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Sailor Doyle
15 Miles
Samuel "Sailor" Doyle has transferred from Vice to Homicide in the Virginia State Police. He has a mistress, an alcohol problem, a prescription drug dependency, and a burgeoning self-loathing that alienates his wife and family. The rookie investigator is assigned to a double homicide on a rural farm some 15 miles outside Richmond. One of the victims has been interred in a makeshift tomb, while the other is stuck half-in, half-out of a hope chest overflowing with cat litter. And the farm is covered with dead bodies: dozens of cats, sheep, goats, cows, and one dead horse. The mentally handicapped daughter of the victims, Carl and Claire Bruckner, is missing. Doyle soon discovers that Bruckner was a Marine captain who lost his leg in Vietnam thanks to the incompetence of his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Lake—now retired General Robert Lake, and Republican Party presidential hopeful, who will be speaking in Richmond on July fourth—the following evening. What Doyle fails to realize as he follows the various clues is that wherever he goes, he is spreading disease—and not just any disease, but Yersinia pestis. The plague. Is the dead Marine planning revenge, even from beyond the grave?
356 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2010
About the author
Rob Scott
6 books8 followersRobert Michael Scott aka Robert Scott, with father-in-law Jay Gordon.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 25, 2016
Found this one frustrating at times, for the most part because it felt very overwritten, a story that could have been told in half as many words. And yet . . . I kept coming back to it. Couldn't put it down. That's the #1 sign of a good read, warts n' all!
October 11, 2019
Ay bana bir fenalık geldi. Bu kitabı bu kadar uzatmaya gerek var mıydı gerçekten? 525 sayfa nedir ya?
Başrolü hiç sevmedim. Karısını aldatan, sürekli hap içen rahatsız herifin teki. Sürekli sanrılar görmesi de ayrı. Anladık kitabın adı sanrılar ama bu nedir ya? Bu nasıl bir sahne ayrıca? Böyle olay mı olur? Kitabın sonunda olayın bağlandığı yer hoşuma gitmedi hiç.
Adamın ilk cinayeti ve olay cinayet mi değil mi belli değil. Bu kadar komplo bana çekici gelmedi.
Bence bu kitaptan sıkılırsınız. Yarım bile bırakabilirsiniz hatta. Okumayın.
Başrolü hiç sevmedim. Karısını aldatan, sürekli hap içen rahatsız herifin teki. Sürekli sanrılar görmesi de ayrı. Anladık kitabın adı sanrılar ama bu nedir ya? Bu nasıl bir sahne ayrıca? Böyle olay mı olur? Kitabın sonunda olayın bağlandığı yer hoşuma gitmedi hiç.
Adamın ilk cinayeti ve olay cinayet mi değil mi belli değil. Bu kadar komplo bana çekici gelmedi.
Bence bu kitaptan sıkılırsınız. Yarım bile bırakabilirsiniz hatta. Okumayın.
June 6, 2012
Reviewed for Book Chick City
http://www.bookchickcity.com/2012/05/...
’15 Miles’ by Rob Scott is a crime novel that incorporates elements of horrific murder, corrupt cops and a missing persons case for a severely disabled woman. There are some truly shocking moments, and the description of the corpses and murder scene is highly gruesome.
The book begins with an introduction to Detective Samuel Doyle of the Virginia State Police, better known as ‘Sailor’. In this introductory section we learn about his background in the Narcotics division and his marital life, also seeing the beginning of his affair with post-graduate pathology student, Sarah. This section gives a good basis of Doyle’s character, as well as introducing us to his addiction to prescription drug, OxyContin, which he takes whenever a situation gets too much for him.
Six months later, Doyle is working in the homicide division and is given his first solo murder case. What Doyle expects to be an open-and-shut case is anything but, with two bodies found at a remote farmhouse 15 miles from the city of Richmond, both in varying states of decay. There is no evidence to suggest murder, but what other cause could be responsible? And what about the whereabouts of the victims’ disabled daughter, was she to blame?
