3 out of 4 stars
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I've just finished reading HoloBall: A Pittsburgh Murder Mystery by Tom Rinkes. It is a short detective novel based on a true mysterious death that occurred in the author's own family. It's just before Christmas, 1995 in Pittsburgh. Jake Johnson is a young homicide officer partnered with Vinnie Falbo, a veteran on the force. The two protagonists are investigating the rape and murder of a Pitt coed that occurs near a construction site.
Narrated by Jake from the first person perspective, the action centers around Club 40, a bar/restaurant that hosts holographic presentations of old NFL games for $1000 per ticket. During the course of the seemingly typical murder investigation, normal becomes paranormal when a cold case from 1949 comes to bear on the current one. With the help of a psychic waitress and a retired detective, Jake is in for the most surprising case of all.
I enjoyed reading this book. It is funny, original and a smooth read. Mr. Rinkes writes excellent dialogue that flows well and sounds authentic. The banter between Jake and Vinnie adds to the credibility of their partnership, and Jake's irreverent descriptions of people and situations in the story had me laughing out loud more than once. For example he describes the desk sergeant as "sixtyish, gray haired with an overabundance of donuts stashed behind his tie". (P.58) References to new database technology, floppy disks and a startup company called Amazon.com help place this story squarely in the mid-1990s.
I rate HoloBall 3 out of 4 stars. The novel is unexpected, funny and moves at a nice pace. Its need for further editing hinders a higher rating. Run-on sentences, misspelled words and improper use of punctuation are distracting, especially in a novel just 96 pages long. Along with the editing, if I could change one thing about the story it would be the character development. At times it was difficult to visualize a person being described. HoloBall is plot driven. The lack of deep character development may be due to the novel's brevity; it could easily be categorized as a novella.
Fans of light crime fiction will enjoy HoloBall; its language is relatively clean and the content is not steeped in gory details. The paranormal elements of the story are also on the lighter side. They are not the kind that make your hair stand on end or have you hearing imaginary sounds around you as you read.
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HoloBall
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