I gave this novel a shot when I saw it was a 2014 ITW Thriller Award Nominee for Best First Novel, and I wasn't disappointed. It starts as a murder mystery in the Pittsburgh area involving a college co-ed, and a college professor and several of his marathon running friends become suspects and / or subsequent victims. I normally don't care too much for books written in different times, when you have to alternate between the current time and a past or future time or place, but the author, J.J. Hensley, did that seamlessly and effectively. While there were several murders, none were gruesome in description, and I thought the book was engaging throughout.

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A fairly average mystery/thriller. There's not a lot of personality. The setting—flashbacks from the Pittsburgh marathon running race—gives the book some distinction, but in the end, the race turns out to be mostly a gimmick, with slight but minimal bearing on the main plot line. ( )

I'm an unabashed fan of escapist literature. Nine times out of ten my light reading of choice is mystery/crime. If you're anything llke me, then Resolve isn't a bad choice for your next book.

It's not your standard boilerplate mystery. To start with the hero announces in the prologue that HE is going to murder someone during an upcoming marathon.

Then there is the books structure. It is laid out in26.2 chapters. Each chapter begins with a description of the marathon before flashing back to the events leading up to our hero's decision to commit murder

I thoroughly enjoyed it. ( )

I must say, when I read that summery, I was a little concerned.
Can you like a book where the narrator, the good guy, the 'hero' is also a murderer?
Well, I am here to tell you that you can.

Now, I will admit that this book got off to a slow start for me. I am not sure why. Maybe because I have zero interest in marathon running, and the marathon that Cyprus Keller is running is at the heart of this book, each of the 26.2 miles providing the structure for the 26.2 chapters of the book.
But then you start to get to know Cyprus, as he tells us how it came to this point and he becomes a very likable, very sympathetic character. And you get very caught up in figuring out the mystery.

Of course, the mystery is not who will commit this murder..we know that.
We know the where and the when. We even know, at least in part, the why, the murdered student, the attacking graduate student. But the real why, why Cyprus feels he must take this action, and most of all the who, is what we must figure out.

I liked the structure of the book, the 26.2 chapters, giving a very clear path, a real sense of heading toward this final act of Cyprus and seeing what the outcome will be. Publishers Weekly called it 'artfully constructed', and I must agree.
Cyprus is a great character, funny, interesting, smart, not what you might first think of when you think of a college professor. And his wife, Kaitlyn, a psychologist, is a worthy companion on this journey. Not the run. No, her role is a bit more behind the scene but vitally important. And I love the setting in Pittsburgh, which we will get to find out quite a bit about as Cyprus narrators his run.

It is not a huge book, which is a good thing. It gets to the point and moves along at a snappy pace, with little excess wandering. No, a marathon must stay on the planned route and this book indeed does. ( )

I absolutely love murder mysteries! I won this book through Early Reviewers and I have to say this is by far one the best freebies I've read in a long time! The premise of the book is a unversity teacher at Pittsburgh (love that city!) is caught up in blackmailing, murder, and lies

For the rest of the review, visit my book blog at: http://angelofmine1974.livejournal.com/55915.html ( )