Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Murder Takes Time.

Relax! Matt is alive and well- you won't be seeing me featured on a new episode of "Snapped" just yet. Instead, I've got a book review for you for a book you'll probably like just as much as I did.

Murder Takes Time by Giacomo Giammatteo

A string of brutal murders has bodies piling up in Brooklyn, and Detective Frankie Donovan knows what is going on. Clues left at the crime scenes point to someone from the old neighborhood, and that isn't good. Frankie has taken two oaths in his life--the one he took to uphold the law when he became a cop, and the one he took with his two best friends when they were eight years old and inseparable. Those relationships have forced Frankie to make many tough decisions, but now he faces the toughest one of his life; he has five murders to solve and one of those two friends is responsible. If Frankie lets him go, he breaks the oath he took as a cop and risks losing his job. But if he tries to bring him in, he breaks the oath he kept for twenty-five years--and risks losing his life. In the neighborhood where Frankie Donovan grew up, you never broke an oath.

Confession: I kind of love all things mob related because it's absolutely insane to think that people kill people and do other illegal and generally bad things because of a lack of respect. I think it's crazy. Generally, I try to stay away from books like this because I feel like they all kind of end up the same and I don't get anything new or fresh out of them.

Thankfully I took a chance on this book because I had this baby done in one weekend. It's 400some pages so it's not a book you just breeze through, but it definitely has enough action throughout it to keep you turning the pages.

Here's what I really liked about the book: I loved how it flipped between characters. I wasn't sure if I would like Frankie's character because throughout the book he struggles between being a cop, and being a gangster. Him and his group of friends basically grew up around the mob and were pretty much being groomed as the next generation of the mob, so the fact he later became a cop is fairly shocking to his friends. And while Frankie sees the value of his job, he struggles with it. I loved how he figures it out in the end. Kind of. I can't tell you any more because that kind of gives it away.

The other thing about this book I really liked is that it combines so many genres. It's got the murder/mystery, a little bit thriller, a little bit romance but all mixed together so no one genre takes over. I also loved how you literally had no idea what was going to happen next. The murders themselves were creatively written and if you've ever seen a Law & Order episode, you can imagine how those detectives would react with the evidence left behind.

The only thing that I didn't understand though is why none of Nicky's friends acknowledged that he literally went to prison because of them and for them. Especially Tony. I didn't like Tony's character at all and it turns out I had good reason not to, but I would have like to have a Nicky & Tony confrontation about the gun fight that led to Nicky going to prison. I'm just saying- it could have been dynamic.

Such a great book and I think you will really like it. If you visit Giacomo Giammateo's website HERE you can find all of the links to purchase this book. It's available in e-format or trade paperback. It turned out to be so much better than I had hoped. I really hope that this does turn into a series because I'd like to see what happens to the remaining characters and their story lines. Especially Frankie's- I bet he'd have a good story to tell.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sara: Thanks for taking time to read the book. I'm so glad you enjoyed the story.