Customer Reviews

Dead on the Island

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

PI Truman Smith has become a loner after failing to find his sister Jan during a recent search of Galveston Island. He jogs on the Seawall, plays with his cat, and reads lots of Faulkner books. He is pulled from his self-imposed retirement when his old high school football buddy Dino asks him to find a young girl named Sharon. As Tru begins his investigation, dead bodies begin to appear and Tru himself is attacked. His search for Sharon takes him to all sorts of interesting places on and near the Island. I read this book because Galveston is one of my favorite places and I was not disappointed as Bill Crider spins a good mystery tale in a wonderful setting with interesting characters and enough plot twists to keep readers guessing until the last few chapters.

Bill Crider is a friend of mine, so I read a lot of his books because they hit my radar more often. However, the friendship isn't why I read the books. He a really good writer and he writes horror, suspense, Westerns, and mysteries. He's a natural storyteller and understands the conventions of the genre he's working in.

Truman Smith is a Galveston, Texas, private eye and stars in five of Crider's books. I picked up the first couple Smith books back when they first came out, but had trouble finding the last three. The ebook hadn't been invented back then and getting hold of some books could prove difficult unless you haunted bookstores. Unfortunately, I was busy coaching little league baseball and basketball teams, so I didn't get to do the haunting.

Now, though, the entire series is being reprinted in ebooks on the Kindle and the Nook. The fifth book is due out next month and The Prairie Chicken Kill was just released. Sadly, at the moment, that is the last Truman Smith book.

I love Truman Smith. He drinks Big Red, has a bum leg, and reads constantly. What's not to love? He's an everyday hero who's easy to understand and get to know. Also, he's got a big mystery in his life that he hasn't solved. His younger sister Jan went missing a year ago and he hasn't been able to find her. Smith's whole private eye business had been based on him being able to find people that couldn't be found.

Broken, Smith returned home to Galveston and started painting houses, shutting himself out of the detective business. But he's around his past and it doesn't take long to come calling in the form of Dino and Ray, guys he played football with and against when he was younger.

Dino is the son of criminal royalty but really isn't involved in his father and uncles' business these days because he's pretty much gone legit. However, he presents a missing girl case to Smith and asks Smith to look into it as a favor for the old days.

Smith reluctantly agrees, but soon finds that he's missed the detecting work. He steps back into the traces and gets underway. The path quickly turns deadly and bodies start piling up, some of them dropped by Smith himself, which is something he'd never had to do before.

I really enjoyed this book as much the second time around as I did the first. Of course, I knew who did it the second time and what was truly going on, but Crider brings Galveston to life and I love the small-town feel of the city. Crider is an easy to read writer. You just sink into a chair and start, and within minutes you're plugged into another world and someone else's problems and mysteries.

Bill Crider's DEAD ON THE ISLAND introduces private detective Truman Smith. I knew I would like Truman in the book's opening scene, which showed Tru's compassion toward a wild rat who lives near the beach where Truman goes for his morning run. Tru has been working as a house painter and trying to recover from the loss of his sister, Jan, whose disappearance has not only left him grieving but doubting his abilities as an investigator. When an old friend, Dino, asks for help to find a missing girl, Truman must overcome his own demons, as well as some dangerous and unsavory characters with an interest in keeping things hidden. Crider's writing is polished, and his humorous, often self-deprecating voice makes Truman seem both likeable and real. I have already bought the next two books in the series and look forward to Crider's next adventure.

The start of the Truman Smith Mysteries: Dead on the Island plunges you headlong into the murky underworld of Galveston, Texas.

Our down at heel (but not without his charms and luck) PI - Truman Smith - is called out of retirement and a fairly meagre existence painting houses, and is roped in to a simple missing persons case by his oldest friend, Dino. Armed only with all the Big Red he can drink, a nose for a lie, and several useful contacts, Tru's hunt for the girl parallels the fruitless search for his missing sister the previous year.

Obviously - a missing person is barely the start of things, and there the trouble begins; with murder, violence, shoot outs and plenty of mystery in evidence as Truman works his way through the disjointed clues to the heart of the plot.

