Stacy’s Book Reviews

He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
from The Apostles’ Creed

In the truest sense of the phrase, there is an urban myth about disenfranchised souls that are caught somewhere between life and death. They roam the concrete canyons of our major cities; searching for something that they can not identify. Some city-dwellers call them sailors; most of us out here in the boondocks call them teenagers.

Dan’s book is about a sailor (he calls them the Quick) named Jimmy Miles, who is a detective for hire. At a Hollywood MENSA party (Wow! A triple oxymoron!), a woman named Jean Kantke, claims that her father was convicted of murdering her mother a couple of decades ago, and she is just now getting around to finding out whether he was truly guilty. How did this woman ever get into MENSA?

Our hero, Jimmy, drifts through the story, spending a great deal of time and energy feeling absolutely nothing. No righteous anger, no brooding guilt, no affected apathy – nothing. Jimmy Miles is a poster-boy for genuine apathy. He feels nothing, and we in turn feel nothing for him. During the brief and sporadic moments when any other literary gumshoe would be reveling in passion or exercising his outrage, Jimmy’s involvement leaves the reader flatter than a beat-cop’s arches. This novel is remarkable in its ability to tell an entire story without a flicker of emotion.

Vining tries to build a counter-culture around the myth of the sailors, but the insights he offers into their world are sporadic and out of context. Whereas most writers will use this tool to develop suspense and interest in a certain environment, in this book each revelation is met with a resounding “Huh?” And the reader is left with a puzzle piece that seems to have gotten into the wrong box. Vining fails to build on previous flashes into the world of the Quick. Instead of slowly climbing a mountain of discovery, we are left picking up debris that has fallen to the ground.

The investigation is pretty lack-luster. It seems that Vining could not decide whether to tell an urban myth or a detective story, and ended up failing at both. I would love to describe exactly how pedantic his investigation is, but I don’t want to include any spoilers just in case there are still some masochists out there who still want to read this doorstop.

If the reader has enough hope and/or endurance, he/she will discover the truth about Mr. Kantke’s guilt or innocence, but no one cares; least of all, the reader. Instead, we are treated to ‘The Big Show’ in the world of the Quick. And again, nothing is resolved, but that is okay because, again, no one cares.

If I could sum up my opinion of this book in ten words or less, it would be something to the effect of, “What the hell was that all about?”

Back Cover Synopsis:

Private investigator Jimmy Miles works the Hollywood nights. His new client is the desperate daughter of a dead man. Her father was executed for a long-ago murder – and she wants Jimmy to uncover the truth about the crime and the real killer’s identity. But this case isn’t’ the only mystery keeping Jimmy up at night…

The shadowy world Jimmy inhabits is full of secrets, shared with a restless few who also roam the L.A. nightworld. They call themselves Sailors. Jimmy Miles is one of them. And he is about to discover the truth about himself.

And for a Sailor that can be a frightening thing …

“Strange, haunting, cool – and very hard to put down.”
– Michael Marshall, author of “The Straw Men.”

My Review:

First of all I have to say this … “ARGH!!!”

Secondly, I’ll say this … I now know why Michael Marshall said that this book was ‘hard to put down’. Because you are made to be constantly reaching for the point, any point really! Let me save you some time; Life happens. Yup, that’s about the gist of it.

Yes, this novel had some really strange, cool, and somewhat spooky stuff going on. The author has a sense of humor as well, which is always a plus in my book. (pun intended) But, truth be told, I had to wade through a ton of useless descriptions (my opinion). I found myself skimming over several paragraphs of descriptors just to get to the meat of the story. And, well, I was left with a sense of … “That’s it? Really? That’s how you’re going to end this?” … and then I simply heaved a weary sigh. The only reason I finished this book is because my husband read it first, and he asked me to read it as well. One of those, “Hey Hon, tell me what you think of this, will ya?” Next time I may not be quite so accommodating. At least not without asking questions first, such as; “Does this book suck big bananas?”

The underlying story about the ’Sailors’ was intriguing, and would make for an interesting RPG character, to say the least. Jimmy Miles is a ‘hard-boiled detective’ with a ‘supernatural’ twist. He hangs out with MENSA members and street people that are of a similar make-up as he. And, he has a penchant for classic, hot-rod cars with Hemi engines.

You know, I never re-sell or give away any book that I’ve read. I keep them, proudly, in my library. But this one is gonna be a first. So, in conclusion, if you don’t mind trudging through mounds and mounds of useless descriptions, and you think you would enjoy a supernatural/detective/murder/mystery, then by all means … pick up this book. Or better yet, take my copy … Please!