Customer Reviews

Little Blue Whales

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Having lived on the southern Oregon coast for over 6 years I've come to love living in a small town despite all its quirks. Kenneth R. Lewis has captured the atmosphere of the Oregon coast and its small towns brilliantly in this debut novel. And having worked as a citizen volunteer for a couple law enforcement agencies, I can say his characterizations are dead on as well. In almost every aspect of life you have the good guys and bad guys duking it out (sometimes physically) for power and I cheered to myself when good won out over evil in "Little Blue Whales." The story is chock-full of action, suspense, romance and, yes, wide-eyed terror. I read all 450+ pages in two sittings and literally could not put it down once I picked it up the second time. I finished it around 1:00 in the morning and it was well worth losing sleep over. I urge you to NOT miss this book! I can't wait for a sequel!

I spent the past 3 hours finishing this book! It is a real page turning, heart stopping mystery! I couldn't wait to get to the end and then didn't want the story to end! I found the book as engrossing as any of James Patterson's Alex Cross books. I read several of the other reviews posted here and agree that the editing was a bit off, BUT, after the first few chapters I was too engrossed in the story to notice or pay any attention to it.... I borrowed the book from a friend and plan to buy my own copy as it is definitely a Keeper! I checked out Ken's web page and discovered a sequel coming out in September. It will be on my "Want List" next to the final Harry Potter book.

Having grown up on the Oregon coast and currently living in Grants Pass, I was able to follow block by block and mile by mile through the book. Descriptions of places, events, and emotions ran the gamut from horrifying reality to touching sensitivity. I have seen, as a teacher, the damage and devastation he describes so accurately from his years of experience in law enforcement. His characters became real and I suffered with, hoped for, worried about, and rejoiced with them. Can't wait for his next book.

A riveting and engaging story that grabs the reader from the first page through the complex relationship of the Police Chief and the killer. Kenneth R. Lewis is a masterful writer who takes the reader on a complex journey of murder, deceit, and betrayal in an easy to follow and understandable story. A book you do not want to put down until the final word of the last Chapter. Can't wait to see these characters in his next book. A must read!!
John and Debbi Roelandts
Oconomowoc Wisconsin March 29, 2009

Little Blue Whales is really two books in one--a spine-chilling thriller which is almost impossible to put down as well as a hot and heavy romance. Well-paced and well-written, the story compels you on to discover the Chief's secret. Anyone who has lived on the Oregon coast will recognize not only the setting which Kenneth Lewis brings to life with his prose, but the small town politics that go along with it. It's pure pleasure to watch the Chief--late of Dodge City--tame this particular Wild West town! The characters are so well-drawn and completely believable that you come to care for them (with the exception of the villain who is a masterpiece of absolute horror...) and anticipate the sequel. Kenneth's expertise in police matters and the criminal mindset makes for an incredibly realistic--and horrific--inside look at the world of "spree killers". Don't let anyone bother you when you are reading the last few chapters!

I reside in " a small (but troubled ?) town on the Southern Oregon Coast", 30 miles south of Gold Beach, so naturally I was especially drawn to read this book.
Usually I read before going to sleep at night, but Sleep? NO, not while reading this book! This is a well constructed thriller, one that you don't want to put down, yet you don't want to finish because you also don't want it to end.
If you have the opportunity to meet Ken Lewis and his wife JaNell at one of his book signings, you will find that to be just as enjoyable as reading his book!

A very good novel. Can not wait to read a sequal.

Little Blue Whales was one of the best works of fiction that I have read. I found the characters to be very real and entertaining offering a wide range of personalities and emotions. The story had all the elements I enjoy in a good book, tragedy, suspense, humor and the romance of a love story. The storyline keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very last page of the book. I found the book especially entertaining due to the story taking place in some very real locations I have lived in and visited. Overall, a great first book and I urge the author, Ken, to bring back the main characters for another exciting suspense filled story. Well Done!!!

For a lean-and-mean book, Little Blue Whales is rich with rewards for the lover of noirish crime stories. The main character Kevin Kearnes is not only a cop with a secret, but a man with a complex inner life. He can shift from unabashed romantic when it comes to Britt, a physician with her own secret, to dead-on tough-guy in dealing with shady small-town politics. In these efforts, he's backed up by the ex-Marine Thud, politically incorrect but nevertheless likable--his name says it all. Lewis gets in the heads of some pretty perverse characters--a riveting story, not for the faint of heart.

I was recently contacted by Kenneth R. Lewis asking if I would like to read and review his debut crime novel Little Blue Whales. Given the genre and the setting (the Oregon coast, about 90 miles from where I live), I decided it might be a good read in my recreational pile. For a debut novel, it's not bad. There's plenty of action and personal intrigue going on with the plot and the characters, and I found myself spending a bit more time reading when I should have been doing other things (like sleeping!)

Kevin Kearnes, the police chief of a small coastal town in Oregon, has plenty of battles to fight in his new job. The city council, along with a few members of the police force, are part of a "good ol' boy" network who run the town for their own personal gain. While trying to take care of those issues, he has to deal with other "interesting" problems like the demolition of a dead whale that washed up on the beach. But all those problems pale in comparison to what looks to be a far more serious matter... a killer who is targeting young boys and leaving them on the beach to be found. While it's not a given that the crimes were committed in his town of Cutter Point, Kearnes starts taking the case personally when a clue is discovered near where one boy disappeared. A small blue whale toy is found, and that brings back a series of repressed memories from Kearnes' own childhood. He knows who the killer is, and he has to eliminate the killer in order to deal with his own past.

The story starts with Kearnes receiving psychological help in dealing with the aftermath of the crime described above. He starts to recount the whole story to his therapist, which is where 95% of the book happens. It then moves back to the present, where the psychologist has to decide whether he's still fit for duty, or whether his emotional state is such that he shouldn't be wearing a badge any more. There's also a love interest in the story that drives Kearnes' decision about how much he wants to reveal and how much more he wants to be involved in the affairs of Cutter Point. Stylistically, I enjoyed the story. In terms of characters, I would have liked to know a bit more background on some of them. Kearnes' partner seems to have anger management issues, and that could have been explained more. The killer had a warped view of religion that drove his actions, but the why and wherefore as to how he got that way eluded me. If that had been explained to me a bit better, I might have understood why he turned out the way he did. Without that, he was just strange and bizarre.

Overall, Little Blue Whales was a good read, and Lewis shows promise as a writer. He's already working on a sequel titled The Sparrow's Blade, and I probably will find that one when it comes out and give it a read also.

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