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The Night of the Dance (Jeremiah Spur Mysteries) |
Author: James Hime
Published: 2004-08-31 |
List price: $6.99
Our price: $6.99
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In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
As of: January 06th, 2009 12:59:07 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 A Mistake
I picked this book up at the library by mistake, then I compounded my mistake by actually going ahead and reading it - all of it. While I thought the plot had promise and showed some imagination, I was more than just a little put off by the contrived ending, the stereotypical, unimaginative - often sophmoric dialog, and the complete lack of any sympathetic characters with the possible exception of a black lab who gets blown up at the end in a failed Rin Tin Tin attempt to rescue one of the story's heroines. If the author was going to steal his ideas for characters from Tony Hillerman (a legendary retired Texas Ranger instead of a legendary retired Navajo police captain, a black sheriff's deputy instead of an indian police sargeant, etc.), it would have served him better if he had also learned something from Hillerman's genius for recreating authentic speech patterns and plausible, imaginative and frequently witty repartee.
 excellent
I am a native Texan and did not mind the country talk. James Hime is from Houston, and he did well with his characters, setting, and plot.
 Quick and fun read
I started out reading this at night to relax before going to sleep. That worked for about the first 1/4 of the book. But soon I found it keeping me up late. I just wanted to find out how one more plot twist turned out. There were quite a few fun twists to this story, and good character development. A lot better character development than some New York Times bestsellers, in fact. A couple of the characters were vivid enough to come to mind later, as if they were someone I know. I was surprised at whodunnit, but it was believable.
It felt kind of strange to have the author/narrator using the same kind of dialect that the characters used. That bugged me, since there was no personality attributed to that voice. The racism was a little overdone, I think. Even small town Texas racism has graduated into the less blatant category.
All-in-all, I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one. I hope Jeremiah Spur will reveal a little more of himself to the reader in the next one. I passed this book on to one of my fellow bookworms, and I'm going to suggest it to my book club. Both actions are significant, because I'm careful about my recommendations.
Strong Beginnings
This is a very good story of a small Texas town and the very human people that inhabit it. The solution to the mystery is not a huge surprise, but our hero's handling of it bodes well for the future of this character. Let's hope the author can sustain the momentum.
Fine mystery.
Gripping mystery in gritty small-town Texas setting. Fine characterizations, authentic racial and sexual conflict, and smooth present-tense writing. Dialogue is perhaps a little hokey, but the story easily pulls the reader along so quickly that there is no need to dwell on a few too many down-home similes. I'd like to read more by this author.
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