This one was okay. I'm glad I read book #4 in this series before going back to read this one because if I had read this first, I probably wouldn't have gone on to the next one, which I liked quite a bit more than this installment. Which isn't to say this one was bad--not at all. It's a solid summer read. There's no disappointment to be found here. It's not terribly exciting but it's not dull either. It's just really, really, really okay. What I like about this series is that it's not some big city cop tracking serial killers (though I really enjoy those types of books too). This is more of a laid back middle of nowhere crime series. The protagonist, Walt, is good and solid with enough personal demons and fears to make him real. He's a guy you'd like to have a beer with sometime. The story is a bit all over the place in this one though. There's a lot of overkill, in my opinion. It's a caper job. And the crooks seem to go out of their way to make it into an Ocean's 11 kind of deal when it doesn't need to be--and doesn't make sense for it to be. I think that--aside from a 19-year-old kid in a ski town calling a ski mask a balaclava--was my biggest problem with the book. The seemingly otherwise competent criminals (when they do finally carry out the big heist, they seem to keep their heads, even while the plan goes to hell) go out of their way to engage the local police and throw all of these red herrings at them, when the actual crime itself is fairly uncomplicated and is carried out without a hitch and the only reason the police have anything to get them in the first place is all the shenanigans they pull early on. It doesn't make sense. And along that plot line there's an unresolved thread, which left me a bit aggravated. By the time the book ended, it was easy enough to forget because it really had no bearing on anything, but if you're going to set the pins up you might as well knock them all down. Once the book got past all the b.s. and trying to be more clever than it should have been, there's a good solid portion of it that was fun to read. It just leaves you wondering what the hell the first half of the book was for and why you bothered reading it. I recommend it, marginally. It's not great. It's not up to Pearson standards. But it's got enough to be worth a read if you can find it at the library--don't shell out any money to buy this one though. If I had paid for it, instead of borrowing it from the library, this review might have an entirely different, and much more upset, tone. County sheriff Walt Fleming is a man on the verge of divorce, a presence in the life of his nephew, and the lawman in charge of securing the elite wine sale in Sun Valley. Millions of dollars will be paid for three bottles of wine once owned by John Adams. When Walt discovers a murdered man he detects his way to a complicated plan to steal the wine.There were so many twists, turns and red herrings that this was a home run for me. There were a lot of interesting subplots that kept me interested on many levels. Not only was Walt a good investigator, but his personal relationships made for great storylines and I loved the way all aspects of his life came together for this mystery.I picked this up because it was set in Idaho and I didn’t realize that this was part of a series until I was done.
What do You think about Killer Summer (2000)?
It was horrible.I couldn't get into it at all. It was very shallow and boring.
—Hazzelle
How did I not get hooked on Ridley Pearson long ago?? I will remedy that!
—jb123321
This is a good story for teens...not that good for adults. 4 of 10 stars
—Darien