Our protagonist, ‘Sailor’ Doyle is where I believe this book is let down the most. The murder plot is intriguing and gripping, but the behaviour and attitudes of the main character almost made me abandon this book at the beginning. He starts up an affair with Sarah at the work Christmas party, despite claiming to love his wife, who is pregnant with their second child, and evaluates the beauty of every other female character in the novel. Maybe reading this as a female affects my view of Doyle, and male readers may think differently of him, but I find him to be extremely offensive and sexist. I also hated the way they refer to the missing disabled woman, using highly derogatory terms. I’m not one of those people who insist on being PC, but when it’s this offensive I don’t see any need for it.
In terms of the plot, there are some truly surprising and shocking elements to the investigation, particularly the incredible number of dead and feral cats prowling the farmhouse, attacking anything that looks like it might provide food. One of the victims also has a colourful military past in the marines that could link him to the campaign of an up-and-coming politician, due to host an important dinner in the next few days. However, the eventual resolution of the plot is a little weak, as I was expecting something much bigger or more shocking than what occurs.
Overall, this novel is an intriguing mystery, but the main character really deterred me from the plot. He does experience a change of character towards the end, which raised my opinion slightly, but the ending of the novel doesn’t reveal how his life outside work is affected after the investigation is over. He also has a past that haunts him throughout the novel, causing hallucinations that may also be related to his continuing drug, alcohol and cigarette abuse.
http://www.bookchickcity.com/2012/05/...
’15 Miles’ by Rob Scott is a crime novel that incorporates elements of horrific murder, corrupt cops and a missing persons case for a severely disabled woman. There are some truly shocking moments, and the description of the corpses and murder scene is highly gruesome.
The book begins with an introduction to Detective Samuel Doyle of the Virginia State Police, better known as ‘Sailor’. In this introductory section we learn about his background in the Narcotics division and his marital life, also seeing the beginning of his affair with post-graduate pathology student, Sarah. This section gives a good basis of Doyle’s character, as well as introducing us to his addiction to prescription drug, OxyContin, which he takes whenever a situation gets too much for him.
Six months later, Doyle is working in the homicide division and is given his first solo murder case. What Doyle expects to be an open-and-shut case is anything but, with two bodies found at a remote farmhouse 15 miles from the city of Richmond, both in varying states of decay. There is no evidence to suggest murder, but what other cause could be responsible? And what about the whereabouts of the victims’ disabled daughter, was she to blame?
Our protagonist, ‘Sailor’ Doyle is where I believe this book is let down the most. The murder plot is intriguing and gripping, but the behaviour and attitudes of the main character almost made me abandon this book at the beginning. He starts up an affair with Sarah at the work Christmas party, despite claiming to love his wife, who is pregnant with their second child, and evaluates the beauty of every other female character in the novel. Maybe reading this as a female affects my view of Doyle, and male readers may think differently of him, but I find him to be extremely offensive and sexist. I also hated the way they refer to the missing disabled woman, using highly derogatory terms. I’m not one of those people who insist on being PC, but when it’s this offensive I don’t see any need for it.
In terms of the plot, there are some truly surprising and shocking elements to the investigation, particularly the incredible number of dead and feral cats prowling the farmhouse, attacking anything that looks like it might provide food. One of the victims also has a colourful military past in the marines that could link him to the campaign of an up-and-coming politician, due to host an important dinner in the next few days. However, the eventual resolution of the plot is a little weak, as I was expecting something much bigger or more shocking than what occurs.
Overall, this novel is an intriguing mystery, but the main character really deterred me from the plot. He does experience a change of character towards the end, which raised my opinion slightly, but the ending of the novel doesn’t reveal how his life outside work is affected after the investigation is over. He also has a past that haunts him throughout the novel, causing hallucinations that may also be related to his continuing drug, alcohol and cigarette abuse.
