The Big Gamble

Disappointing.

I am giving up on Michael McGarrity. I devoured the first three books in the Kevin Kerney series [I have read 9]. I read them at 5X-10X my normal pace, took me like 5 days to read all 3 novels. I was totally jazzed to find a new author. But with the introduction of Clayton Istee they went downhill fast.

The Big Gamble IS readable, so the writing is still fairly good, but the story is extraordinarily ho-hum. Like the entire backstory, taking down some of the richest and most powerful people in all of New Mexico could have been one to cheer for. But in this book it just doesn't happen. It keeps to a too simple storyline.

Mostly it is all about Clayton Istee, and Clayton is a whiny little bitch. He's got a chip on his shoulder, show more feels sorry for himself 100% of the time, is a small fish in a tiny pond, and if his wife ever bought him a pair of Big Boy Pants and dressed him, there is zero chance that on his own he could keep them up or even on.

And in this book, Kerney's wife Sara is the same. They are both insufferable.

The only good parts are about New Mexico itself, its landscapes and townscapes. But I can't say I found this to be worth reading. show less

Synopsis: Officer Clayton Istee finds two bodies in a deserted fruit stand; one fresh and one several years old. These separate murders lead he and his father, Kevin Kerney, on a multi-state search for clues to both homicides and bring them closer together.
Review: Weaving the procedurals of the two homicides together makes for an interesting story. The underlying interactions of Kerney and Istee, as well as Kerney and Sara add a bit of relief from the narrative tension.

nm, Chief Kevin Kerney,