Book Review - Theft of the Master by Edwin Alexander
Category Book Review Edwin Alexander Theft of the Master
Just finished a book by a first-time author that could end up being a decent series... Theft of the Master. While I liked the writing and characters, the plot seemed to need a little work.
Al Hershey is a private investigator who has been called upon to look into the death of a young woman. She was ruled to have accidentally drowned during a midnight walk on the beach, but those close to her felt it was actually murder. As Hershey digs into the case, he turns up strange relationships between those who were involved with the woman both pre- and post-death. These relationships take Hershey all over the world, finally uncovering a connection between her death and the theft of a wooden sculpture that was stolen by the Nazis during World War 2.
As mentioned at the start, I enjoyed the Hershey character. The flyleaf says that Alexander is writing the next installment of Hershey's adventures, so there's a good chance that this character will continue to evolve and grow. The writing and dialog was well done, and there weren't many places where dialog was stilted or scenes overly described. The plot is where I had a bit of a problem. The cover and synopsis leads you to believe this will be a Da Vinci Code type story, with linkages between Nazis, Templars, and other murky organizations. The first chapter even starts out that way. But then we step away to get wrapped up in the young woman's murder, and it seemingly takes forever to tie back solidly to the original premise. And even then, I felt the woman's murder was the main plot instead of the search for the lost sculpture.
Writing a good novel isn't easy, and doing it the first time has to be a real labor. I think Alexander has the chops to get a good foothold in the mystery genre. I wouldn't hesitate to give his second installment a read. I only hope the plot is a bit more focused.
Just finished a book by a first-time author that could end up being a decent series... Theft of the Master. While I liked the writing and characters, the plot seemed to need a little work.
Al Hershey is a private investigator who has been called upon to look into the death of a young woman. She was ruled to have accidentally drowned during a midnight walk on the beach, but those close to her felt it was actually murder. As Hershey digs into the case, he turns up strange relationships between those who were involved with the woman both pre- and post-death. These relationships take Hershey all over the world, finally uncovering a connection between her death and the theft of a wooden sculpture that was stolen by the Nazis during World War 2.
As mentioned at the start, I enjoyed the Hershey character. The flyleaf says that Alexander is writing the next installment of Hershey's adventures, so there's a good chance that this character will continue to evolve and grow. The writing and dialog was well done, and there weren't many places where dialog was stilted or scenes overly described. The plot is where I had a bit of a problem. The cover and synopsis leads you to believe this will be a Da Vinci Code type story, with linkages between Nazis, Templars, and other murky organizations. The first chapter even starts out that way. But then we step away to get wrapped up in the young woman's murder, and it seemingly takes forever to tie back solidly to the original premise. And even then, I felt the woman's murder was the main plot instead of the search for the lost sculpture.
Writing a good novel isn't easy, and doing it the first time has to be a real labor. I think Alexander has the chops to get a good foothold in the mystery genre. I wouldn't hesitate to give his second installment a read. I only hope the plot is a bit more focused.
Comments
Ted Davison
aka Edwin Alexander
PS The blog world mystifies me - what does my book have to do with Lotus Notes?
Posted by Ted Davison At 12:35:54 On 05/05/2008 | - Website - |