschiedlichen Fällen zu tun haben, musste man aufpassen, dass man sich nicht verwirren lässt. Es ist schon ein ziemlicher Unterschied, wenn man die Sprünge in der Serie oder im Buch verfolgt. Im Endeffekt konnte man sich gut an den Ermittlern orientieren bei welchem Fall man gerade ist. So konnte ich zumindest problemlos alles mitverfolgen.
Schade fand ich, dass hier die phorensischen Untersuchungen nicht so deutlich hervor gebracht wurden, weil mich das in der Serie immer so sehr fasziniert hat.
Zumindest wurde es erwähnt und die entsprechenden Vorgehensweisen waren klar. Lieber wäre es mir allerdings gewesen, wenn man sich diesem Teil mehr gewidmet hätte. Die verschiedenen Untersuchungsmethoden hätten sie ruhig näher beschreiben können.
Die Aufklärung der Fälle war echt überraschend und unsere Cops haben wieder ein richtig cooles Bild abgegeben. Da gabs selbst für den Leser ein bisschen Genugtuung; denn ich persönlich liebe es, wenn die Fälle so beendet werden.
Der Schreibstil war nicht sonderlich ausschmückend. Es ließ sich leicht und flüssig lesen, außer die Namen von so manchen unserer Hauptcharaktere waren etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig in geschriebener Form zu sehen.
Fazit:
Ein tolles Buch zur Serie. Die Fälle kenne ich nicht von der Serie und empfand dieses Buch als schönes Lesevergnügen. Alle Charaktere waren vertreten und ich konnte in die Storyline abtauchen.
Ich fands gut, mit dem Makel der nicht gut genug beschriebenen, kriminaltechnischen, Untersuchen :)
Im Buch selbst gibt es keine aufwendige Gestaltung.
Das Cover allerdings trägt das serientypische Logo von "CSI: Miami". Oberhalb ist allein für das Logo vorgesehen und geht dadurch nicht in einem Bild unter. Für den Untertitel hat man sich etwas einfallen lassen, was für mich auf die kriminaltechnische Seite der Serie hinweisen soll. Das liegt wohl an den leichten Kästchen in der Leiste :)
Außerdem schafft der Untitel in der "Röhre" eine Verbindung zwischen dem schwarzen Hintergrund oberhalb des Covers und dem Bild unterhalb. Der Name des Autors finden unten im Cover seinen Platz. Die gesamte Gestaltung des Covers gefällt mir sehr gut. Es passt für meinen Geschmack einfach richtig gut zur Serie.
Meine Meinung:
Ich war sehr überrascht als ich das Buch in die Hände nahm und anfing zu lesen. Ich kenne die Serie ziemlich gut und konnte mich direkt gut einfinden. Die Charaktere werden ausreichend beschrieben und entsprechen denen aus der Serie.
Selbst die Art wie sie miteinander umgehen und kommunizieren wurde klasse umgesetzt, so hatte ich wirklich das Gefühl, die Serie vor Augen zu haben.
Da wir es mit 3 unterschiedlichen Fällen zu tun haben, musste man aufpassen, dass man sich nicht verwirren lässt. Es ist schon ein ziemlicher Unterschied, wenn man die Sprünge in der Serie oder im Buch verfolgt. Im Endeffekt konnte man sich gut an den Ermittlern orientieren bei welchem Fall man gerade ist. So konnte ich zumindest problemlos alles mitverfolgen.
Schade fand ich, dass hier die phorensischen Untersuchungen nicht so deutlich hervor gebracht wurden, weil mich das in der Serie immer so sehr fasziniert hat.
Zumindest wurde es erwähnt und die entsprechenden Vorgehensweisen waren klar. Lieber wäre es mir allerdings gewesen, wenn man sich diesem Teil mehr gewidmet hätte. Die verschiedenen Untersuchungsmethoden hätten sie ruhig näher beschreiben können.
Die Aufklärung der Fälle war echt überraschend und unsere Cops haben wieder ein richtig cooles Bild abgegeben. Da gabs selbst für den Leser ein bisschen Genugtuung; denn ich persönlich liebe es, wenn die Fälle so beendet werden.
Der Schreibstil war nicht sonderlich ausschmückend. Es ließ sich leicht und flüssig lesen, außer die Namen von so manchen unserer Hauptcharaktere waren etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig in geschriebener Form zu sehen.
Fazit:
Ein tolles Buch zur Serie. Die Fälle kenne ich nicht von der Serie und empfand dieses Buch als schönes Lesevergnügen. Alle Charaktere waren vertreten und ich konnte in die Storyline abtauchen.
Ich fands gut, mit dem Makel der nicht gut genug beschriebenen, kriminaltechnischen, Untersuchen :)
February 15, 2011
So, I went through a little CSI Miami obsession two years ago before the show bit the big bullet. I remember my excitement at seeing this at Barnes and noble, and I literally tore through it, despite it being a little dry to read about bullets, criminals, and car chases instead of watching them pan out on a lovely flat screen tv while Horatio takes off his glasses and drawls out a famous one liner. It's like the show, but think of it as a 5 hour episode or something.. I remember it being pretty intense and good though.
July 11, 2008
Disappointing, although CSI: Miami is normally disappointing compared to the other two shows too. I don't particularly like the characters.
The book was OK. I didn't figure out things early or anything, so I guess the plot wasn't too bad/obvious.
Note to Mister Cortez - abbreviating Mister as Mr. is widely accepted. You could have saved a couple of pages and not driven me crazy.
The book was OK. I didn't figure out things early or anything, so I guess the plot wasn't too bad/obvious.
Note to Mister Cortez - abbreviating Mister as Mr. is widely accepted. You could have saved a couple of pages and not driven me crazy.
February 26, 2010
This was an ok read, not nearly as good as Riptide. Too many crimes to solve in one book and a bit too convoluted.
February 25, 2013
amazing book but you should watch the episode on youtube so you can understand it better
January 21, 2016
Okay but not nearly enough clues to be able to try to figure out who the killers were for yourself
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews