I was getting a little bored with my usual mystery-crime genre and was looking for something different. This book is a good alternative. Fundamentally it's a mystery-crime story following a more-or-less standard plot line, but the little bit of sci-fi that's mixed in piqued my interest. There's also an allegorical flavor to the story, which did not have as much meaning to me as it might to someone more familiar with the Old Testament. I was a little irritated at first by the writer's aversion to using quotation marks for dialogue; sometimes it's hard to distinguish between speakers or to differentiate between a character's dialogue and thoughts. But I soon got used to this device. Fortunately, the story moves along, as good mystery-crime stories do, and the characters (and their relationships) are complex enough to make me interested in their thoughts and activities. I won this novel in a goodreads drawing.Shovel Ready is a book I wanted to like a lot more than I actually did.It's about a hitman in a dystopian future New York City. Unfortunately, the narrator doesn't sound like a tough guy, he sounds like a guy trying to convince people he's tough. Of course, he finds the runaway daughter of a televangelist, and we all know what happens from there. It never reaches the level of 70's sleaze I think the author is attempting.There's potential here, but the author just doesn't quite get there.
What do You think about Spademan (2014)?
Seriously fun read. Fast paced and doesn't condescend. Everyone I've given it to loves it.
—Aly
Strange. Jumps around a lot making it difficult to follow at times.
—evaweremko
I really enjoyed this book. Can't wait to read the 2nd one.
—KatieFultz_43
Post-dirty bomb NYC, religious megalomanical noir.
—gabe
This book is so weird, review to come later.
—Hannahbanana
