The Paperboys Club

Really great read!! The description sounded interesting, but I wasn’t sure what to expect so I was quite pleasantly surprised! I really liked all the main characters…even ones I wasn’t sure were ‘good’ or ‘bad’… I just knew I wanted to know more and couldn’t stop reading until I found out!! Sam is written wonderfully as a single mother of a smart young girl, Maryann. Sam is unsure of how to handle her at times, like most parents … at the same time she’s this kick-butt detective with an awesome partner, in a pretty male driven line of work, doing the best job she can, always feeling like she’s coming up short either as a mother, a detective, or both. It feels at first like it’s a bit all over the place with a show more lot going on but it’s all pulled together so well when… I find it difficult to say much without saying too much!! I’m obviously not a writer! The worst part, as usual in any good book, was realizing it was coming to an end! I wanted to know more about the things happening to these people, adults and children. How and why it stared, how and why it changed and how are they going to deal with those changes?? If there isn’t another book I hope one day there will be because I really enjoyed learning the in’s and out’s of these peoples lives and I’d love to see how the rest of the story unfolds!!! show less

So much of this story was awesome. The characters were superbly described and I loved that everyone had a quirk and a back story - it made the story really jump off the page. The weird aspect of superhuman powers seemed to be dealt with as an afterthought but it played a huge part in the story which was a bit confusing. As always Qureshi creates a clear sense of right and wrong and there is no second guessing who the bad guys are. The murder mystery was well written and suspenseful. Great book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a good mystery with great characters and a "twist" with a bit of supernatural thrown in. Intriguing book. I enjoyed the fact that we had the adult characters in the police department - - as well as children characters. All were vivid and well drawn. I'll look forward to more work from this author.

Detective Sam (Samantha) Banter is trying to solve the murder of a child five years ago.

Her ten-year-old daughter, Maryann, and three of her classmates, all of whom seem to have special abilities, have formed the Paperboys Club.

Clarence, a patient in a psychiatric hospital has powers which cause him great pain both physically and mentally.

The Paperboys Club is a fast paced thriller with some very likable characters. My only problem with the book was near the end when Clarence is hunting for someone. It seemed to have little to do with the story and, in the end, no real resolution. But, aside from this, I enjoyed this book. It's an easy read and the perfect book for a lazy summer afternoon.

I really enjoyed this quick read. The twin plots were intertwined nicely. Clarence is one mystery, he's in a mental institution as the story opens. Why he's there and whether he is sane or not is a nice underlying puzzle once his story intersects with the main story line.
Sam is the protagonist she's a cop up for a promotion if she can solve a 'cold case'. This felt contrived for about a page or two but the story carries you along.
The ending I liked very much I didn't see it coming. It was also sublty written not just another shoot em' up.
This the second book by Mr.Qureshi that I've read, I have enjoyed both. In this book like The October Five the editing could be better - a missed plural, a missed negative, etc. They are jarring at the show more beginning of the books but either disappear as the story goes along or one stops noticing. Two, in a critical scene Mr. Qureshi has a woman supposedly high on crack, the cops know this because she has a needle in her arm - well you don't shoot crack you smoke it. A small thing but I'm surprised nobody caught it.
Anyway, this is a good early novel by an author who will only get better. I'd like to see him try something longer. show less

Mobashar Qureshi is an author that has fast become one of my favorites. Every story has been different to the extreme but every one of them have been thoroughly readable and this one is no exception. Excellent Sci-fi / Thriller that I finished at work in about 3 hours (Don't tell my boss). Detective Sam Banter and her partner Detective Bashi are trying to solve a cold case of a murdered child that is pointing towards officer misconduct. After meeting Clarence at the mental hospital that the childs mother ended up in and Sam meets him and he tells her things he couldn't possible know, she listens. Hard to put down and an excellent way to spend an afternoon in the sun. I would also love to read a sequel.

I really enjoyed reading this crime story, that had a supernatural appeal to it. It's about solving a cold case murder of a child, kids with "abilities", and a mental institute patient, that has all the "abilities" in one. This was a great fast read, well written and I highly recommend it to others.