Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, M/M, Mystery
Pages: 376
Series: Cut & Run #1 (there are nine books, all following the same MCs)
Release Date: September 1, 2008
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Have you ever read a book in which you really don’t like the writing, don’t really get the characters and, for the most part, you don’t particularly like the book, but you still keep reading it? Because that’s what happened to me.
This book is about two FBI agents. There’s a serial killer in New York. It’s a top priority case after the guy took the life of two agents, and Ty and Zane are partnered up to solve it. They’re total opposites. Zane, at first appearance, seems like the cookie-cutter, rule following guy. Ty is abrasive, rude and has many unorthodox methods. Right off the bat, they hate each other. But as their lives are constantly endangered because of attacks by the killer and as they spend more time together, they find that the two of them are not as different as first thought.
But the getting-to-know-you process sucks. For me, that is. I’m sure the two of them were having the time of their lives. I was not happy. The writing in this book is a mess. The coherency of the prose of very low and there are POV switches in ever paragraph because apparently, the authors were going for omniscient third person perspective but failed. Then there’s the dialogue. I literally can’t remember the last time I read such poorly constructed interactions.
What’s worse is that there are a lot of conversations. Like, there are actual consecutive pages full what the authors are trying to pass off as “banter”. In really, it’s awkward, it’s clumsy, has not flow and basically makes no sense. It’s like someone guessing what big, bad, macho type men would talk like. Because, of course, it’s absolutely crucial to assert that the two main characters are total badasses who really don’t like each other. In short, the many conversations between the two men achieved next to nothing and were just the same I-don’t-like-you and I’m-macho thing over and over again.
The mystery part of the novel was one that I was really interested in (I seriously think that crime and mystery novels would be right up my ally if I’d just read some). That is until we finally found out what the pattern/link between the murders was; because I refuse two believe that none of the highly educated agents connected the dots. It’s just not possible. The killer, in the end, was an easy enough guess but I didn’t really see his motivation for his crimes. It didn’t make sense.
In the end, what I’m saying is that this was not a good book. If I sat down and told someone the story within 5-10 minutes, they’d think it was good. But if the same person were to read it, the opinion would change. It’s a promising idea, one that’s trampled by the very poor execution.
Even the characters would have been way more interesting if the writers weren’t so busy trying to make them all macho and shit. Because the few scene in which they seemed to actually progress as characters and in their relationship, were good. The mystery part, though, seemed like it was little more than an excuse for the MCs to communicate and, after pointing out so many flaws, I still can’t get over the fact that I didn’t hate it.
I think it’s because the story was promising; that kept me going. Hell, I might even read the sequel. I kind of want to. But the fact that there are nine fucking books following the same two characters… that makes me hesitate. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. But even if we overlook the (excessive amount of) sequels, I still don’t recommend this book. It does not live up to the hype.
Quirky Opinions 