Conrad Jones

Last night I finally finished [b: Slow Burn|18374087|Slow Burn|Nicole Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377615714s/18374087.jpg|25986432] by [a: Conrad Jones|1418164|Conrad Jones|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1365081564p2/1418164.jpg]. I finished [b: The Child Taker|7632621|The Child Taker (Soft Target )|Conrad Jones|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|10139953] on or around the 15th of December.

I got these two books through Amazon.com on a free e-book deal. To be honest, I was not sure what I was getting. I am always interested in fictional cases where children get rescued from horrible situations. The title clued me into the possibility that this would be the case. Even if [b: Slow Burn|18374087|Slow Burn|Nicole Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377615714s/18374087.jpg|25986432] was the punishment for the "Child Taker"it was a lure.

From the start of "The Child Taker" the reader can assume that there may be a kidnapping. The title leads us there. Right off, the characters were believable. I could picture mom and dad, the kids and the other couple who were camping with them. I could imagine the creeps too.

The writing is good enough that I did not have to do any work in reading. All I had to do was ride. There were plenty of surprises, twists and turns without leaving the road of possibles.

It is my opinion that the author did a good job of marketing Detective Alec Ramsay to a wider audience.
________

[b: Slow Burn|18374087|Slow Burn|Nicole Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377615714s/18374087.jpg|25986432] by [a: Conrad Jones|1418164|Conrad Jones|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1365081564p2/1418164.jpg] was a long book. I often chew through a book in a few days. I had several other books needing reviews. Once I started reading "Slow Burn" I could not move on.

Back in the old days before Indie and self-publishing a reader had to wait months for new books to come out. There was no Young Adult genre. I used to order, or check out the fattest books, no matter who wrote them, or what they were about. These days, with hundreds of new authors hitting the shelves, there is plenty to read. I am glad about it.

While reading "Slow Burn," not once did I skim over unnecessary descriptions or scenes. Every word and space created an excellent novel. This is good writing.

[a: Conrad Jones|1418164|Conrad Jones|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1365081564p2/1418164.jpg] GoodReads profile listed genres of mystery, thriller, horror and Young Adult. I would recommend this only for a mature Y/A, because of content. The subject of bullying that goes to nth degree is brutal.

Content: Violence: Yes. Blood, killing, drugs, suicide, rape, etc.
Sex: Yes. It is alluded to.

Author Conrad Jones is an excellent writer. We will hear more from this writer in the future.… (mehr)

The Child Taker is the first novel by Conrad Jones I have read and I am not averse to reading a few more. It is a fast-paced, action-packed thriller with a lot of graphic violence that may put off a few readers. The character of Jack Howarth is quite creepy, though a bit cliched. There are a few holes in the story, as is the case with many novels of this genre. And, the end is left hanging by the author, compelling the reader to buy the next book in the series; not fair at all! Another thing I did not like is the number of mistakes the editors have missed. Surely, a book by such a prolific author should be better in this regard?… (mehr)

Slow Burn is the second book by Conrad Jones I've read and the thing that stands out in both of his novels is his graphic description of violence and the products of violence. It feels like watching the action unfold on a high definition screen. In fact, there is nothing slow about this book except the title.
This novel is tightly plotted and paced, with some well fleshed-out characters. I hugely enjoyed this story, never wanting to leave it waiting. There are a couple of things that dampened the fun for me though. Firstly, it doesn't look like professionally edited; there are many issues with the grammar in this book. The other thing is the names of the Asian - Pakistani, to be precise - characters; they don't sound authentic.
Apart from these issues, Slow Burn is a thrilling ride best enjoyed at one go.… (mehr)