Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mystery, March 5, 2005
Nick Kepler is a Cleveland private investigator. He has a good life, taking cases that don't rattle his cage too much, until!
In this story Nick is asked to investigate an insurance claim that is just about average and also takes on a cheating spouse case that he feels will be a cinch. Not so.
When these two cases somehow become connected Nick find himself in the middle of trouble and his life is on the line.
This is a fast paced story with some very savory characters that make for an outstanding read. I like when the characters leave you with that mysterious feeling, and that is what happens in this book.
It has some spicy scenes but they are relevant to the web that seems to be closing in on Nick as he tries to figure out just who did what to whom; and how two simple investigations could end up being so deadly.
I enjoyed this read. It had adventure, romance, suspense and mysterious twists that left me wondering until the end.
Recommended for all mystery lovers.
Shirley Johnson
Senior Reviewer
MidWest Book Review
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Real PI, July 22, 2006
As a former private-eye, I remember the long hours, the tedious work, the mundane cases. I remember the details. James R. Winter knows PIs as few writers do and knows how to take the mundane and make it interesting, take the tedious deeds and make us want more, take Cleveland and make you want to go there ... right now. He flat-out writes a damn good yarn. Nick Kepler is the most realistic private-eye to come along in a years.
NORTHCOAST SHAKEDOWN has enough plots twists, body heat, sex and violence to dare the reader to stop reading. It is a non-stop roller-coaster ride of cases colliding with cases, of hot women, tough guys and a PI to remember.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you knew Cleveland, like I know Cleveland..., February 17, 2006
... which is to say, "not at all," you owe it to yourself to allow Cleveland native (and wistful expatriate) James R. Winter to take you on a guided tour of his beloved home city. Winter's got a terrific voice. And since he's working with a setting with which he's emotionally involved and about which he's incredibly passionate, it's no wonder that some of his best writing comes from his descriptions of his birthplace. Not only are they good, they're given in taut, muscular prose that is by turns gripping and amusing. For example:
"Pulaski Square, between Cuyahoga County Courthouse and City Hall, overlooks the Shoreway just before it merges with I-90. It provides a terrific view of Cleveland Browns Stadium and the lakefront. It also has the most goddamned pigeons of any city block in Ohio, maybe even the Midwest."
How's *that* for painting a picture?
Winter's grasp on the narrative never falters, and he has a genuine feel for both dialogue and characterization. What's more, his insider's view of how insurance companies conduct their business is both informative and a great vehicle for driving his plot.
And then there's Kepler. Winter's main character/narrator is, like so many main characters in PI fiction, the "straw that stirs the drink." In the tradition of Chandler's Marlowe and Hammett's Continental Op, Kepler has a wonderfully distinctive voice and a jaded eye for the world around him. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Time spent in Cleveland with Jim Winter is time well spent, indeed.
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