Tonight I Said Goodbye (Lincoln Perry)

Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets
Review: As a long-time crime and mystery novel reader, I know a good one when I read one. This, my friends, is a good one. 21-year old Michael Koryta takes the reader along for a exciting, surprising, and hilarious ride. The dry wit and humor keep the story light, even as Russian mobsters are putting out hits on what seems like the entire Cleveland community. When "Cleveland's version of Donald Trump" comes into the picture, things take another interesting turn. Koryta's Lincoln Perry has the knowledge to be a good private investigator, but his attitude makes him a great one.
"Tonight I Said Goodbye" is a great book from a first-time author who has won national critical acclaim. It is definitely a book that can be read anywhere, because once you start, it is nearly impossible to tear yourself away.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Debut Mystery
Review: I just finished reading this book for the second time. I read it for the first time about three weeks ago and loved it, but I rushed through it a little and wanted to take another look. After the second reading, I am only more impressed. Michael Koryta is the youngest mystery writer I have ever read but he has still written one of the finest first books I've ever read. The book is dialogue-heavy, much like Robert B. Parker, and I love that style. The conversations are fast and witty and most importantly, they seem real. Lincoln Perry is a wonderful narrator, and Koryta creates his supporting cast vividly without getting into too much detail. The characters are developed through their words and actions in a plot that takes one twist after another. With Les Roberts no longer writing detective novels, it looks like Michael Koryta is poised to take over as Cleveland's finest noir writer. I can't wait for the next Lincoln Perry novel!

Rating:
Summary: excellent investigative tale
Review: In the Cleveland suburb of West Olmsted, John Weston hires private investigators Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard to learn who killed his son Wayne and what happened to his missing daughter-in-law Julie and five year old granddaughter Betsy. The police suspect a murder-suicide though they have not found two of the corpses while the media insist that Wayne killed his wife and child. John insists he just saw Wayne who was too contented to suddenly within forty-eight hours commit the horrors the press assert he did.

Though reluctant to get in the middle of an on-going official investigation, Lincoln accepts the case for a larger than normal fee. As he and his partner investigate an intriguing money trail that leads to gambling and South Carolina, several divergent parties threaten to kill the two sleuths if they do not drop the case; others try to hit home runs using the heads of Lincoln and Joe as baseballs. Still the increasingly dogmatic detectives dig deeper.

The dual mysteries of murder and missing people are cleverly handled so that readers accompany the sleuths as they follow the clues and antagonists in turn pursue them. The suspense increases by the moment with threats to harm or kill Perry and Pritchard if they fail to back off. Although an excellent investigative plot, the key that supports why TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE won the 2003 St. Martin's Press Best First PI Novel award is the cast. Lincoln especially is fully developed but the prime support players including Joe, the deceased and his family, some media and police, and the villains seem genuine. Michael Kortya makes an impressive debut.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Terrific First Book...A Favorite
Review: Michael Koryta's web site www.michaelkoryta.com says one of the most influential writers to him was Dennis Lehane, and I believe it because this first novel is one of the best I've read since Lehane broke through with A Drink Before The War. Koryta's writing is not quite as dark as a Lehane or James Ellroy novel, but he has great dialogue and a narrator that seems more believable and accesible than some. Lincoln Perry is a strong voice and Koryta does a perfect job of blending Perry's internal thoughts with external dialogue. A moderate pace through the first 50 or so pages turns into a rapid-fire page-turner quickly and maintains that till the novel's end. A great, great debut.

Rating:
Summary: Keep trying!
Review: This book is the "talkiest" book I have read in a long while. When there IS action, it's very well written, but by the time one slogs through all the dialogue, one doesn't really care. As a young writer, Mr. Koryta has a long time to perfect his craft and he certainly shouldn't quit trying. I fault his editor for not catching the fact that you NEVER, EVER, EVER let a five year old go to the bathroom ALONE!!! (Even when one isn't being pursued by the Russian Mob.) Unfortunately, it is glaring boo-boo's like that which make one raise an eyebrow toward future novels and wait for the paperback. Mr. Koryta needs to flesh out his characters. If he is going to continue to Lincoln Perry series, he needs to make him do more than work out and get sweaty to prove his masculinity. Unfortunately, Flat Stanley has more depth than Lincoln Perry.

Keep trying, Mike. This is actually a good start and you do have potential. Good luck! (Aside to Ms. Klausner, the Queen of the Reviewers--pay attention, honey. It's NORTH Olmsted.)