Customer Reviews

The Quick (A Jimmy Miles Mystery)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michael Marshall put it perfectly in his review "Strange, haunting, cool - and very hard to put down"
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it's strange, dream-like feeling. Some books are meant to be read slowly and their language and set pieces digested at leisure. This is one of them.
It's not a bang, bang, bang...type of book.
Jimmy Miles is an engaging character. I got a kick out how he is interested in EVERYTHING, no matter how unimportant or trivial, and when I thought about it, it all made sense. When you are pretty much eternal and don't really sleep....well, sure, if you are going to keep going you are going to have the time and the inclination (not to mention the necessity) to be interested in all sorts of things.
This really is very dreamlike and just a pleasure to read.
I look forward to more books from Dan Vining.

The Quick by Dan Vining. It's a private eye book with a supernatural twist. Private investigator Jimmy Miles works
the Hollywood nights. His new client is the desperate daughter of a dead man. Her father was executed for a long-ago murder-and she wants Jimmy to uncover the truth about the crime and the real killer's identity. A well written noir story with an interesting mystery, fascinating characters and a really cool woo woo element. The story did leave some unanswered questions which I hope may be answered in another book if this is intended to be a series. If you are looking for a cozy this isn't it. Rather it's a noirish
haunting mystery that may leave more questions than it answers.

The gimmick long suspected takes 115 pages to confirm and even longer to partially explain. The ending leaves us in purgatory, unsatisfied and longing for answers. The author can write and succesfully creates a mood that is difficult to shake. If this is a series, it will be interesting to see where it goes.

An investigator reexamines a double murder from the 70's, his client the daughter of an executed killer. Along the trail, we begin to meet Sailors, seemingly flesh and blood humans who are literally caught, somehow, between life and death.

THE QUICK travels down the doomed streets of Chinatown, up the river to Heart of Darkness. It carries you away effortlessly into a dark Los Angeles that evokes Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald as it embraces the supernatural landscapes of Dean Koontz and Anne Rice. Its protagonist is as much a mystery as the truth he seeks to reveal.

Dan Vining is a major new talent and I have heard that he is now working on a new SAILORS novel.

I am quite sure that some day this book will be the basis for a film or tv series and that some day people will attend conventions where they dress as characters from the books.

Private Investigator Jimmy Miles attends Joel Kinsey's Mensa: a Night of Mystery Party at a Malibu mansion. At the event, his host introduces him to Jean Kantke, who wants to hire him to find out whether in 1977 her father, an assistant district attorney, really killed her mother and her lover. He always swore until he died in the gas chamber in 1992 that he was innocent. Jean knows that there is something different about Jimmy, who only takes an occasional case and not always for money.

She doesn't know that he's a Sailor, a person who died but still retains his human form except to those who knew him when he was alive. They see a different face when they look at him. He never ages and doesn't need sleep. Though alive, he can't be killed although he can be hurt or injured. Nobody could be better suited to find out the truth about Jean's family than him because he has to deal with some very nasty people, including other dangerous Sailors.

This dark urban noir supernatural private investigative story is different, quirky and scary because nobody, including the Sailors, knows why they still live or what they have to do to be at rest. Jimmy is a refreshingly original character who seems at peace with his state of affairs and helps others like himself when they first become aware of what has happened. This reviewer hopes that the protagonist stars in other novels because he is a complex person whose realm is interesting and his solving a case a delight to observe. Dan Vining has made a niche in the urban noir world that readers will love.

Harriet Klausner

This was the first detective book I've read in ages that I simply could not put down! First of all, even though I am a native of Los Angeles my attention was grabbed off the bat by the vivid descriptions of the varied locations of the story. Dan Vining brings Los Angeles and it's environs to life and gives them rich texture and flavor in this gripping mystery.
The characters, particularly that of Jimmy Miles, are exceptionally well drawn. Jimmy is not your typical "rough-around-the-edges" detective. This guy has heart and balls of steal. The relationship between Jimmy and Jean is great. They both have a past and a lot on their minds. Hence their connection, as well as the development of their relationship feels real and I found myself really rooting for them as a couple.
Most of all I loved the pace at which information is revealed. This is an intelligent mystery with twists and turns that I never saw coming. Mostly, everything pays off in the end. Without giving too much away, let me say that the supernatural aspect of the story was brilliantly woven in. And is totally original.
Furthermore, as someone who likes vintage cars and loves a good drive to unwind this book added an extra layer of enjoyment. Simply a smart, thrilling read and a great writer!

This is not a bad book...I repeat, not bad. But it's, well, just weird. I don't know, maybe I'm one of those unenlightened dolts who likes to have my dots connected, but when this was over, I had a few more questions than I'm normally comfortable with I finish a book. I like the whole Sam Spade meets the Evil Dead thing, and if you're in a mood for something dark, welcome home. But if you want to be able to say, when it's all over, "I understand", well, good luck!

Jimmy Miles, a private investigator in L.A. , is asked by a lovely client, Jean, to discover the truth about her parents. Many years before, Jean's father was executed for the murder of her mother. Jean just wants to know the truth. As Jimmy sets out to find the answers for Jean, he stirs up unexpected trouble from L. A.'s other-wordly side, the Sailors.

As the novel progresses, the truth about Jimmy and the Sailors is gradually revealed and the reader discovers an un-dead underworld living in the shadows of L.A. Jimmy's investigation causes him to step on the toes of some of the more powerful Sailors.

The premise was exciting, but The Quick doesn't deliver. The cloud of secrecy and intrigue that surrounds the Sailors builds and builds. . . but the apex is a disappointing and somewhat silly ritual.

The actual mystery Jimmy is out to solve, never comes to a satisfying conclusion. It just fizzles away in the aftermath of the Sailors.

On the whole, I was quite disappointed with The Quick. The idea, so fresh and exciting, never came to fruition and I was left frustrated and unsatisfied.

Jimmy Miles is attending a party thrown by his friend Joel. It's a Mensa Night of Mystery Party. At the party he notices a beautiful woman that Joel introduces to him as Jean Kantke. Jean wants to hire him. Jimmy is a private investigator with enough
money that he only takes cases that draw him on a visceral level. Jean wants him to investigate the 1977 murder of her mother and a friend -- a murder that her father was accused of and later executed for. But did he really do it? She doesn't know (nor do most people)that Jimmy is a Sailor, a person who died but still remains in human firm. People see a different face than the one he had in life so he can move about without people recognizing him. Jimmy is alive and cannot be killed but he can be badly injured. This case incolves some very dangerous people including other "Sailors" without Jimmy's morals. Mr Vining has created a refreshingly original character in Jimmy Miles, a P.I. with a supenatural twist. I felt honored to be of Jimmy's world. A man, who can love, eat, take care of a newly arrived Sailor, and surround himself with good friends mostly Sailors, but some not yet dead. I hope that Mr. Vining decides to make this a series. This reviewer will follow Jimmy wherever he goes. An excellent debut novel.

This was a beautifully written book, some of the sentences just sang. And it was a chilling, poignant book, with a deep internal mystery. Jimmy Miles and his friends were really interesting, well fleshed characters. They had quirks and foibles and all sorts of interesting developments. I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading other works from this author.