March 15, 2014
I read a lot of genre fiction, but this book explodes every hackneyed convention of the hard-boiled detective novel/procedural drama. To say that our protagonist is morally flawed is an understatement, and I'll confess that I almost bailed out of the book after about 50 pages because he is so unbelievably unlikable (does he HAVE to be such a misogynistic jerk?). Sailor Doyle is a newly-minted Homicide detective with the Virginia State Police. He's been promoted up from Narcotics, where he developed an unfortunate habit of skimming some of the seized evidence and became addicted to oxycontin. The book could read like any other procedural, except that most of the first-person narrative (crime scene investigation, evidence collection, witness interviewing) is filtered through a drug-addled haze. The author's descriptions are electric and highly textured, giving the reader a visceral experience of all the horrifying sights, scents, and tastes of a brutal crime scene on a sultry July 4th weekend. The murder mystery at the center of the book takes some outlandish twists, skimming close to political intrigue in a presidential campaign, and flirting briefly with a possible terrorist plot involving a biological agent. In the end, though (and I have to say I would not have imagined this would be possible at the outset) Doyle accomplishes the impossible and redeems himself in some significant ways. And I hate to admit it, but Doyle is laugh-out-loud funny--never more so than when he's railing against the bureaucracy, although he also frequently turns his rapier wit on himself with brutal honesty. It's a completely original and compelling voice in crime fiction, and I will most definitely be looking forward to more adventures of Sailor Doyle.
October 10, 2019
We are all very familiar with the literary device of the flawed hero - particularly in relation to crime novels - however this one was just too flawed. There is nothing to suggest why he is such a successful seducer of women, he is over weight, addicted to pills and alcohol, reliant on others for everything. He is repulsive. I would not read more by this author.
August 28, 2012
Found the lead character fascinating for all his unforgiving flaws and normality! Good plot, lots of mystery.
November 18, 2019
A book that gets its proverbial hooks in you in the first ten pages is usually good. Rob Scott's 15 Miles only needed five to get the job done and didn't disappoint me in the many pages that followed. When it comes to horror, there are many ways of doing it, and Scott sits comfortably outside of the box with a unique noir style that sprinkles in horror touches here and there while safely keeping both feet in the realm of the real.
You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
November 30, 2018
2.5...good until "snake incident"...then it became LOL.
July 13, 2024
Great read! Plot twists, suspense, mystery topped with a bit of gory details.
March 15, 2013
A newly minted homicide detective is given his first case that he will be in charge of. And this one is a real nut cracker, with two dead bodies found in an old decrepit farmhouse on the outskirts of town. Of course it does not help that this detective is carrying so much personal baggage that he makes the local luggage store look bad. I really like the way the author throws out several misdirects and then winds up the action for a dramatic finish. This is a very enjoyable book that really dips into the dark side.
January 31, 2011
What I like about the book was that I had no idea what was going to happen next. I would say it is a cross between a Lawrence Block "Matthew Scudder" book and "Fear and Loathing ..." by Hunter S. Thompson. It was a bit hard to follow at first, but once I understood that the narrator was completely drugged out of his mind, I got along just fine. Definitely entertaining, if not uplifting.
And I definitely found the back cover review and classification as "horror" a little missleading ... gothic horror ... I think not.
And I definitely found the back cover review and classification as "horror" a little missleading ... gothic horror ... I think not.
December 22, 2011
The whole 'huge scary secret' is ultimately a little disappointing, but as a study of the tormented figure of the cop Sailor Doyle stuck in the middle of the whole thing it's pretty good.
July 6, 2012
Loved it. A fast paced nail biter that kept me by various degrees grossed out by the spot on descriptions of the scene of the crime and laughing my bottom off.
January 28, 2013
Good quick read.
September 10, 2016
Effective thriller with some nice twists.
July 14, 2015
Interesting, exciting thriller where the detective is almost as faulty as the crime he is untangling Plus, the plague! Very unexpected twist!
February 10, 2016
A new author for me and I enjoyed his style of writing. A good story with many surprises.
Want to Read
July 26, 2017check this out: http://www.amazon.com/15-Miles-Rob-Sc...
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews