Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Book Review: Dead and Not So Buried by James L. Conway

Dead and Not So Buried by James L. Conway
Publisher: Camel Press
Publish Date: February 15, 2012

Fiction, Suspense, PI, Thriller
 ISBN: 978-1603818667








My Review:
Dead and Not So Buried is a non-stop detective thriller.  It's entertaining, it's creepy and it will have you turning pages to see what will happen next.  I loved the character of Gideon and hope to see more of him in the future.

I often go into books from authors I am unfamiliar with really unsure of what I will get.  Dead and Not So Buried gave me everything I could have wanted from a PI/detective thriller.  If I had to do comparisons, it's darker like a Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly and it's really good like those too, but yet it has comedy to it as well.  Gideon, the PI in the book, never seems to take himself too seriously, but he takes his job seriously.  I loved reading how he thought and how he processed his thoughts going from one clue to the next.  Gideon is very human in the novel and experiences the gamut of emotions and I liked that about him as well.  He's tough, but he has a caring side as well and that makes him easy to relate to.

Going into the novel, the reader has a gist of who the kidnapper and then killer is and the hows and whys slowly unpeel like an onion.  Just a little bit at a time to keep the reader interested and reading.  I thought it was paced really well and just when I thought I had it all figured out, it was changed up on me and I have to say the ending came as a total shocker to me, yet it made complete sense.  Mr. Conway did an excellent job with the writing of this novel, first with the pacing, then the characters and then finally the climax of the story.  I was completely enthralled with every element of the story.

I hope to see a lot of more of Gideon Kincaid in the future.  Mr. Conway has me hooked and I think if you enjoy PI/detective thrillers and you give him a chance he will have you hooked as well.

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

About the Book:
Hollywood is rocked after a madman kidnaps the remains of one of the most idolized movie stars of the ’60s, then uses extortion, blackmail and murder to extract his revenge. Caught in the middle is PI Gideon Kincaid, an ex-cop with a troubled past who is led on a harrowing roller coaster ride through sun and sin drenched Hollywood. While Gideon labors to find out who snatched the dead beauty, he must also contend with some live ones. First there’s the tough-as-nails cop assigned to his case—his ex-wife, who hates him. Then there’s a starlet he must protect. Unfortunately they have a history, and he terrifies her. Finally there’s his assistant, the adorable Hillary. Her crush on him might prove fatal. As the body count mounts and the madman’s crimes grow ever more audacious, Gideon finds himself in a desperate race against time. Can he put a stop to this crime spree before Gideon himself ends up dead and very buried?

About the Author (from Goodreads.com): 
James has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in Hollywood as a writer, producer, director and studio executive. He's worked on such iconic television shows as Charmed, Supernatural, Smallville, Star Trek and 90210. James lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters. Dead and Not So Buried is his first novel.

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FTC Information: I received this book from through Over the River Public Relations for an honest review.  I do make money from purchases made at The Book Depository and B&N.com, but all money is used to fund giveaways and shipping for giveaways from the blog.




Valentine's Day Books With Love Hop


Welcome to the Valentine's Day Books with Love Hop hosted by Good Choice Reading and Once Upon a Twilight and Happy Valentine's Day.

I have a great way to celebrate this loving day.  I have four great Christian historicals to share with my winner.  The only entry that is mandatory is  your name and email and if you are signed in with facebook you don't have to enter anything.  All other entries are optional.  This giveaway is open to the US/Canada only.  Here's what's up for giveaway (click on the book covers to go to the Goodreads description):


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Teaser Tuesday (14)

teasertuesdays31

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 
Paul shrugged. His face was so innocent, so young. He looked at Lisa as if she might be able to explain the world to him. In many ways, he was just a boy. But Lisa was beginning to think he was also a killer, a kid who had snapped. He had been dealing with some powerful emotions for the first time in his life.

From Lovesick by Spencer Seidel (from the ARC)




About Lovesick
A teenage boy is found on Portland Maine’s Eastern Promenade Trail holding the dead body of his best friend and the murder weapon. Forensic psychologist Lisa Boyers is called in to interview the disturbed young man, and her jailhouse interviews reveal more about her troubled, violent past than she bargained for.