gwenythlove

Gwenyth Love spent her early years in the libraries of Hamilton, Ontario. She currently lives in Toronto with her son, boyfriend, too many animals and enough books to start a library of her own.

Dead Politician Society: A Clare Vengel Undercover Novel - Robin Spano I received this book for review by Crazy Book Tours. It's not my typical kind of read, but it took place in Toronto, and I had the urge to participate in some book blog tours.

The first few chapters really confused and irritated me. So many characters were introduced and each chapter was told by a different narrator/character. It took me quite some time to get comfortable with the flow, and the characters in the story. I would say about half way through I was finally to the part where I didn't have to keep flipping back to see who was who.

I loved the setting, my current city of Toronto. It was great to recognize all the neat places and Subway stops, etc and to see them through each of the different character's eyes. I kind of want to know if the little cafe that is used in the story is a real place...because I would totally hang out there! It was also very interesting to dive into the whole University scene since I was never lucky enough to experience it first hand. It was very well done.

I found the story to be highly predictable and I knew who the murder was very early. The author gave out way too many clues, perhaps without even meaning too, simply by avoiding letting them share their voice with the reader as most of the other characters do.

I also wasn't a huge fan of most of the characters, and perhaps that is why it took me so long to differentiate between them. I found them all to be selfish, cold, and completely unlikeable. I really didn't care who the murderer was...I thought they pretty much all could rot in jail and the world would be a better place without the lot of them...but I can be harsh like that.

I think my biggest issue was with the murderer. There just didn't seem to be the amount of passion and hatred that you would expect someone to have before they run around murdering politicians (or anyone for that matter). I mean they had a story, and it was sad, but I think we all have those sad stories buried within us...but we don't all run around killing people off because of it! (And could you imagine the chaos if we did?)

It was too bad though, because even though it's not my usual type of story, the basis of the plot was highly intriguing and promising. It just didn't come together with the characters and everything else when the last page was read.

I am also on tour to read the second book in this series, Death Plays Poker. I really hope there are some stronger and more likeable characters involved, and I hope Clare "grows a pair" and becomes the true undercover cop I know she can be with a little maturity and experience.

Currently reading

Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible
Brian Tracy
Progress: 18/288 pages
The Harlequin
Laurell K. Hamilton
Progress: 135/432 pages