Official Review: Feeding The Beast by Richard Greene

[unamilagra]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Feeding The Beast" by Richard Greene.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The year is 1951, and Dan Morgan is a homicide detective with the Denver Police Department. As a widower who is estranged from his adult son, he leads a lonely life that he fills with his detective work. When a teenage girl is found murdered in a way that seems almost ritualistic, Dan wonders if it might be related to some strange killings that have happened recently in other parts of the Denver area. The case drags on with little headway, and other teenage girls continue to be killed around the city. What makes the case even stranger is that the killer begins contacting Dan directly, and he seems to know him personally. The race is on to identify the killer and bring him to justice before he has a chance to kill again.

Feeding the Beast by Richard Greene is a serial killer crime novel that is set in a time before the term “serial killer” had even been coined. Choosing the 1950s as the time period for the novel made it interesting. The lack of technology prevented easy communication between different police forces, making it more difficult for them to coordinate information and realize what type of killer they were dealing with. The perspective of the book is primarily told from the point of view of Detective Dan Morgan, but it also occasionally switches to that of the killer, allowing the reader to get into his mind. There is also a dash of romance thrown into the book, as Dan’s investigation introduces him to a beautiful widow who catches his interest.

My favorite part of this book was the mystery itself. The serial killer aspect kept me interested, and I appreciated the realistic fashion in which Dan’s case proceeded. There were days of seeming dead ends punctuated by new discoveries and breakthroughs. It felt very authentic to what real detective work would be. A psychologist was called in to give insight into the killer’s mind, which served as a good 1950s precursor to the modern-day criminal profiler. As I got to know a bit more about the killer and his history with Dan, it felt even more urgent that he be caught and brought to justice.

Although the mystery was interesting, the book had several flaws that really hampered my enjoyment. First, the book is in desperate need of a professional editor. It was riddled with typos, and the characters' actions were often communicated in long, compound sentences with inappropriate punctuation. I frequently had to read a sentence twice to understand its meaning. In addition, the case developments were continually broken up by chapters of mundane happenings in the characters’ lives that did nothing to further the plot. Lots of time in the book was wasted on exchanging pleasantries, making coffee, or deciding what to eat for dinner. The characters also had a lot of repetitive thoughts and conversations, making the book very tedious to read. I think cutting out most of the day-in-the-life moments would make the book not only a quicker but a more exciting read.

All in all, I felt that this book had a lot of potential, but because of the issues mentioned above, it was easy to put down and walk away from. I rate the book 2 out of 4 stars, removing one star for the errors and another for the monotonous content. I think that a professional editor could really help streamline the book and allow the mystery aspect to shine. In its current form, I would only recommend this to those who enjoy crime novels and don’t mind slow-paced stories.

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Feeding The Beast
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Becca Olsson]

I’m glad the investigation felt authentic and I’m intrigued by the time setting. Without modern communications it definitely would’ve been more difficult and slower to get information around. Thanks for the great review!

[SweetSourSalty AndSpicy]

I appreciate your thoughts about the reading experience. I hope the concerns you raised gets the necessary attention. Thanks for the insights.

[sharon titus]

This book is too dark for me. However, I'll give it a try. Thank you for your hard work.

[Elaine LaBonte]

unamilagra, Much gratitude for the anticipation your review has given me. I just rushed over to Amazon and paid for the kindle version of feeding the beast. I declare myself on vacation until I've read it. Typos, slow moving at times, these are nothing to me in my quest for a great mystery. Based on your review, my rating for myself is 10 out of 10. I'm so glad you detailed both the good and not so good qualities. I'll just copy the book into google doc and run a free spell and grammar check. I'm bubbling over but will stop now, watching for more reviews by unamilagra.

[unamilagra]

I’m glad the investigation felt authentic and I’m intrigued by the time setting. Without modern communications it definitely would’ve been more difficult and slower to get information around. Thanks for the great review!

Yes, the time period made for an interesting story. Thanks for your comment!

I appreciate your thoughts about the reading experience. I hope the concerns you raised gets the necessary attention. Thanks for the insights.

I hope so too. Thanks for commenting!

This book is too dark for me. However, I'll give it a try. Thank you for your hard work.

Thank you for stopping by to comment!

unamilagra, Much gratitude for the anticipation your review has given me. I just rushed over to Amazon and paid for the kindle version of feeding the beast. I declare myself on vacation until I've read it. Typos, slow moving at times, these are nothing to me in my quest for a great mystery. Based on your review, my rating for myself is 10 out of 10. I'm so glad you detailed both the good and not so good qualities. I'll just copy the book into google doc and run a free spell and grammar check. I'm bubbling over but will stop now, watching for more reviews by unamilagra.

I hope you enjoy the book! Thanks for your comment!

[NetMassimo]

This seems like a crime novel with great potential burdened with some problems that require more editing, so I hope the author will follow your suggestions. Thank you for your honest review!

[Durgeshwari Dolas]

Feels like something I would read. Thank you for your honest review!

[unamilagra]

This seems like a crime novel with great potential burdened with some problems that require more editing, so I hope the author will follow your suggestions. Thank you for your honest review!

Thank you for taking the time to comment!

Feels like something I would read. Thank you for your honest review!

Thanks for commenting!

[Sou Hi]

Thanks for your honest review. The context of the 50s can be appealing, since there are hardly any machines or techniques to support Dan's case. Still, reading crime novels with unrelated scences about daily lives can be quite boring, especially when those details don't help in solving the mystery.

[Prisallen]

It certainly sounds as though this book has potential, it just needs some changes to get to its best version. I appreciate your honest and well-written review!

[unamilagra]

Thanks for your honest review. The context of the 50s can be appealing, since there are hardly any machines or techniques to support Dan's case. Still, reading crime novels with unrelated scences about daily lives can be quite boring, especially when those details don't help in solving the mystery.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my review and comment!

It certainly sounds as though this book has potential, it just needs some changes to get to its best version. I appreciate your honest and well-written review!

Yes, I think this book could be great with some tweaking. Thanks for stopping by!

[Buk Nerd]

Crime thrillers are my thing and I am certainly intrigued by the premise. I hope the author takes to your constructive criticism. Thanks for your honest review.

[Lauren Hanna]

It seems this book has potential. I like that the author incorporated the perspective of both the detective and the killer. I’m also curious how the detective knows the killer. Unfortunately, I don’t enjoy books that are slow-paced or easy to put down, so I will skip this one. Thank you for your thorough and honest review.