Review by edbutler17 -- The Grand by Dennis D. Wilson

[edbutler17]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Grand" by Dennis D. Wilson.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Grand by Dennis D. Wilson

Dean Wister is a part of a Chicago Federal Task force. He is forced to take time off after the death of his wife. He goes to Jackson Hole, where he met his wife years ago, to try to heal. While there a Chicago hit-man is found dead in Snake River. A local man is killed and while there is nothing specific to tie the two, the local police (with pressure from Dean's boss) have Dean come to offer his expertise. While this is happening, Wyoming's favorite son is ramping up his Presidential bid. As Dean digs deeper, the killing shines a light on numerous suspects and illegal goings-on in and around Jackson Hole. Will Dean be able to solve this crime in time?



While Dean is the main character, the author jumps around to a number of characters to fill in the story and offer different points of view. Usually this works well, as much of the story Dean won't know until the end. However, there are times when the author makes the mistake of jumping points of view within the same chapter. While usually not confusing, I found it jarring to suddenly be in another character's head so the writer could get his point across. At times the author switches point of view within the chapter, but fails to mark it with an indicator or even a simple line break. This doesn't always happen but it did happen enough to be noticeable.



This is Dennis D. Wilson's first book, and while I found it an easy enough read as a whole I'm not sure I enjoyed it. Many of the characters are stereotypes. If they have anything unique or interesting about them, the writer decided to make it so extreme to border on the unbelievable. While the story is a murder mystery at its heart, there are so many genres going on at the same time it gets lost in the shuffle. The writer does a better job of tying it all together by the end but some of the story feels unnecessary or filler. And while he does tie together the story lines, they lead to a longer than necessary novel.



The number one complaint I have with The Grand, is the interaction between the main character and his dead wife. There are many "aha" moments in the book, and I don't want to ruin any surprises to the reader but I feel this doesn't fall into that category. Within the novel, Dean has interactions with his wife. Now if he was simply talking to her or seeing her as he dealt with her loss, it would read fine. If it was his subconscious informing him on clues he missed or helping him piece together the mystery, that would read fine. But they have physical and sexual interactions that take you completely out of the story. This is especially true when you see how the main character interacts with her. In the beginning he mentions not going to therapy because he doesn't want to stop seeing her, so the reader knows she's just in his mind. So when later they are having sex, or she places a cold towel on his head it simply doesn't mesh with the story.



With all the issues I had while reading The Grand by Dennis D. Wilson, it wasn't a totally bad experience. I rate this book 2 out 4 stars, but it would be closer to 2.5 stars if allowed. The writer does a good job with the police procedural aspect of the novel, he has some interesting ideas within the political portions of the novel, and while I found many of the characters to be stereotypes, there were a few that popped of the page. While I read, I found a few typing errors to go with the layout issues and I wondered if this was a self published novel without the aid of an editor but at the end the writer thanks his editor. While I have no issue with a typo here and there, the editor should have made sure some of the writing issues were cleaned up. I would suggest this novel to people who like political thrillers or mysteries but I would warn them about the few ups and downs I experienced.

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The Grand
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