Book Review - Dead Watch by John Sandford
Category Book Reviews
I'm a big fan of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport character, but I'm always a bit fearful when a big name author launches a new character. It's hard not to compare it to the existing series, and as such it's difficult to give it a fair reading on its own merits. Such is the case with Sandford's latest, Dead Watch.
Jacob Winter works for the government practicing "forensic bureaucracy". In other words, he tries to figure out what *really* happened when things screw up. In this case, he's asked to check into the disappearance and murder of a former senator by the name of Bowe. He lost his seat in a pretty dirty campaign, and in retaliation he was accusing the current administration of all sorts of misdeeds. When Winter is asked to step in and figure out the real story, he finds that the actual story is much more complex than he originally thought, none of the answers will avoid major political ramifications to both sides, and his budding infatuation with the senator's widow is flavoring his actions towards his actual boss. And the more he learns, the bigger liability he becomes to those who hope to profit from Bowe's death. Shutting Winter up becomes pretty appealing to a number of people...
On its own, the Winter character does pretty well. I can see over time that this could be an enjoyable series. I struggled a bit with the political intrigue going on (not my preferred genre), as well as trying to keep the characters straight. But as a first shot for a probable new character and series, it's not bad. I'd definitely pick up the next Winter novel and give it room to grow...
I'm a big fan of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport character, but I'm always a bit fearful when a big name author launches a new character. It's hard not to compare it to the existing series, and as such it's difficult to give it a fair reading on its own merits. Such is the case with Sandford's latest, Dead Watch.
Jacob Winter works for the government practicing "forensic bureaucracy". In other words, he tries to figure out what *really* happened when things screw up. In this case, he's asked to check into the disappearance and murder of a former senator by the name of Bowe. He lost his seat in a pretty dirty campaign, and in retaliation he was accusing the current administration of all sorts of misdeeds. When Winter is asked to step in and figure out the real story, he finds that the actual story is much more complex than he originally thought, none of the answers will avoid major political ramifications to both sides, and his budding infatuation with the senator's widow is flavoring his actions towards his actual boss. And the more he learns, the bigger liability he becomes to those who hope to profit from Bowe's death. Shutting Winter up becomes pretty appealing to a number of people...
On its own, the Winter character does pretty well. I can see over time that this could be an enjoyable series. I struggled a bit with the political intrigue going on (not my preferred genre), as well as trying to keep the characters straight. But as a first shot for a probable new character and series, it's not bad. I'd definitely pick up the next Winter novel and give it room to grow...
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