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Spring: the season of renewal.
For Vasily Korsokovach, it feels especially true: newly reinstated to his original position after a string of successful case closures, his life in Southern California appears to finally be back on track. That’s despite having been the key witness in an Internal Affairs investigation that takes down his former colleague (and one-time lover) — a role that does nothing to endear him to the rank-and-file of the Rancho Linda Police Department — and the nagging concern that said colleague seems to feel there are still scores to be settled.
The promise of the season is shattered when a fatal house fire claims the lives of a couple well regarded for their involvement in Rancho Linda. From charitable fundraisers to stints at the soup kitchen, it’s clear to Vasily they were driven to give back to their community; their deaths are a huge blow to the small city. Sifting through the ashes of what he assumed had been lives well lived, Vasily instead discovers the couple’s final project to turn around the booster group for their daughter’s softball team had inadvertently placed them into deadly peril.
In a small city brimming with hidden grievances, danger is where you least expect it to be; despite all of his years of experience, it’s a lesson Detective Korsokovach is forced to learn the hard way.
For Vasily Korsokovach, it feels especially true: newly reinstated to his original position after a string of successful case closures, his life in Southern California appears to finally be back on track. That’s despite having been the key witness in an Internal Affairs investigation that takes down his former colleague (and one-time lover) — a role that does nothing to endear him to the rank-and-file of the Rancho Linda Police Department — and the nagging concern that said colleague seems to feel there are still scores to be settled.
The promise of the season is shattered when a fatal house fire claims the lives of a couple well regarded for their involvement in Rancho Linda. From charitable fundraisers to stints at the soup kitchen, it’s clear to Vasily they were driven to give back to their community; their deaths are a huge blow to the small city. Sifting through the ashes of what he assumed had been lives well lived, Vasily instead discovers the couple’s final project to turn around the booster group for their daughter’s softball team had inadvertently placed them into deadly peril.
In a small city brimming with hidden grievances, danger is where you least expect it to be; despite all of his years of experience, it’s a lesson Detective Korsokovach is forced to learn the hard way.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 21, 2021
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6 people want to read
About the author
Christopher H. Jansmann
20 books30 followersBorn and raised in Maine, Christopher H. Jansmann spent nearly three decades as a professional IT nerd before recalling a childhood ambition to become an author. He quickly set about correcting that oversight and published his first novel, Blindsided, in 2020, launching what would become his signature style of blending memorable characters with vibrant locations. Chris is the author of the Coastal Maine-set Sean Colbeth Investigates series and the interconnected Southern California-based Vasily Korsokovach Investigates novels.
Despite his love for the Northeast, Chris escaped the cold for sunny Arizona where he currently resides with his beautiful wife and a Shar-Pei mix that insists on being walked regularly.
Despite his love for the Northeast, Chris escaped the cold for sunny Arizona where he currently resides with his beautiful wife and a Shar-Pei mix that insists on being walked regularly.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 21, 2023
Not as good as the first book - the investigative plot got a little 'boring' in the middle and there was much distraction from an unrelated stalking/harassment issue (carried over from book 1) which IMO distracted from the overall read; There are references to another series by the author (involving Vas and that series' MC) but this didn't detract too much from the overall reading experience; plus at least one notable misnomer of a secondary character (who's Victoria??) - but this is me just being picky. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
September 2, 2024
I have many feelings about this book and the dual series (Vasily & Sean) in general. It's hard to know where to start in my review of this book. I like Vasily as a character overall even though he often makes illogical decisions for a detective who is so analytical in solving cases.
My biggest conflict with the series is I like most of the characters overall, but the writing is so slow and tedious. I typically can read a 300 page fiction detective book in 3 days. Yet it took me a month to read this much shorter book. The author is overly descriptive in things that do not add to the story. He does a good job of building suspense at certain points, but there is too much other verbiage that makes the story drag at a snail's pace which takes away from the suspense.
There are also incidents in the story that bother me. Unimportant in the scheme of the story but still things I don't understand why the author chose to write them in the way he did. As an example, in this day and age keeping the location of a major fire out of the news would be impossible. Yet that was a reiterated frequently in the story. I'm also sure no police department in CA would be buying clothes and covering expenses for an adult child of people killed in a fire. And in what world does an affluent CA family consider Olive Garden the epitome of an incredible family dinner? Also, why would the chief of police not have asked Vasily or someone else in the department to investigate the booster embezzlement case after Mark was fired and Amanda was killed in the fire?
