Final Price

Paul Chang Mystery #1

by J. Gregory Smith

Wilmington, Delaware is one of those cities that feels more like a small town. Neighbors know one another, and businesses cater to the needs of the citizenry. But what happens when the local car salesman suffers one lost sale too many, when one more customer decides to buy from the competition because the price is too high, interest rates aren’t friendly, or that shade of blue just won’t work? In J. Gregory Smith’s electrifying thriller, Final Price , Shamus Ryan’s frustration works like a thorn under his skin until psychotic urges take over and he commits murder―serial murders, in fact―his victims chosen from prospective clients who dared to walk away. With Smith’s chilling scenes of massacre, readers are pulled into the vortex of a warped mind, one man justifying heinous acts, and two detectives running a race against time, trying to solve seemingly random killings. Paul Chang, a Chinese-American homicide detective, is struggling to understand why these murders are taking place. Assisted by his neurotic partner, Nelson Rogers, Chang goes after the killer with logic, tenacity, and no small measure of fear. Written from the perspectives of Detective Chang and Shamus Ryan, readers quickly find themselves seeing the world in unique―and often disturbing―ways they never expected. With dark humor and gritty suspense, Smith has crafted a refreshing and surprising thriller.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Horror, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Procedural

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Prior to writing fiction full time, Greg Smith worked in public relations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. He has an MBA from the College of William & Mary and a BA in English from Skidmore College.

His first novel, Final Price, was selected as a Quarterfinalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Just released as a self-published work, it is now available on Amazon.com, Kindle and select bookstores.

He lives in Wilmington, DE with his wife and son."

Reviews

[PamG · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are you looking for a unique police procedural and crime thriller with some horror, then Final Price by J. Gregory Smith may be the answer to your search. Set in and around Wilmington, Delaware, it features state police homicide detective Paul Chang, his friend Nelson Rogers, and car salesman Shamus Ryan. I believe it is better to go into this book without reading the synopsis.

Chang is logical and tenacious, but he also has emotional turmoil and anger issues. I had trouble connecting with him. Rogers is somewhat unstable, but he has great powers of observation and can read subtle clues on others’ faces and through their body language. He is the most interesting character in the book. Shamus has anger issues as well and blames everyone but himself when things don’t go as he would like.

Rather than the first book in a series, this felt like it was several books into it. While there are references to some of what happened when Chang and Rogers were detective partners are New York, there seemed to be a lot that was missing. I would have liked to have read about those events first.

The story is told from the points of view of Chang and Shamus. It’s very descriptive so there are some graphic and disturbing scenes as well as plenty of suspense. The dark humor that occurs occasionally isn’t enough to offset these but provides some relief. The plot is full of action, over-the-top scenes, and descriptive settings combined with unsettling and distressing images that kept me turning the pages. The ending sets up a twist to the series. Themes include murder, racism, politics, competitiveness, and much more.

Overall, this is a fast-paced and perturbing thriller with some dark humor to break the suspense occasionally. It grabbed my attention and kept me engaged throughout the story.

I purchased a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date was January 1, 2009.

----------------------------------------
My 3.48 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic start to a new series. Paul Chang is on the path of a serial killer. He pulls in his old partner who had a mental breakdown but is better now. Together they try to work out the killer before he kills one of them.

An extremely well written book with some great characters. A story with adventure, mystery and fast pace. I can't wait to read more in this series.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was free on Kindle. I'm working on clearing books that have been on my Kindle for a while. The story is about a Chinese Delaware state cop and his geeky partner who are going after a car salesman serial killer. It switches back and forth between the killer and the cop, which is done well. The killing scenes are graphic. There are a few misspellings that need to be fixed. It was a quick read. Nothing special.

[Elaine Nickolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not put this one down. I may have found a new series to follow.
Det. Paul Chang, along with his partner, Nelson Rogers made this story flow with lots of believable action.
Hunting down a serial killer, with no known connections of the victims to each other is the task Chang must solve. With no help from his superiors Chang, along with Rogers piece together what little they have to track this incredibly evil killer. Will definitely look for other stories in this series.
50 State challenge- Delaware-Check

[Ed Morawski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is priceless!

A fresh look at a serial killer - he's a car salesman!!!! Unique characters - an Asian for a change and his dysfunctional but sensitive sidekick Nelson. And all steeped in sly dry humor (which obviously some of the reviewers of this book didn't get). In one scene Chang and Nelson are getting tea. The clerk calls out: "3 Percent". When Nelson returns from getting his drink, Chang asks him what that's about. He replies he told the girl she had so many metal piercings her chance of getting struck by lightning had increased by 3 percent.

