Review of Clifford's War

[OTrain Disene]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Clifford's War" by J Denison Reed.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Clifford’s War is a crime thriller by J Denison Reed. It is the second instalment in the series. The book follows a group of private investigators investigating serious organised crimes that are shaking the nation. A few high-profile politicians get killed, and the public demands answers. This book is fast-paced and was saved by the fight scenes that made it alluring and entertaining enough.

The book opens with an intense action scene where Sara rushes Clifford to the hospital in the car. The driving is brutal, but they simply can’t afford to take it easy. Any second counts. They manage to get there, and Clifford is diagnosed and stabilised. After walking him to his condo, Sara goes to the stakeout, joining her partner, Daniel. They are secretly observing some people who are arguing. Sara uses the skill of compromising since their equipment got messed up. She reads the lips of the people they are observing and gets pieces from their conversation that don’t make sense. While trying to weave in everything, a murder happens, and it is the senator that gets killed.

Clifford, Sara, and Daniel don’t know that this murder is one of many that will soon follow. The FBI is reluctant to take the case because there is not enough evidence to suggest that this is their jurisdiction. Until assassination happens in DC, that rocks people. The leads they keep following end up dead, and the whole case gets closed. But Clifford and his team, especially Sara, are convinced that there is more going on here and they are prepared to find out what.

Will Clifford find the truth behind these murders that keep happening? What lengths are they prepared to go to see this through? What about the FBI? How will they work this case under the carpet without the FBI not knowing? These and many more questions get answered in this 262-page-turner.

One thing that this book boasts about is its action. It was well executed, and everything seemed like live action. Sara and Clifford made a great team. I loved when they were on the field, and they would work together seamlessly without any problems. Where Sara fell short, Clifford made up, and vice versa. They made the best teamwork. They each came to the other’s rescue more than once where it was needed the most.

I loved the descriptions. They were just enough for me to see the scenes in my head. They didn’t give out too much to ruin the experience. Most crime thrillers rarely perfect this balance. It’s either they give out less or give out too much and end up littering the book with nonessential details. The book’s dialogue and narration were not as balanced as I would have liked them to be. The book tended to lean more on the narration than it did on the dialogue. This slowed the book significantly, but it made the scene come alive.

What I disliked was that the book had many plots. It was hard for me to figure out which was the main plot and which were the subplots. The first chapter, judging by how it started, gave me the impression that it was continuing from where it had left off in the previous book. There were also scenes where they mentioned events that happened before this book. This ruined the experience because I felt like I had missed something that led up to here. So I can say the book didn’t make a good impression as a standalone in the series. The build-up wasn’t executed well. It was missing one element of surprise. The characters were quite plain. They each lacked their personalities. They all came across as one person. The team was also perfect. They rarely argued or questioned each other. This didn’t make perfect suspense. The ending felt a little rushed, just like the dialogue between the characters. In the end, they just jumped three months later. There was a lot I needed to see happen before that.

I detected only a couple of errors, meaning the book was professionally edited. For all these mentioned reasons, I am rating this book three out of four stars. It is not the best crime thriller one will read, and at the same time, it is not the worst. I appreciate the length of it. It was perfect. Had the author tried to stretch the storyline, it would have ruined everything. The book contains strong language that may turn off sensitive readers. But except that, this book would be suitable for young adults who are into investigative novels.

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Clifford's War
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[SunVixen]

"I loved the descriptions. They were just enough for me to see the scenes in my head. They didn’t give out too much to ruin the experience. Most crime thrillers rarely perfect this balance. It’s either they give out less or give out too much and end up littering the book with nonessential details. "

Good descriptions that let you see the pictures in your head are really important to the book.
Thanks for the great review.

[NetMassimo]

This seems like a terrific thriller full of action and questions that get slowly answered in a well-constructed story. Thank you for your great review!