I’ve been participating in the giveaways at Goodreads and Librarything and have been chosen to
read and review a few. Decided this might be a good place to share those reviews. ‘Very Bad Men’ by Harry
Dolan is coming out in July and if you like contemporary mysteries with lots of twists and turns and quirky characters, you should check out both of this author’s novels. I had read the first one ‘Bad Things Happen’ because I was drawn to the cover – a fountain pen with blood dripping off the end. Then I read the back page blurb and was pulled in completely. The protagonist is David Loogan, a man of mystery in the first book, who becomes the editor of a mystery magazine. How can that not be interesting? I won’t spoil that first book but will suggest you read it first. It is available now and will get you primed to read this second book when it comes out in July.
Dolan writes concisely. He uses simple words but just the right words. He has a knack at making you think you know the answers and then throws something else into the storyline that comes from left field but fits perfectly in the situation. His characters are likeable and believable. His quirky characters are not limited to secondary ones, his protagonist has a mysterious quality that makes you suspect him in ‘Bad Things Happen’ but because it is resolved his part in ‘Very Bad Men’ is more acceptable. Just as a teaser, the beginning of ‘Very Bad Men’ introduces a killer with a piece of paper with three names listed on it. He intends to kill them. The first problem he encounters is that one name is of a man in prison. He knows that if he kills him in prison, he probably won’t be able to escape himself. Don’t get me wrong, this guy is a bad man but by the end of the story you may be confused as to who the very bad men are. I found myself staying up way too late to read this book. For me, that is a really good thing. I wish you a very late night.
I know I will be looking forward to future books in this series. Harry Dolan’s are keepers.
Virginia
All The Books 