3 out of 4 stars
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While in Rio de Janeiro for Carnival, you stumble across the body of a murdered woman and come face to face with the possible killer before he flees the scene. After being interviewed by police, you are approached by Diplomatic Security Service Agents Bertram and Danly, who want you to help them investigate as a cooperating witness. Now, make your choices and try to solve the murder. This is the plot of Murdered by James Schannep, which is a Choose Your Own Adventure type of book with three different storylines and 50 different endings.
The characters in this book were well written. This is important in this type of book where the reader is the main character. Agents Bertram and Danly are similar in that they are both committed to their job, but they still have different personalities. Agent Danly is very focused on the case and getting things done, while Agent Bertram is a little more laid back and willing to take the time to have a bit of fun but still takes his job seriously.
My favorite thing about the book was all of the well written, detailed descriptions of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, rivers and jungles, and other parts of Brazil. These great descriptions helped to immerse me in the story, so I felt like I was in Brazil. This immersion was also helped by the regular use of Portuguese words and the descriptions of food and drinks. With this type of book where the reader is the main character, it’s important that the reader is able to feel like they are there.
My least favorite thing about the book was the moments of romance. They were not necessary and didn’t add anything to the story. Also, depending on the reader’s gender, some readers may even be uncomfortable with them. However, all these scenes are mild, so this is a minor issue.
Unfortunately, this book needs some more editing. I found numerous editing mistakes, although they were all minor errors that did not affect my enjoyment of the book. Most of them were missing or unnecessary commas, and there were two words that were capitalized when they shouldn’t have been.
Overall, this was a fun and engaging book that I am giving 3 out of 4 stars, with 1 star removed because of the errors. I recommend this book to fans of the Choose Your Own Adventure type of stories and anyone that enjoys mystery and adventure books. There was some swearing and a couple of very mild sexual scenes, so this book would not be appropriate for younger readers.
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Murdered
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