Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

“The Secret Witness” is a murder mystery so badly written that I’m quitting after 40 pages. It’s filled with awkward, clunky sentences comprised of poorly chosen words and errors in grammar, sentences like: “A slight trickle of fear touched his belly for the first time.” “Sickening anxiety confused him as to what to do.” “Her entire world became her feet pounding dirt and the sound of her hot breath as she grew more and more winded and tried not to think about the footfalls behind her and whether they were getting closer.” “The dead tree gave him an ominous, claustrophobic feel. As if the air pressed in on him and stuck to his skin.” So, the prose is no pleasure to read. The content is problematic. Although this purports to be a “police procedural” about the hunt for a serial killer, its command of procedure is woefully inadequate. For example, main character Solomon is a former prosecutor who, years ago, supposedly investigated a string of murders believed to have been committed by the same man now engaged in a new killing spree. Except, prosecutors do not investigate. They can’t because that would make them witnesses in the cases they’re prosecuting, and a lawyer cannot be a witness at the trial he or she is prosecuting. Other matters of procedure are glossed over or treated with a lack of precision and specificity. The characters are not compelling or even particularly sympathetic. Forty pages in and I still have no idea what anyone wants or why they want it. In other words, I have no idea what is driving anyone or why I should care. And the victims? The most we get to know about them are their names and the gruesome and sometimes implausible manners of their deaths. Amazon “First Readers” may well want to skip this in favor of another selection.