And on the subject of some of the poor reviews - what the hell do you want people? More of the same dreck handed out all the time? A book finally comes along that's different and creative and introduces us to another culture and people call it:
Racist - because the character Chang refers to Confucius in a humorous way?
Misogynistic - because Change has an overbearing mother and a ditsy ex-wife?
No mystery - Note: it's NOT a mystery we know from the outset who the killer is!

No wonder there's so much crap on the market. If it's not beige vanilla AND above all - politically correct, people don't like it.

I, for one, couldn't find anything not to like about this book. It's well written, clever, and hilarious.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The characters were diverse, developed and can easily be made into a series that would interest me.

If I remember right, the profanity and adult scenes were kept to a minimum, if there at all. Fair warning, I've read a few books in between this one and the review. So, my memory may not be right there...

I'll look forward to Chang as a PI.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't impressed by this book although it had pretty good ratings. It just didn't hold my interest and it was one of those you just can't wait for it to be over. I think the author tried to make it interesting with gory details but it just didn't flow well for me.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting mystery with a good premise. However, I didn't like the author's use of stereotypes. Not my favorite, but not bad.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because of the location of the story: Delaware. The summary describing the book is accurate. The author is a skilled writer. The book has all the elements of a good novel with an ending the wraps up the story. I wouldn't categorize the book as a mystery. For me, it reads like a horror story. This is because all of the actions and thoughts of the killer are described. There is no mystery to the reader as to what is happening. I would rate this part of the book R for graphic depiction of violence and torture; everything that happens during the murders is described in meticulous detail. There is a diversity of characters in the book, which is a positive. The policemen are misfits because of their psychological issues: Paul Chang has an anger, which Paul has identified as a dragon inside ready to come out at times and that he must control. His partner is a kind of autistic combination of Sheldon Cooper and Columbo. For me, the book needs some re-writing to make it a better story. For those who are familiar with Delaware, the locations will be familiar and I appreciated the references to those locations. There are some subtle uses of surnames that seem familiar to the area and kind of an inside joke with a reference to a slogan "Delaware -- we were here first." Delaware and Wilmington seem to be very fond of coming up with slogans. However, if you are a reader not familiar with Delaware, you will find that there is a paucity of descriptive writing, so that the location does not seem to be a location with its own character, other than being small. Some locations: [Delaware: Elsmere, Wilmington, Newark, Quaker Hill neighborhood, Bear, Route 52 Greenville, Route 202 North Wilmington, Fairbridge neighborhood (fictional), Independence Mall, Tea Hee (fictional), 7-Eleven on Union Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, Sandy’s Dry Cleaning (fictional), Garden Ridge neighborhood (fictional), Brandywine River, Dover State Police Headquarters, Carpenter Woods development (located north of Wilmington, but story has it in Newark), Arden, DART bus (Delaware Area Regional Transit), Newark Train Station, Delaware Route 1, Car Dealerships (are all fictional, but locations are realistic); Pennsylvania: West Chester]

[Ixby Wuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilmington, Delaware is one of those cities that feels more like a small town. Neighbors know one another, and businesses cater to the needs of the citizenry. But what happens when the local car salesman suffers one lost sale too many, when one more customer decides to buy from the competition because the price is too high, interest rates aren't friendly, or that shade of blue just won't work? In J. Gregory Smith's electrifying thriller, Final Price , Shamus Ryan's frustration works like a thorn under his skin until psychotic urges take over and he commits murder—serial murders, in fact—his victims chosen from prospective clients who dared to walk away. With Smith's chilling scenes of massacre, readers are pulled into the vortex of a warped mind, one man justifying heinous acts, and two detectives running a race against time, trying to solve seemingly random killings. Paul Chang, a Chinese-American homicide detective, is struggling to understand why these murders are taking place. Assisted by his neurotic partner, Nelson Rogers, Chang goes after the killer with logic, tenacity, and no small measure of fear.
Written from the perspectives of Detective Chang and Shamus Ryan, readers quickly find themselves seeing the world in unique—and often disturbing—ways they never expected. With dark humor and gritty suspense, Smith has crafted a refreshing and surprising thriller.

[DeAnn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book for my Travel through Books project, this was my book for Delaware. If I were not doing this challenge, I would have DNF'd this book, but I could not really find another book where the setting of Delaware was prominent in the book. This book confirmed that I do NOT like revenge gore books. I DNF'd S.A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears, which I thought was better than this book, because of the gore/torture scenes.

