Customer Reviews

Shoot Don't Shoot (Joanna Brady Mystery)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Joanna Brady has been sworn in as the new sheriff of Cochise County. She realizes that she has no experience in the law-enforcement business so she goes to a police academy with a class full of rookie cops. While there she befriends LeAnn, the only other woman in the class. They serve as support for one another in the face of instructor Dave Thompson who tends to teach by intimidation. She also takes time to investigate a murder at the request of the accused murderer's mother. The case is outside her jurisdiction, but that doesn't stop Joanna. A series of brutal murders occur which eventually intrude into Joanna's life. The murderers seem obvious, but Joanna isn't so sure. Through her investigation, the identity of the real murderer is revealed. This is more concise than some of the books in this series and is well-paced. I recommend it.

I bought *Shoot/Don't Shoot* because my sister had lent me *Tombstone Courage* and I liked it. I live in Cochise County, so it tickles me to see familiar place names. This book combines such real-life problems as domestic violence, serial killers, and a few of the things that are wrong with our justice system (weaknesses the serial killer exploits with frightening ease). I cared about the characters and worried about what would happen to them. In fact, I wish I could have spoken to some of them. I'd have said: (to the lesbian's homophobic relative): You'd better start lobbying for acceptance of homosexuals as full-fledged members of the human race. If current research is correct about some cases of homosexuality being inherited, you could wind up with a gay or lesbian child or grandchild. (to Mrs. Duffy): You'd better let your grandchildren spend time with their father and other grandmother. You raised a daughter who neglected those children for booze and sex. Senora Grijalva raised a son who was willing to rot in jail rather than let his children find out their mother was a whore. Given your respective records, I'd feel better if those children were being raised by the Grijalvas. (to Sheriff Brady): Give your mother what for! It won't solve all of your problems with her, but I can assure you that you'll feel better. (I know how you feel about pixie cuts. My father made me wear one and I hated it, too.) I look forward to getting the first and next book. Tip for readers: "Huachuca" is pronounced "Wah-choo-kah". Ann E. Nichols

As Joanna Brady makes the shift from Candidate to Sheriff, Jance takes us on a quick-and-dirty primer of police procedure. Attending the Arizona Police Officers Academy (APOA) so she can hold her own with her more-experienced law enforcement staff, Brady finds herself struggling to keep up with classwork, coping with changes in her familial network (the recent loss of her husband, among other things), dodging Cupid's arrows, and trying to keep an innocent man from throwing his life away. And then a homicidal maniac starts stalking her.

Shoot/Don't Shoot has a very convoluted structure, with Jance keeping half a dozen plot lines running at any given time. At times the book was a bit angsty for my taste, and the final few chapters seemed plot-driven, rather than developing as a result/consequence of choices the characters made. It diminishes the quality of the book slightly, but with so much taking place in the novel she can't dwell on any one thing for long.

The "mysteries" in the book aren't that complex. Granted you don't know the name of the serial killer until the end, but you can make some pretty accurate ballpark guesses about his identity. There are also some odd details about the APOA facility that seemed fairly obvious; Jance does a fairly good job using them to enhance the suspense, though. Other details, however, are hidden so obviously in plain sight that I found myself getting irritated that Brady wasn't paying any attention to them.

If you haven't read any of Jance's Sheriff Joanna Brady mysteries, this would be an okay place to start. It brings you up to speed fairly well with the events of the first two books in the series, without straying far from its own storyline in the process. On the other hand, if you don't deal well with blatant melodrama, you might want to get to know Joanna under less stressed circumstances so you're already invested in her character before reading this at-times-frustrating book.

Like all the Joanna Brady series, Shoot/Don't Shoot is full of interesting, multi-dimensional characters, intriguing, exciting, and overloaded with side plots. The audio version by Ellen Travolta, however, is ineptly read. She has a good voice but seems to have just picked up the book and started reading with no preparation. The phrasing is stumbling, and she even stutters occasionally. The mispronunciations of place names, surnames and even ordinary words are so bad and so frequent as to be distracting. Save your money and read the book if you can.

