Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I wanted to be oh-so-articulate in my review of this book, but I am still sputtering a bit since finishing it. I suggested it for my book club -- seems out of the chick novel genre certainly, but with the blues references and the teaser about dealing with the Holocaust in his family background and the inclusion of his Jewish mother as a major player, I thought it would appeal to my other members' tastes, but still give me the action/adventure/detective book that I personally prefer. Wrong. I have to face my book club tonight and I'm still trying to form a sufficient apology. Several problems, among them: Corwin doesn't trust us to have a brain. He gives us information -- almost a heads-up -- then writes about it. Contrast that with the fact that the second mystery at least is solved with surprises we weren't even introduced to until his confrontation (didn't trust us with THAT information). Next: we now know much, much, much about the flora of the neighborhoods Levine visited for his many, many suspect/witness questionings. We had much time to read about it, because for several of those questionings, that's all we got -- how it looked, how the stairs looked, how the "wit" looked, then -- SLAM! Nothing. Back to the car. We also know much about the various ethnic restaurants and foods Levine is fond of. Way too much. And, as one review has already stated, we know WAY too much about Levine's unexpected love for surfing. For so many scenes, I'd find myself reading carefully, the detail teasing me that something big was about to happen, only to be confused and disappointed that there was nothing more to that restaurant visit than simply getting lunch. I'm the prude in the book club that everyone worries about offending (they needn't), so imagine how much fun they'll have tonight when we talk about the sex scenes in the book. Not graphic, but suddenly, inexplicably, and - in my humble opinion - totally unnecessary "rough and naughty" sex. Didn't add to the story in any way. Had ROMANCE been involved. . . perhaps then. When the action of the book finally picks up about 2/3 of the way through, Levine is injured in one scene. Seriously enough to involve stitches and Vicadin. But in the next scenes, he is actively involved in physical situations that would have been, at the least, very painful. No mention is made of the injury ever. Two of the biggest draws for me were the jazz and the mother. I looked forward to the unique twist that these two would provide. Not so much. Levine doesn't love jazz, he loves one jazz album (the title is borrowed from that album). And it only gets cursory mention. The mother? After a priceless scene at the beginning when she is taking on her son's cause, she is only seen as a few annoying phone calls. She, and their relationship, rather than surfing, flora, or ethnic food, would perhaps have fleshed out Ash Levine as a character of merit.