Author: Tim Stevens
Publisher: Self-published
Pages: 281
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5/5
Purchase: Amazon
Joe Venn is down on his luck. A Marine and police detective lieutenant, he was kicked off the Chicago force for getting a little heavy-handed while cleaning up the streets. Now he’s eking out a living as a private eye in downtown Manhattan, on a road to nowhere.
His life’s about to get a whole lot worse…
When Venn is arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, he’s given a choice.
Track down a missing professor of neurochemistry, in an operation that’s so politically sensitive even the FBI can’t be allowed to touch it.
Or face life in prison.
I don't read a lot of self-published books, but I found Omega Dog on Amazon when looking for something to read that wasn't on my TBR. Taking a chance on it was definitely a good decision, and I am now eager to continue reading the subsequent books in the Joe Venn series.
The blurb for this book is exceptionally long, so the above is an edited down version. Joe Venn is down on his luck, and finds himself set up for a murder that he didn't commit. He is given the chance to walk free, but first he must locate a missing professor of neurochemistry, in an operation so secret even the FBI cannot be involved. Firstly, Venn doesn't seem like a stupid character, yet finding himself in a situation such as this should have had alarm bells ringing, and I worked a number of plot twists out very early on in the story.
A lot of thrillers aren't really read for their realism, and fiction allows the reader to push the boundaries, having a limitless budget - their imagination - to work with. It allows them to come up with some brilliant, breath-taking scenes, and that it what is delivered in Omega Dog. Sadly, it's a rather short read, but the action is packed in to almost every one of those pages. Omega Dog is a Hollywood blockbuster in book form. I also enjoyed the technology that Tim Stevens included in the book, including a piece that was at first quite normal but a twist later in the book revealed was anything but. Character wise and Joe Venn isn't all that dissimilar to others in the genre, but as the book progressed he really started to come into his own, and by the end of the book he was a character I couldn't wait to read more about. The sequel to Omega Dog already nudging its way to the top of my TBR.
The book becomes quite relentless in its pace as the book nears its dramatic conclusion, as those (albeit not shocking) secrets started to come out. The basis for the storyline itself, is actually quite believable when you stop and think about it, and it's actually quite scary to imagine something like that happening in real life. Incorporating almost everything I love about a thriller, even finding a way to include the Mafia, Omega Dog is a book that would be a great success if it was published by a major publisher, it already seems a success on Amazon but for those that haven't read it yet, it comes recommended by me and look out for reviews of the following books in the series over the coming months on my blog.
3.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment