I really enjoyed this book. I wish the language had been better in spots, but the story was good. My favorite parts were the chapters on Sally's growing up years. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. I wish the language had been better in spots, but the story was good. My favorite parts were the chapters on Sally's growing up years. ( )

I downloaded this book because a) it was free and b) it was set in San Francisco. Both of these facts make me happy.

Then I started reading, and I discovered a few of the flaws mentioned by other reviewers, the most glaring of which is that it is the first book in a series, but it reads like the second. This is a problem, so one star off, but ...

Trust this book. Keep reading. The mystery is solid and satisfying. Usually agents and marketers want a book to grab you from the first chapter. This book does not, but it sure does grab you at the end. The hero, Cape, has a delightful, smartass sense of humor, which balances the seriousness of Sally, his loyal friend and trained professional assassin.

Finally, if you have any feelings in your heart for the fine city of San Francisco, this book will speak to you. The author goes beyond mentions of Chinatown. He knows his stuff. He name-checks multiple restaurants (Delancey Street, Town's End) and even obliquely references some of the city's prominent figures (Willie Brown, not mentioned by name, but quite obvious from the text).

Be patient with this one. You'll be rewarded. ( )

I loved this book...the characters, the plot, the setting, even the cover art! Take one smart-ass private investigator, with the name Cape Weathers and a partner named Sally, who by the way is a trained assassin and has gone missing, add a container ship smuggling Chinese refugees that runs aground near Alcatraz with its crew mysteriously murdered and you have the makings of a fine, fine read. Maleeny weaves the story of Sally's childhood and "education" in Hong Kong into the plot with such ease that rather than distract the reader it enhances the story. Non stop action propelled by simply wonderful characters, including Cape's friends Linda (a reporter with”dark brown and omni-directional hair… hair that adds a good four inches to her height and considerably more to her attitude...people standing nearby eyed it warily, not sure if angry hornets would emerge or if the hair itself would strike without provocation", who fears anything involving electricity) and Sloth (“born with a rare neurological disorder, the Sloth didn't get his nickname from how he looked, but for how he moved...far slower than the world's slowest mammal, it could take him an hour to cross the room, minutes to finish a single sentence...until he came into contact with his first computer… the Sloth was trapped inside a frozen body that could only move at a glacial pace...computers had revealed Sloth's curse to be a mixed blessing, for while his body steadfastly refused to speed up, his brain was faster than a laptop on steroids..."). Add the above to San Francisco’s mayoral race, the normal conflicts between local police and the FBI and the end result is an excellent debut thriller with just the perfect touch of sarcastic humor. ( )

http://www.book-blog.com/2008/10/maleeny-tim-ste.html ( )