3 out of 4 stars
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The book Three Days in Daytona by Matt Spain is a combination of the crime and action genres. It is the second “Mike Salas” novel. Mike Salas is a detective with the Fort Wayne Police Department in Indiana. Although he has been divorced for some time, our principal character is still having trouble getting over his ex-wife. At the beginning of the book, Salas is contemplating embarking on a relationship. He is also about to begin a week’s holiday riding his recently purchased motorcycle to the Daytona Beach motorbike rally.
Along the road to Daytona Beach, Mike encounters some unusual characters. RJ has become the reluctant leader of a biker club that has lost its way. He is going to the Daytona Beach Rally, as well. In addition, there are two brothers, Richard and Vinnie. Richard is a veteran who was severely injured during his time in Baghdad. Vinnie is just getting out of jail when his brother calls on him to help run the family repo business. Also, interwoven through the primary storyline are some background stories. These stories include Salas’s daughter Sami, a few of RJ’s club members and Ronnie, a police officer with significant technical skills.
RJ runs into trouble when his motorbike is stolen and with it, the ashes of the former club leader, Deuce. He was bringing the ashes to Daytona Beach. Silas agrees to assist his new friend. As they work together to track down the stolen motorbike, Mike and RJ begin to uncover more than either of them anticipated.
The story was well put together and effectively organized. Various chapters were voiced by different characters. This tactic offered the reader a good understanding of the story from alternate viewpoints. It also helped build the story up. All of the principal characters were well described and clearly drawn. The secondary characters were also depicted clearly and there were no loose ends left once the novel was finished. All of the major and minor storylines came to a satisfying conclusion. The door was, however, left open for further adventures.
What I liked most about this book was the author’s ability to provide a thorough understanding of the characters and all that was happening in the story. It was easy to imagine each person and visualize their situations. I like reading action/crime/mystery stories that include some information about the lives of the main characters outside of the primary action. In addition, in the second half of the book, I found myself quite eager to learn what would happen next and how the story would resolve.
The first chapter of the book was the least enjoyable aspect for me. The novel opens with a scene right out of a men’s fantasy magazine. Our main character hits it off extremely well with the sales representative of the Harley Davidson dealership. Mike and Candy initiate their relationship in the change room of the dealership. It was off-putting, to say the least. I did read further, as the premise of the novel had seemed promising. Thankfully, the story became less superficial as it went along.
Additionally, I am not a fan of explicit violent scenes or rogue agents of the law. Both were included in this book. They did fit within the story and were not as superficial as first thought. However, I felt this book could have had a stronger moral compass at some points.
I give Three Days in Daytona by Matt Spain 3 out of 4 stars. It was an entertaining action/crime novel. I enjoyed the characters and the story was well crafted and organized. This book was reasonably well-edited, but not by a professional. A professional edit would enhance the storytelling. I recommend this book to people that like stories with rugged characters, mostly on the right path, in an action setting. Those that like to discover a bit about the characters’ lives may enjoy it, as well. I do not recommend this novel to those who don't appreciate reading about explicit violence or a somewhat detailed sex scene here or there.
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Three Days in Daytona
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