Chose this as part of vacation reading while on holiday in Scottsdale and was not disappointed. Very fast read and one of those situations you can believe really happens. Sets the scene in the Phoenix area beautifully and you get to know all the characters quite well. Action is fast paced and found it successfully resolved. Will go for more in this series. Thought Joanna Brady to be a worthy protagonist.

I have been reading this series in order. Although each book can stand alone, later books reference earlier books and it is, in my opinion, much more enjoyable to read them in order so you know the complete history.

Having said all of that, this is the best book I have read to date in this series.

Joanna was elected sherrif and is off for training. By doing a favor for a friend of a friend, she runs into a serial killer that has escaped detection for many years. There is a touch, just a tiny touch, of romance. There is also a very stressful period of time when her daughter has been kidnapped and the kidnapper has killed himself and the police are searching frantically for Joanna's daughter and the daughter's friend.

This book moves right along, the characters are well developed and there is excitement. I particularly liked the ending.

Enjoy.

In J.A. Jance's book revolving around the life of Joanna Brady, the just-elected sheriff enrolls in a police academy to learn the ins and outs of police work. You'd think this would be a boring premise for a book, but with Jance writing it, it's anything but dull especially when Joanna's classmate is murdered and she's determined to help find the killer. It's not just class lectures and books for her, as she's thrown into the middle of mayhem. While she's learning how to investigate crimes, her new skills are immediately put to the test, as the murder investigation becomes personal since Joanna knew and liked the victim.

As a subplot, Joanna does have a few hours of "down" time and she spends it in a little hole-in-the-wall bar that makes the best cheeseburgers around. Of course sparks fly between the bartender/owner of the bar (Butch Dixon) and Joanna. Jance increases her cast of support characters with the friends Joanna makes in Phoenix and you can be sure that a few will resurface in later books.

While reading this I wondered if Jance would have Joanna jump into a new relationship so soon after her husband's death. To me that would have changed the attributes of her main character, and in doing so would have possibly lessened my enjoyment of this series. Joanna Brady's strong emotions, her desire for self-preservation, viability, etc. are a large part of what makes these books so pleasurable. At the same time, when Joanna leaves Phoenix to return to Bisbee, I didn't want to think that she'd never see Butch Dixon again and kept hoping that "maybe in the future...". (Ok, I'll admit it - I'm a romantic at heart!)

This tale is a little different for Jance since it takes place in Phoenix, Arizona instead of Bisbee. I lived outside of Phoenix for almost five years and have to say that Jance's descriptions were extremely accurate. I remember reading this and thinking, "I've been there". There are a few places that only exist in our imaginations, such as Butch Dixon's bar, but it so closely resembles several others in the area that it could very well be one of them.

This is a typical J.A. Jance novel full of wonderful descriptions of not only surrounding areas but also of people in general. There's definitely a few twists and turns along the journey (I'd be disappointed if it were a straight-line venture) and the ending will surprise you.

If you haven't read this series, I'd highly recommend that you do so. Many years ago when I had the good fortune to run into this writer in a bookstore she told me that many had compared her to Mary Higgins Clark. After reading her previous work, I agreed with that comparison until this series was published. Now I believe she surpasses Clark in every aspect of what makes a great author!

I'd recommend this book to anyone. I lived in Phoenix for several years and Jance's descriptions of the area are accurate. This book is excellent. I'm not a huge mystery (or even fiction) reader, but this author is outstanding.

I read one of the series much later books and realized I didn't know the background of the characters. I decided to start at the beginning and read all the previous books. It helped flesh out the people involved. I like them because Sheriff Brady is not an instant hero. She's struggling to find her way, as a widow, single mom and sheriff all at the same time. The Arizona setting brings different elements than most police dramas.

The 3rd in the Joanna Brady series continues on the same great level as the first two. Brady is a character with great depth and is very "real" to the reader.
I love the JP Beaumont series and the Brady series is virtually as good!