Anyhow, there were many reasons I didn't like this book beyond the gore. We peek into the mind of this serial killer, and he narrates half the book with his twisted thoughts, which often delved into fatphobia, racism, misogyny and other horrible takes. But worse than that, another main character, a cop, is every stereotype you have heard about Chinese people wrapped into one character. Seriously, the guy says he has a "dragon" inside of him that comes out when he's upset and sometimes that is in the form of martial arts. I wish I was joking.

I hated the plot, the characters, the style of writing, and the ending felt so rushed. I ended up listening to the audiobook on 3x speed just to get through it and I was still rolling my eyes every time the dragon came back. So... this was definitely NOT the book for me, and I'm just glad it was short.

[L.G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 stars (almost 3)

I'm not sure if there is a prequel or novella available with a backstory for Chang and Rogers, but a better understanding of the main characters would have increased my enjoyment of Final Price. I'll pick up the next book in the series (Legacy of the Dragon) in a few weeks. I'd like to know more about Roger's ability to profile and understand crime scenes as well as Chang's inner Dragon.

Wilmington, Delaware is one of those cities that feels more like a small town. Neighbors know one another, and businesses cater to the needs of the citizenry. But what happens when the local car salesman suffers one lost sale too many, when one more customer decides to buy from the competition because the price is too high, interest rates aren't friendly, or that shade of blue just won't work? With Smith's chilling scenes of massacre, readers are pulled into the vortex of a warped mind, one man justifying heinous acts, and two detectives running a race against time, trying to solve seemingly random killings.

[John Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s about a serial killer – who is a used car salesman! How much more priceless can you get?

And to top it off it’s filled with unique characters – Chang an Asian for a change and his dysfunctional but sensitive sidekick Nelson. And all told with sly dry humor. How about one scene when Chang and Nelson are getting tea. The clerk calls out: “3 Percent”. When Nelson returns from getting his drink, Chang asks him what that’s about. He replies he told the girl she had so many metal piercings her chance of getting struck by lightning had increased by 3 percent.

And it just goes on and on, getting better and better. There’s no mystery here, the story is all in the journey to catch the serial killer. We couldn’t find anything not to like about this book. It’s well written, clever, and hilarious.

If you want to read something different, creative, and amusing we highly recommend this.

[Candace · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fast-moving mystery starring a Chinese-American detective who fancies himself as embodying a rage-oholic dragon (no ethnic stereotypes there!) and a former brilliant cop who did a stint at in a psychiatric hospital. Their nemesis is a Honda car salesman who tortures and kills people who take up his time and then purchase their vehicle elsewhere. Killer seemed highly implausible to me (as did most of the characters) despite author giving him a background of abuse (which does a disservice to the many abused kids out there). Probably more of a guy read. Meh.

[Pippa · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first started reading e-books I downloaded lots of free books however I soon discovered that few would be worth the effort. I got about one third through but simply can’t be bothered to finish it while I have so many others waiting. Chang feels more like a caricature than a character and our villain is how he is because his crazy granny did horrid things to him. It gets 2 stars because I have come across far worse.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a thriller, rather than a mystery, since we already know who the killer is and the suspense comes from how the hero catches him. A pretty basic, fast-paced read that I finished in a day. The appeal is really Wilmington itself and the local flavor. Not too many books set here.

Also recommended: The Emily Menotti Mysteries. The last two books are set in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, respectively.

[Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I couldn’t stand how everything related to the detective had to be related to his being Asian and it often was corny and stereotypical as well. Couldn’t do it. The serial killer plot seems like light fluff I may have enjoyed chuckling at but holy hell. We have yet another case of white man not able to write other races without making every breath and step about that.

[Mikhail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average crime mister book

Book was decent with fine pace. However, too much of silly references to Chinese mythology and meditations as well as martial arts. Mind reading was also some kind of nonsense.

[MLC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced and thought provoking

As detective Chang investigates a murder, he soon realized there is more to it. With the help of his former partner Nelson, they start to track a serial killer.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but not great, but could be. Somewhat graphic for some.

[Liliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters, good story.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was ok but the writing style did not appeal.

[Bryngel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stereotype much?

I have to say: avoid at all costs.

[YouKneeK · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book, I didn’t realize that it was the first in a series -- the Paul Chang Mystery series. It appears the next book is Legacy Of the Dragon and the third book is Send in the Clowns. However, this book stands completely on its own -- the ending wrapped everything up.

