Too Close to Miss (Mara Cunningham Series) [Kindle Edition]

John Perich (Author)

Book Description

Mara Cunningham knew that sleeping with a married man was a bad idea. But when her lover shows up in the hospital after his wife and son are murdered, the rumors about Mara turn dangerous. Now she's the prime suspect in a double homicide, and the real killers will stop at nothing to silence her. Mara's race against time takes her from the dense heart of Boston to the dark woods of New Hampshire, from gritty streets to the halls of power. Before she's through, she'll learn just which of her friends she can trust - and she'll stare death in the face.

Too Close to Miss is a gritty, lightning-paced thriller set in Boston. It introduces Mara Cunningham, a stubborn crime scene photographer whose quick wits and eye for trouble often get her into danger. It contains tense chases, brutal fights and confrontations over dark secrets. Check it out today and see why people are calling it "a hell of a book.

Too Close to Miss is the first book in the Mara Cunningham series. The next Mara Cunningham book will be available in 2012.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... passes the key thriller test of 'I stayed up later than intended to finish it.'
- Jim Henley, Unqualified Offerings

"Strong, flawed, independent female lead [...] ? Check. Political intrigue and conspiracy? Check. Cast of characters that get just enough page time to whet your appetite for future stories? Checkmate. Somebody option this quick."
- Jeremy Lott, Splice Today

"... a well-paced, true-to-Boston thriller with a great, original character ..."
- David Moglov, The Mogolog

" ... a briskly-paced, thoroughly entertaining thriller that lives up to the heritage of the noir genre. It's ten pounds of style in a two-pound bag."
- Tom Devlin, DC Accidental

About the Author

John Perich was born in Baltimore. He moved to Boston for school and has lived there ever since. He's worked in outside sales, customer service, supply chain management and internet marketing, but writing has always been his passion. TOO CLOSE TO MISS is his debut novel. He's hard at work on the next one and appreciates your patience. When he's not writing neo-noir thrillers set in his hometown, John is blogging for Overthinking It, the website that subjects popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. You can also visit his personal website, periscopedepth.com.

Product Details

• File Size: 395 KB
• Print Length: 264 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006FVZ0A8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,412 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling read December 5, 2011

By C. Smithney

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Too Close to Miss is an excellent addition to the thriller genre, with the added bonus of offering a strong, complex, female lead. Mara Cunningham is the kind of ass-kicking, morally ambiguous, yet ultimately relatable heroine that ensures that the thriller genre won't stay a boys club. The author writes with a cinematic eye; you can imagine this story on film. The book opens with a bang and never relents as you're pulled into a complicated world, where a mistress can be a hero, and not all is what it seems in the city of Boston. I stayed up way too late finishing this one.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Too good to miss! (I have a feeling that tag line has been used already...) December 20, 2011

By Mike Shapiro

Format:Kindle Edition

A compelling, incisively smart, and witty thriller; in some ways comparable to Lawrence Shames' work in its balance of character arc, plot, and immersion in a particular city (in this case, Boston). The story takes about two chapters to grab your interest fully, at which point you'll be hooked to the finish. Among the book's virtues is a legitimately likeable (yet imperfect) protagonist, a richly evocative setting, and a number of legitimately surprising plot twists which are nonetheless perfectly logical in retrospect. The author also offers a narrative device wherein the protagonist periodically synopsizes what she's learned about the mystery so far; this helps the reader from feeling lost at sea if s/he forgets some details along the way. The low price is in some senses unfortunate as it understates the book's unusually high quality, but this should encourage you to take the plunge with this new author.

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Didn't want to finish it! May 11, 2012

By Emtastic

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I must say, I was really excited to read this book based on the other reviews. Like many other readers, I got through this book quickly, in 2-3 days. However, I differed than other readers in the fact that while I was interested in finding out what happened a lot of my drive to finish the book was because I just wanted it to be OVER.

About halfway through it hit me that I really disliked the main character Mara. I found her to be egotistical, cocky and somewhat annoying. Pulled from the other reviews and the book description, I also expected more action and "thrill" to make this fit the thriller genre. When I see that I'm 60% through a book and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the drama factor is - that's not a good thing.

As the title of my review states, part of me didn't even want to finish this book, it really just wasn't doing it for me. However I have been an avid reader my whole life and have only once "quit" a book. So onward I prevailed. I continued to be disappointed. The ending was abrupt and slightly confusing. I won't go into details to ruin it for other readers but at least for me, there were parts that I was just glad it was at an end rather than try to figure out the answers to the new questions I'd come up with.

I thought this book had potential and was really underwhelmed by the time I got to the last page.

More About the Author

While working in a variety of Boston-area tech startups, John Perich has still found time to write and publish several gritty crime thrillers, particularly the Mara Cunningham series (Too Close To Miss in 2011; Too Hard to Handle in 2012).

A Baltimore native but a Massachusetts resident, John teaches and practices jiu-jitsu, turns a winking eye to pop culture on Overthinking It, samples whiskey indiscriminately but responsibly, and rocks a mean karaoke mic.