Written with a light hearted and wry humour that evokes a more laid back feel to the classic Crime Noir - the author has created a compelling story and an equally compelling lead character.

Dead on the Island is just a good book to read. I like to read Bill Crider's books because they are witty, have a good plot and are not predictable. Of course I am from Texas, as well and close to Galveston and Houston, so many of his discriptions make the story so realistic. But no matter where you are from, the stories are a fun read.

You NEVER have to say to yourself....why did I bother to read that book.

I agree with another reviewer who called this an intelligent thriller.

I enjoyed MURDER IN THE AIR by Bill Crider and I will probably read more it the series. Because of the writing, I also wondered about Crider's writing when he was more serious.

Dead on the Island is the first in Bill Crider's Truman Smith series. Truman is a p.i. who was not able to find his sister. He is surviving by painting a house here and there, reading, house sitting and running. A knee injury had ended any future in football he may have had so he is scared both emotionally and physically. He is marking time.

Then Truman is asked by an old, high school football buddy, Dino, asks him to find a teenage girl who has gone missing. She is the daughter of a woman who was once prostitute in Dino's family's business.

The story is fast paced with quite a few murders along the way. There is also a need to dig into the past. And the humid, winter gulf weather of Galveston helps set the mood.

I liked that while the story is about how the past can effect the present, it is also about moving on with one's life. It can be very destructive to stay mired about what has happened years ago. Or even not so long ago. The last line of the book sums it up nicely.

I identified with the feel of Galveston as I live about in the center of Florida on the edge of the Green Swamp. I'm looking forward to the next book GATOR KILL.

Bill Crider's "Dead on the Island" is the first in a series starring P.I. Tru Smith, a quirky fella who reminds me a bit of Columbo, a smidgen of Macgyver and no Indiana Jones, but at least he feeds his cat on time. Since I enjoy reading Mr. C's weekly gator updates, I was curious about the second book in the series "Gator Hunt", but wanted to start at the beginning. "Dead on the Island" takes place on Texas' beloved Galveston Island. The plot is witty with several twists and an ending I didn't see coming (which always makes me mad-- in a good way). What I enjoy most about Crider's writing is what I enjoy about Bradbury's: there is always joy in the story telling, but never any hesitation to go as dark or as deep as the story or character demands.

Experienced author Bill Crider, known for his Sheriff Dan Rhodes series, has several mystery books featuring Truman Smith. Told in first person, Truman Smith is hired to find the estranged daughter of an old friend. Working to recover from the failure to find his own sister, Truman sets out to determine the truth of the missing daughter. In the process he uncovers a high level of corruption, greed, and death all orchestrated by a childhood friend of both his and the father of the girl. Several twists of the plot, intrigue, and violence surround the unearthing of the truth, and Truman doggedly pursues justice, partly as a way to atone for being unable to find his own sister. The books ends solidly, although a bit sadly, as it is revealed that years of bitterness caused the ultimate circumstances.

It is a well-written story with some literary allusions to Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom and plenty of action to keep the pages turning. Truman himself is a humble but confident detective determined to find the missing girl. In spite of being beat up and nearly killed, he does not hesitate to help his friend. Using an odd sense of personal values (he won't say the word whore) and a commitment to stay within the law, Truman applies strength of purpose to accomplish the mission set forth. He is a likable character who somehow seems confidently aware of his own abilities as well as his weaknesses. He also has the ironic sense of humor found in many of Crider's books.

Yet I thought there were a few too many murders and deaths in the book, a story that relied on the deaths to propel the interest. Perhaps a little deductive reasoning and subtle clues would help carry this book to another level. Just as Truman appears to get closer to the story, there is another death or fight. It makes the plot one-dimensional, causing the reader to be disconnected from the events and the intrigue. Furthermore, several characters could have benefited from some more detailed description. Who are these people and how will they really react?

Still it was a fun, action-based read by a writer whose enviable career seems to keep going. Mystery and thriller enthusiasts will particularly enjoy this story which is set on Galveston Island.