But don’t let the word “Mystery” in the series title fool you. This is not, by my definition, a mystery. Maybe the sequels are, but this book is not. Two of the most common questions I expect to have when reading a mystery is, “Who’s the killer?” and “What’s the killer’s motive?”. Both of these questions were answered in the synopsis for the book – not much mystery there! I actually avoid reading synopses right before I read a book, so there was still some mystery for me when I started the book. But it didn’t last long. The basic motive was provided in the prologue. The name of the killer was given the next time he made an appearance, on page 36. I would instead classify this as a thriller. The book alternates between the points of view of the killer and the detective who’s trying to solve the case. We know what the characters know and we know what they’re thinking. The only real question that I was asking while I read the book was, “What will happen next?”

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t dislike the book. I like thrillers just as much as I like mysteries, if they’re written well. This is, in fact, a very fast-paced (and short) book. The story is entertaining, and I liked the characters pretty well. Of course I didn’t like the murderer since, as a rule, I’m not fond of evil psychopaths. But he was interesting to read about. I did really like Detective Chang’s sidekick, Nelson. He was interesting and quirky; I wanted to see more of him. Chang himself, on the other hand, I never completely warmed up to. My main issue with him was his poor ethics. He did what he wanted without any regard to whether it was ethical or legal or even necessary for solving the case.

I found some aspects of the book unrealistic. For example, I don’t really know anything about investigation procedures, but wouldn’t it be standard operating procedure to run financials on murder victims? If the murder was based on money, then that would potentially shed light on the motive. The motive might, in turn, lead to the killer. If the detective had run financials on these victims, the connection between the murder victims would have been obvious much sooner and the killer might have been found more quickly.

Also, since nearly all the murder victims spent time at the same two dealerships, you would think somebody from one of those dealerships would have made the connection. At the dealership where the murderer worked, the manager and the salesmen all seemed to be pretty aware of each other’s clients – especially the more difficult ones who became the murder victims. I also think that people who work in sales, and who are expected to remember and be sociable with their clients, are likely to be pretty good at remembering faces. The serial killings were getting a lot of publicity and worrying a lot of people. It seemed implausible to me that nobody noticed several of the murder victims had been at their dealership. Would they have thought it worth mentioning to the police? Maybe not at first, and possibly not in time to help the case get solved faster, but it probably would have made them start paying more attention. That in turn would have increased the likelihood that they would recognize other victims and get freaked out enough to contact the police.

Whew – that’s a long review for a short book! In summary, the book was entertaining and held my interest. However, it had some minor flaws and there wasn’t anything that really made it stand out for me over other books in the genre. I liked it, and don’t regret the time I spent reading it, but it didn’t “wow” me. Thus I’m rating it with three stars.

[Mark Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of “Final Price” is interesting. When I realized (very soon into the book) why Shamus Ryan is leaving a trail of murderous mayhem in his wake, it seemed like an interesting and fresh motivation for a killer. Shamus stands in for everyone out there in sales or customer service land who is tired and angry at the way they are treated by an uncivilized, impolite and inconsiderate society. So, Shamus kills. Shamus kills with regularity. Shamus kills over and over. Potential readers should know you meet lots of people before they die. There is a fair some low-grade torture before the killings—after all Shamus needs to let the victims know why they are in so much jeopardy. As angry as Shamus is, I never felt his rage. I never felt drawn completely into his anger or grounded in his complete personality, background and character. He makes so many sloppy mistakes I was surprised the cops wouldn’t put two and two together more quickly. Isn’t one of the the first things most investigators do is retrace a murder victim’s steps over the last few days? I’m no expert. It just seemed like the cops—and they are a unique pair of cops—were too slow on the uptake. The odd-couple pair of cops are an odd-couple pair of cops and could make for a good series. However, they stayed on the surface, for me, and I never crawled into their skin, say, like you would with Harry Bosch or Anna Pigeon. Quick chapters give a feeling of movement, but much of “Final Price” felt like pieces being moved around on a storyboard and not a solid, engaging mystery. I’m sure the cops will be back and I hope the next plot adds depth. To use a car metaphor, I felt I bought a spiffy new vehicle with old tires. The thing drives, but doesn’t have the traction it really needs.

[William Bentrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final Price by J. Gregory Smith


A quarter finalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, this book deserves to be looked at carefully. Most of us have purchased a car at one point or another. I doubt many of us have considered the car salesman’s point of view, let alone a psychopathic car salesman. Shamus the car salesman does not take rejection well. His reaction to rejection is investigated by the largest Chinese American State Trooper in Delaware and his emotionally vulnerable sidekick.

