Customer Reviews

First Evidence

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I enjoyed Balefire and decided to read more by this author. I read "First Evidence" and found I could not put this book down...stayed up until 4 a.m. and that rarely happens with a book for me. What more can I say? If you love mysteries and a touch of sci-fi, you will surely enjoy this story. I finished it and ordered copies of his other books.

Colin Cellars, forensic detective for the Oregon State Police, is called out to a "shots-fired" crime scene. It turns out that the body belongs to a friend he hasn't seen in 15 years but the crime scene itself makes no sense. Complications mount as the body disappears, evidence is lost, deputy sheriffs go missing, and Colin is being stalked by shadowy beings. However, when Cellar's long-lost love is kidnapped Cellars must find a way to free her while protecting both of them from the beings who mean to kill them.

Great plot. The idea itself is very clever and it's certainly clear that Mr. Goddard knows crime scenes and evidence collection. However, what was missing for me was good writing. I felt the characters are never developed and remain cardboard with a few becoming stereotypes. The dialog is very stilted and doesn't ring true and interactions between the characters always seem to have them saying "What?" and then having to repeat what was just said.

And I absolutely hate it when the main character keeps doing stupid things to advance the plot. He keeps returning to the cabin in the woods, by himself, always when it's getting dark or a storm is brewing, and he keeps getting stalked by the mysterious beings. It's like in the old horror movies when the heroine is alone in the haunted house and she hears a noise in the next room and just HAS to see what made it.

Would I recommend this book? With reservations. I did skim a lot but I'll have to admit the plot intrigued me enough to finish it just to see what these creatures would turn out to be. If you like plot-driven novels you might like this. Honestly though, I thought the book didn't live up to its premise. Reading the book jacket I thought it was going to be very interesting how an earthling tracked down an extra-terrestrial killer. Wasn't much like that at all.

Scary thriller about a crime scene investigator, Colin Cellars, who is called out to a murder scene at a hidden cabin in the woods. When he arrives, the two officers waiting for him are visibly shaken and extremely terrified, constantly watching the edge of the woods while telling Cellars that the two officers there before them are missing and their radios don't work. Cellars sends them off to get help while he begins collecting evidence. Inside the cabin he finds the mutilated body of a person who might be his old friend, Bobby. He also is attacked by someone or something he can only see in the shadows. When he escapes, he returns to the station and finds out the two cops he'd sent for help are now missing too. Determined to find out what is happening, Cellars keeps returning to the cabin. But each time he tries to find clearer evidence, something even spookier happens and confuses everything even further. I couldn't put this book down, even when nighttime rolled around and the combination of the story and the dark gave me the screaming heebie-jeebies. I was a little disappointed by the ending, which seemed too sudden and too convenient, but the rest of it was so great I barely minded. Recommended!

"Terminator" was the first thought in my mind as I read about shadows in trees. First time I've read Goddard, but ordered all of his others the day I finished First Evidence. Mailed the book to a relative and kept him up all night. Sci-fi and a strained 15-year romance keep this rolling, plus a little of Hazard County humor and Gov't computer nerd for a touch of enlightenment. The book certainly kept you guessing and didn't give away the ending. Yes, Goddard was in a hurry to end the book, but believe that was because he saw the sequel possibilities. A fast read and not boring.

Mr. Goddard writes an vivid tale involving crime, mystery, and humor. It seems that Detective Cellars should have stayed in bed this week. Detective Cellars begins his string of bad luck by being the surprise speaker at a UFO "Alliance" meeting. He then proceeds from one misadventure to the next. He riddles two police vehicles with bullets, chases evidence that disappears every time he turns around, and has to fend off strange anthropological "aliens." Some days, the pay is just not enough. Cellars and his close friends have stumbled onto a conspiracy of universal proportions. Against insurmountable odds, Cellars realizes that, when all else fails you just gotta laugh.

First Evidence is an interesting twist on your normal cop book. OSP crime scene investigator Colin Cellars is sent to a call in the Oregon woods, where he is confronted at gunpoint by two spooked deputies who are only too happy to turn the scene over to him and get back to town. While working the scene, a homicide, he finds and sees things that makes him think the deputies might have had the right idea. It also turns out that he knows the victim. Things only get stranger from there. Missing deputies, missing bodies, moving evidence, gunplay, gadgets, and Ken Goddard's strange sense of humor combine for an entertaining read. The only flaw I could find was with the ending. Maybe that's because I wanted the book to go on, but it seemed like it didn't match the complexity of the rest of the book. If you like straightforward mysteries, wrapped up by the last page, I'd pass, but if you enjoy a little ambiguity and a few twists in the road, pick this one up.

This was the first novel I've read by Mr. Goddard, and I found his writing style to be definitely above average. The pace is fast and the characters reasonably well developed in this murder mystery plus thriller plus sci fi story. Although others may quibble about his in-depth treatment of forensic science in this work, I felt it to have been well done and in keeping with the overall storyline. However, the last half of the book, and particularly the ending scenes, did not live up to the level set for the first half. The conclusion is rushed and falls apart with many unanswered questions (whatever happened to Lieutenant Talbert?) and loose threads. Oh well, I suppose that's what the sequel is for.

I AM A BIG KEN GODDARD FAN SINCE BALEFIRE(SINCE I WAS KILLED OFF IN THE BOOK), READ EVERYONE OF THEM AND LOVED THEM ALL. THIS BOOK TOOK ME 2 DAYS TO READ AND IT WAS HARD TO PUT DOWN. THE NEW CHARACTER WAS IN THE SAME CHARACTER AS HARRY LIGHTSTONE, HARD BUT HAD A HUMOROUS SIDE TO HIM. A LITTLE DIFFERENT SIDE WITH ALIENS BUT WILL KEEP YOU GLUED TO THE BOOK TIL YOU ARE THRU.

This book is scary as hell! I've never read anything that builds suspense like this. The events in the story take their time. I was over halfway thru the book when I realized that 24 hours hadn't passed yet. I won't give away the plot because you need to be totally surprised to be scared. In the end, the climax wasn't all it could have been but building up to it was a nail-biting ride. Don't read this one at night...especially if you live way out in the woods alone.

Super!!! .The main character is very easy to like,and his thoughts come across as a captivating read. Great page after page. Please don't stop writing about Allesandra and contnue the sequels...