Review by hconyers -- An Imperfect Crime by Fred G. Baker
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hconyers
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Review by hconyers -- An Imperfect Crime by Fred G. Baker
[Following is a volunteer review of "An Imperfect Crime" by Fred G. Baker.]
An Imperfect Crime: A Father Montero/Detective Sanchez Mystery by Fred G. Baker is a non stop murder mystery. The book follows the unlikely team of a priest and detective as they investigate a series of crimes including: murder, kidnapping, and gunrunning. We first meet Father Montero on death row as he counsels a young man hours before his execution. After months of testifying and investigating, the man is found guilty for a crime he claims he didn't commit. According to him, it was all a set up, but everything investigators uncovered laid a perfect trail leading directly to their defendant. One detective even thinks the path laid out is a little "too perfect."
After the young man is executed, neither Father Montero or Detective Sanchez can let the case go. They team up to try and discover what really happened in the crime that landed a young man on death row. Was the defendant telling the truth or was it the final ramblings of a desperate criminal?
I've got a lot of feelings about this book, both good and bad. For starters, the premise and basic plot line of the book is phenomenal. However, the way the plot is introduced and furthered is very juvenile. The majority of the dialog feels like how a group of young teenagers, maybe middle school age, would talk to each other. For example, early in the book a couple has a conversation. The couple begins every sentence with "babe" or "baby." The author also gives very shallow physical descriptions. This along with the physical descriptions being extremely stereotypical and "cookie cutter" made me apprehensive toward the beginning of the book.
Along with improvement in the physical descriptions of both people and places, the author seems to lack a subtlety that is required in furthering the plot of a mystery. To me, much of the dialog and narration feel like that of a video game. In a video game, characters will be very direct in their hints and directions to further the quest or story of the game. This book feels a lot like that. Sometimes it's very important in writing mysteries to introduce new scenes and subplots in a way that can keep the reader guessing without them feeling so disconnected from the main story. This book does have things that tie in together and some things that go absolutely nowhere. While this is quite common in this genre, it is often introduced in a more sly or subtle way.
There are many redeeming qualities of the book. The author did a fantastic job in keeping a diverse character base, even if the majority of them were mostly introduced in a stereotypical way. The main plot of the book was extremely clever and different from many similar plots in this genre. I also personally enjoyed that there never seemed to be a dull moment. Every page you turned, there was something new going on. I do wish that some things could have been gone into with more detail. There were several points in the book where I felt the other went far too in depth with a minute point while glossing over major points.
Overall, I would give this book a 2 out of 4 stars. It was not an unpleasant book to read by any means, but I couldn't say I would recommend this to a friend. However, I would love to give half points for the improvement is both dialog and narration as the book goes along. If the foul language could be taken out this would be a perfect book for a young teenager who is interested in crime and mystery. I also believe that a young adult who wants a quick and thrilling read could enjoy this book.
******
An Imperfect Crime
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
An Imperfect Crime: A Father Montero/Detective Sanchez Mystery by Fred G. Baker is a non stop murder mystery. The book follows the unlikely team of a priest and detective as they investigate a series of crimes including: murder, kidnapping, and gunrunning. We first meet Father Montero on death row as he counsels a young man hours before his execution. After months of testifying and investigating, the man is found guilty for a crime he claims he didn't commit. According to him, it was all a set up, but everything investigators uncovered laid a perfect trail leading directly to their defendant. One detective even thinks the path laid out is a little "too perfect."
After the young man is executed, neither Father Montero or Detective Sanchez can let the case go. They team up to try and discover what really happened in the crime that landed a young man on death row. Was the defendant telling the truth or was it the final ramblings of a desperate criminal?
I've got a lot of feelings about this book, both good and bad. For starters, the premise and basic plot line of the book is phenomenal. However, the way the plot is introduced and furthered is very juvenile. The majority of the dialog feels like how a group of young teenagers, maybe middle school age, would talk to each other. For example, early in the book a couple has a conversation. The couple begins every sentence with "babe" or "baby." The author also gives very shallow physical descriptions. This along with the physical descriptions being extremely stereotypical and "cookie cutter" made me apprehensive toward the beginning of the book.
Along with improvement in the physical descriptions of both people and places, the author seems to lack a subtlety that is required in furthering the plot of a mystery. To me, much of the dialog and narration feel like that of a video game. In a video game, characters will be very direct in their hints and directions to further the quest or story of the game. This book feels a lot like that. Sometimes it's very important in writing mysteries to introduce new scenes and subplots in a way that can keep the reader guessing without them feeling so disconnected from the main story. This book does have things that tie in together and some things that go absolutely nowhere. While this is quite common in this genre, it is often introduced in a more sly or subtle way.
There are many redeeming qualities of the book. The author did a fantastic job in keeping a diverse character base, even if the majority of them were mostly introduced in a stereotypical way. The main plot of the book was extremely clever and different from many similar plots in this genre. I also personally enjoyed that there never seemed to be a dull moment. Every page you turned, there was something new going on. I do wish that some things could have been gone into with more detail. There were several points in the book where I felt the other went far too in depth with a minute point while glossing over major points.
Overall, I would give this book a 2 out of 4 stars. It was not an unpleasant book to read by any means, but I couldn't say I would recommend this to a friend. However, I would love to give half points for the improvement is both dialog and narration as the book goes along. If the foul language could be taken out this would be a perfect book for a young teenager who is interested in crime and mystery. I also believe that a young adult who wants a quick and thrilling read could enjoy this book.
******
An Imperfect Crime
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
