High tension, jail-style high tension, gives us a heart-stopping introduction to the 7th book in the Cal Rogan Mystery series, as we are presented to a 6 feet tall man with a gang that wants a piece of Micah, but doesn’t get it because he is friends with another gang leader that is as muscled as one can be and he is standing right beside him, which almost causes a violent altercation. Why does the giant want a piece of Micah, if he is jus a skinny kid that has never seen jail in his life? We are yet to find out because apparently, Micah, was wrongfully convicted and is doing jail in one of the harshest prison facilities in Canada, and the whole situation looks like a set-up.
Rogan, a private investigator, a retired private investigator that is trying to live his life as a professor in an University may be his only hope out of this situation, but how can he prove him innocent if all evidences are against him?
We have a very interesting set-up for a mystery novel with an inviting narrative told with confidence. The plot develops with ease even with all the minute details the writer puts and calls our attention to in order to understand certain implications that might hinder events or be used later on in the story.
A curious thing: our main character, Detective Rogan, has in hand an “unwanted” proposal that if he accepts, may risk the life of the man he is trying to prove innocent making every move count as time works against him.
There are some incredibly smooth characters, like Jim Garry and Ellie, that we start loving right away, and it seems like the author took great care for us to love Jim even more after every word he speaks. Really cool, and when you add that to the interaction of the characters in the whole story, the way it all feels effortless and real, – the relationship between Ellie, Sam and Cal; the relationship and interactions between Cal and his ex-wife, his business partners, with all the tension and joy between – makes this mystery romance much more enjoyable.
Attention is paid to the detail, not only in the interactions between characters, the conversations, but also in what is spoken, and the reader can see that certain characters, the lawyers, take great care to be as helpful and polite as possible, while paying attention to everything that interviewers say. NICE!
The mystery evolves perfectly, I mean, there are clues that are mentioned ever so slightly and left hanging in the air, even forgotten for a while, and then picked up after a few moments or scenes, adding another piece of this puzzle in the back of our minds, and yet, we have no certain idea on how the whole thing might fit. There are so many possibilities, angles and suspects and not enough evidence. It can be a hate-crime, a hired kill, or even a kill just to frame a rich kid, but the question remains: Why would someone go to such extreme lengths in order to frame the boyfriend of the victim?
Fortunately, this mystery book isn’t one with a simple, no-brainer case and the author does very well to leave many possible paths to follow, to the point that when the plot starts to mature and the evidences seem to be making sense and the trails start pointing to a prime suspect, or several prime suspects, another road opens that was left so far unexplored and opens up all sorts of questions to the entire case. Was the victim just worried about something, or that worry involved something major? Was she involved in something bigger than anyone could know? Did her killer made part of her dealings? Was love the true reason why she was murdered? Was her family involved? Did her parents know? So many questions being raised, which keeps the interest of the reader in the story, very nicely done!
One thing is for sure, nothing is what it seems and everything that is happening, has an unapparent thread as the main connection, no matter how unlikely it seems. One wrong choice from a good person was enough to make this castle of cards start to fall down on everyone, sending people to jail, inciting murders in order to cover up, avenge someone or something as even gangs were involved on the whole thing, but the most impressive is who caused it all.
There is romance too in the book, and there’s a possible love triangle in the mix. Will there be a possible infidelity from our main character? Will he resist the “subtle”, charms of the rich and gorgeous Melanie that is romancing the detective? We will see.
The legal structure, procedures and requirements in the book as the detectives, the lawyers and the police task-force go with and mention in their conversations feel very solid, congruent and is believable due to the little terms and nuances that will validate or invalidate and appeal, or the entire case.
Lots of tension in the scenes of interrogation as emotions are portrait perfectly and we can see the mischief, the anger and the pleasure of privilege as the main suspect goes forward with his plan, self-righteous and arrogant in his ways, certain that justice has been served and that he will go off free for it. But there is much more to this case as we all will see.
Robert P. French also inserts unexpected events in the plot that aren’t related to the main case or the main suspects, but have a huge impact in the life of the characters overall and can up-turn the whole novel in an instant, and when we start to realize what might be happening, well, it’s too late.
Warning: You will be surprised, on a good way to learn, first-hand, how many plot-lines and plot developments there are in this book, just when you think that the story is over, the case is solved, BUM! Another gang, another murder, kidnapping, the main suspect isn’t the one who killed the victim and is completely innocent for… 10s because he, or she, is involved in other crimes that relate to the murder, and when you think everything is fine and dandy, BUM, the government steps in. Hahahahah! This book is really cool and this author knows what he is doing. Kudos!
If you love hard-to-solve cases and loads of mystery, this is definitely the author, the series and the book for you, because even when we have got most of the evidence out there, and everything is “ready” there are still several complications on how to frame it and which angle to use to better convince the judge that Micah is innocent. Excellent and very realistic. Love it!
Pros:
- Excellent characters with depth, uniqueness and sense of humor
- Excellent narrative
- Excellent combination of narrative and plot to create suspense and thrilling scenes
- Excellent emotional connection, the author could pass the emotions from the characters to the reader
- Excellent plot development and many plotlines
- High tension in many scenes
- Great Law jargon, well explained in order to be easy to understand
- Hard to figure mysteries
- Great pace
Cons:
- None we can think of, the book is solid.
Scribble's Worth 