Customer Reviews

Cheap Shot

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Steve Brewer replaces the humor that so often punctuates his Bubba Mabry novels with suspense and action that keeps the reader engaged throughout. Unlike Bubba, Drew Gavin is a more confident, less klutzsy protagonist who takes on challenges with an aggressive, "take no prisoners attitude."

But one aspect of Brewer's writing that is so rewarding for the reader, and which is a hallmark of all of his books, is his uncanny ability to describe his characters so that you can see and even smell them, as though they were standing in front of you. When he writes that the high-tech guru, Wally Mertz, " . . . looked like Alley Oop" and then adds, "Lank black hair . . .", "A square face and a heavy brow and a long upper lip.", "A jagged beard along his jawline.", and "Big forearms . . ." you picture the guy and know the character in a way that few writers are able to convey. Brewer makes you care about his protagonists, his victims, and even the peripheral characters. And boy does he make you hate the bad guys!

I can't wait for the next book in the Drew Gavin series.

Steve Brewer has produced a mystery novel in a style possible only to a true professional. The lead character, department head of a local newspaper sports section, is an interesting character who can easily fit the role of hero in a mystery series. He is a more humanized, less weighty, detective in the mold created by Hammett and Chandler, so ably enhanced by Kenneth Millar (as Ross MacDonald. The plot, while clearly outlined, has its tricky aspects, the characters who count are well delineated. The complexity of the plot does not produce a dense text, it remains light throughout. Most amateur detective fans will find the book most entertaining.