Price paints a vivid portrait of a tortured soul inflicting his inner demons on those who he feels has wronged him. Those of us who have sold for a living recognize some of the frustrations in dealing with a fickle, often unreasonable and frequently unpredictable customer. Doing your best to please someone and feeling maligned and misunderstood is painful. Luckily most of us are able to shrug off the bad, revel in the good and move on with our life. Shamus Ryan’s soul was shriveled long before he started selling cars. Price does a nice job inferring his past without detailing it, this provides a lot of room for the imagination to flourish.

Paul Chang struggles with his own demons and endeavors to stay on the sane side of the emotional precipice that Shamus cheerfully drives over. Paul’s loyalty to his former partner his endearing and his pain is clear. I think Price painted his characters well. The book is a good mystery and provides a modicum of motivation to consider the feelings and stresses of those who sell for a living.

I recommend the book for a first effort this is outstanding.

[Byron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not half bad, for what I paid for it, and for having a cover that looks like a Trapper Keeper I used to carry back in like '90. This was given away for free to anyone who had a Kindle, about a year ago. I figured maybe that was because they didn't feel right charging for it, given its quality, but now I've come to suspect that they were trying to generate interest in the two books this guy has released subsequently. Final Price is a strong foundation for a career as a guy who sells $3 mystery novels on Amazon. It hits all of the notes you'd want/need one of these genre novels to hit. It's even kinda funny - which is the thing I think I liked most about it. The plot - about a car salesman who hunts down people who give him a hard time on the showroom floor (old people, Indian people, etc.) - is ridonkulous to the point where you'd almost think the author is just trolling us. But I'm not sure if I would have liked it as much if the protagonist was hunting down a serial killer who could actually exist. The mystery novel market is growing increasingly crowded. You gotta have something to set your book apart. Regardless of what it is. LOL

[Aminko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poor book had been sitting on my TBR pile for awhile. Actually, so long that I couldn't remember what had tempted me to purchase it in the first place. With a little guilt that the book had been neglected I started it with out knowing much about the story (this I had also forgotten).

As I was introduced to the characters I started to wonder if it was purely a police crime story or something more. This feeling never left me, even on the last few pages. After thinking about it a little more, I realized I liked that aspect of the book very much. The thing I'm vaguely alluding to, as I don't want to spoil it for others, makes the story unique.

The story is told from two very different perspectives, the criminal and the police detective. Giving the story a little edge as you only get one view of each event keeping you a little off balance. During the story you get given little bits of back story and a little of detail of the main characters but never a complete picture, adding to that feeling of unbalance. I thought this was well done and added to the feel of the novel.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.

[Rikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the case of Shamus, when life hands you lemons, you grind them into someone's face. You know, after you have murdered them.

Shamus is a car salesman with problems. Those problems being his potential customers skipping out on a buy after he put in time, effort, and killer deals on the table. When he can't close the deal and the customer finds somewhere else to buy a vehicle, costing him his pride and commission, he is calm. Until he's off work, anyway. That's when the anger hits, and he looks for revenge, looking for ways to make his killer deal literal.

A fresh new look at serial killers and their victim, this book offers a wide variety of characters, no, people that all have something driving them. Whether its the next sale, doing the right thing, or climbing up the ladder of hierarchy, all these characters have wants that push them to their limits.

Sure, some of the characters are somewhat stereotypical, which can be a tad annoying, but all in all, this book is worth a read, whether you receive it through Amazon/Kindle like I did or buy it.

After all, if life gives you a free book, you read it.

[Kathy Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concept for a story. A car salesman does not handle rejection very well and lashes out to punish those who wasted his time and then doesn't buy a car from him. You have a Chinese/American hero cop, a nerdy sidekick, a serial killer trying to make his dead Grandmother happy, and bad politics.

The story moved along well and I enjoyed it, however, I did get a bit distracted with the authors attempt to have the hero cop practice Chinese meditation tactics to escape the negativity of his corrupt police captain. The nerdy sidekick had a type of psychic connection to murder scenes and was able to read things at a crime scene that were often missed by the detectives investigating the scenes.

I thought Shamus, our not-so-friendly car salesman, could have been developed a little more, but the story moved and if you could overlook the backgrounds of the main characters and just allow yourself to get involved in the story, it was pretty good. Certainly worth reading, but definitely not the best horror story I've read this year!