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

[gilliansisley]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Grand by Dennis D. Wilson follows the story of federal agent Dean Wister, who finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation while he's meant to be on vacation, following the tragic death of his wife and partner. Not one to pass up on a good case, Dean starts unraveling the many complex layers surrounding what happened to the victim, as well as all of the multi-dimensional characters involved in the bigger picture of the story. A fantastic crime novel that keeps readers second-guessing everything they know with each flip of a page, I give this novel 4 out of 4 stars. It was impeccably edited, had an incredible storytelling flow, and consisted of fantastically colourful characters who kept the excitement of the plot going until the very end.

What I liked most about this book was how highly diverse the characters were. They were extremely believable and complex, which can be hard to pull off. They were well-executed especially once multiple perspectives were introduced into the narrative, highlighting each individual character's current reality. The main character, Dean, is dynamic with a gritty side to him I couldn’t help but love. There truly wasn't anything I disliked about this book.

The storytelling of romance in this novel was also well-executed, being both realistic and witty. Relationships between characters, whether romantic or sexual, were playful and enjoyable to read without being too much. While this book contained sexual content that was fully suggestive, I found it was tastefully done without being too crass. There was more of a showing rather than descriptive telling of body parts and positions, leaving some of it up to the imagination of the reader. This made it so that the sexual content wasn't too explicit or uncomfortable for your everyday reader.

The storytelling of this novel was intelligent and clever, and included psychologically perceptive insights which made for an extremely engaging read. The author really nails the skill of showing rather than telling every single detail, and had a high-quality of writing throughout the entire book.

The Grand by Dennis D. Wilson is a book I would recommend to any crime reader out there. It had all the twists and turns a crime novel needs to keep the reader on their toes. As soon as you think you know what's going on, the author very cleverly turns the tables and flips everything on its head. I found myself guessing until the very last page which characters were involved in which crimes, and who was the murderer. I really enjoy that while the story starts with a murder in a small town, there still were multiple storylines and crimes going on behind the scenes and around that murder. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

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The Grand
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