Overall, main character is 4 stars. Suspense at certain points is 3 stars. Killer motive 2 stars. Pace of story 1.5 stars. I do want to read more about Vasily and watch him become the detective and person I think the author envisions, but I am not sure I can take the pace of the writing. I definitely will be taking a break from the series for a while.
Sidenote: The library ebook commentary was enlightening.
My biggest conflict with the series is I like most of the characters overall, but the writing is so slow and tedious. I typically can read a 300 page fiction detective book in 3 days. Yet it took me a month to read this much shorter book. The author is overly descriptive in things that do not add to the story. He does a good job of building suspense at certain points, but there is too much other verbiage that makes the story drag at a snail's pace which takes away from the suspense.
There are also incidents in the story that bother me. Unimportant in the scheme of the story but still things I don't understand why the author chose to write them in the way he did. As an example, in this day and age keeping the location of a major fire out of the news would be impossible. Yet that was a reiterated frequently in the story. I'm also sure no police department in CA would be buying clothes and covering expenses for an adult child of people killed in a fire. And in what world does an affluent CA family consider Olive Garden the epitome of an incredible family dinner? Also, why would the chief of police not have asked Vasily or someone else in the department to investigate the booster embezzlement case after Mark was fired and Amanda was killed in the fire?
Overall, main character is 4 stars. Suspense at certain points is 3 stars. Killer motive 2 stars. Pace of story 1.5 stars. I do want to read more about Vasily and watch him become the detective and person I think the author envisions, but I am not sure I can take the pace of the writing. I definitely will be taking a break from the series for a while.
Sidenote: The library ebook commentary was enlightening.
July 24, 2024
This review is for the audio version of the book.
This is the second Vasily Korsokovach book I've listened to, and I've already downloaded a few more. The story of Vasily, an Olympic swimming champion turned detective in Los Angeles is really compelling. I listened pretty much straight through. I had a hinky feeling that Vasily should have taken his ex-partner's malicious intent more seriously. Vasily's character is super smart, a bit conceited (but with that gorgeous body and good looks who can blame him), and an excellent detective. However, his smarts seem to desert him when his ex-partner stalks him and the result is catastrophic. Vasily untangles another murder case, and the murderer is quite the surprise. The journey as Vasily works to gather clues and piece together the events leading to the double homicide is very interesting - Jansmann writes a good mystery!
I'm not happy about the AI narration. There's a number of mispronunciations, wildly wrong accents, and improper inflections. However, I've come to realize that using AI to narrate a book will likely serve more listeners, especially those who really can't pick up a physical book or e-reader to read it. I would hope that human voice actors will always be prized for their ability to differentiate the characters, to add nuance to scenes, and narrate different accents properly. A good narrator totally elevates the book.
This is the second Vasily Korsokovach book I've listened to, and I've already downloaded a few more. The story of Vasily, an Olympic swimming champion turned detective in Los Angeles is really compelling. I listened pretty much straight through. I had a hinky feeling that Vasily should have taken his ex-partner's malicious intent more seriously. Vasily's character is super smart, a bit conceited (but with that gorgeous body and good looks who can blame him), and an excellent detective. However, his smarts seem to desert him when his ex-partner stalks him and the result is catastrophic. Vasily untangles another murder case, and the murderer is quite the surprise. The journey as Vasily works to gather clues and piece together the events leading to the double homicide is very interesting - Jansmann writes a good mystery!
I'm not happy about the AI narration. There's a number of mispronunciations, wildly wrong accents, and improper inflections. However, I've come to realize that using AI to narrate a book will likely serve more listeners, especially those who really can't pick up a physical book or e-reader to read it. I would hope that human voice actors will always be prized for their ability to differentiate the characters, to add nuance to scenes, and narrate different accents properly. A good narrator totally elevates the book.
November 27, 2024
Would have been a 4* as murder mystery is interesting, as is the insight into the police procedures but ………. there is too much repetition, particularly of silly details. How many times do we need the details of Vasily’s running gear &/or swimming briefs? Also, I understand that as human beings, we don’t always act logically - but when it comes to his private life, Vasily takes this to extremes. Is this really how an experienced cop would handle a stalker - particularly one that Vasily acknowledges is dangerous? Very uneven - but I still want to know what happens to him next!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews