Dead Man's Bay

Rating:
Summary: A soulless killer and a man searching for his soul
Review: Barrett Raines has hit bottom--his marriage is falling apart, he's drinking beer for breakfast, and he screws up his partner (the most unforgivable sin for a cop). After months of desk duty in punishment, he's put on a case.

Sent to Dead Man's Bay, Barrett must confront prejudice from a small town sheriff (Barett is African American), and a community so closed-mouthed it won't admit to anything. When a cold-blooded killer arrives, Barrett must face into his own soul to determine what really would constitute justice.

Rating:
Summary: Dead Man's Bay is Dead On!!!
Review: It is truly great that Darryl Wimberley is able to follow up his first fiction, "A Rock and A Hard Place," with such a super second book featuring Detective Barrett Raines. Wimberley's ability to make you feel the places he describes, see the characters, and live the lives inside his mysteries is a gift that I'm glad he's sharing with his readers. Only half a star off because he failed to carry on the story of his orphaned niece and nephew from "A Rock." Otherwise, Dead Man's Bay is well worth the time and money. ...

Rating:
Summary: A very realistic poloce procedural
Review: Police detective Barrett Raines needs to prove to others and perhaps more so to himself that he is as good as any white man at the job. When the Florida legislature created the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, an in-state FBI unit, Barrett was asked to join. He was well aware of the prestigious honor bestowed upon him and saw the job as a chance to prove himself.. Barrett accompanied by his beloved wife Laura Anne and their twin sons left his hometown of Deacon Beach to move to Tallahassee, headquarters of the FDLE. Ultimately, Laura Anne separated from her spouse, hating the big city and returning to Deacon Beach with the two boys.

Barrett began drinking excessively and screwing up on the job. He was nearly fired but he and his partner were instead given a seven-year-old case to solve. Two men robbed a bank but everything except an aluminum key was recovered. One thief went to jail, but upon his release was murdered by an international assassin who wants the aluminum case back. The criminal's death awakens Barrett awakens Barrett's hunting instincts and he heads to DEAD MAN'S BAY in search of clues and redemption.

Darryl Wimberley is an author who provides the audience with an action-packed police procedural that has readers wondering what will happen next. The flawed hero is vulnerable, but not afraid to speak out when he fears something. This adds up to the total package (aside from Mr. Lex Luger) of an admirable role model. The support cast augments the tale with likable individuals that lead fans to wanting more Barrett Raines tales.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't make it
Review: This second in the Barrett Raines series doesn't at all keep the promise of the first, A Rock and a Hard Place. There are so many things that go wrong with this book that it's difficult to know where to begin. However, first and foremost, Bear's opening state of deterioration at the beginning of Dead Man's Bay is pinned on his new job which mandates separation from his wife and sons. There's no mention at all of what should be a pivotal, essential point: the fate of his brother and Barrett's role in it. Instead, we have what was a proud, duty-driven man in the first book portrayed as a morning beer-guzzler, bemoaning the loss of his wife with almost no mention of his sons. He's a screw-up on the job with his French-Canadian partner, Cricket. Meanwhile, his wife has, in fairy-tale fashion, taken over the establishment owned by the murder victim in Rock and a Hard Place and has, seemingly effortlessly, made it a huge success.

So, along comes a case and a chance for Bear to redeem himself. From the outset, he deviates beyond the established character. All he sees, everywhere, are women with long, long legs; and all the women blush. He has little to no concept of sexual fidelity to the wife he is supposed to adore. He is a pawn in the classic "look behind you" mode of silly sleuthing, doing things no one with a shred of intelligence would do--like pursuing a suspect by boat in near-hurricane conditions.

Aside from the quantum holes in the plot there are weirdnesses in the editing that defy all the rules of grammar. Constantly, throughout both this book and the previous one, verb phrases that have nothing to do with speech are used. For example: "Of course not," he smiled pleasantly. Smiling has never been a form of speech, nor are other examples like, "Shee-it," Shark paused at the register; or, "Passed your truck," the tall man shrugged.

There are also just plain mistakes. Mirella Freni is not an American opera singer; she's Italian, born and bred in Milan. Then he has Esther, an Irish-born character speaking on one page in truly archaic fashion: "Ah. Aye," she said, to classic redneck on another page: "You don't know... from Shinola!" This latter expression is archaic in its own right, given that a woman of Esther's age being Irish-born and youngish wouldn't be aware of something that was common parlance in N. America in the 40s. Esther speaks of &quout;gutting" someone on one page, and on the next refers to British pounds as "quid." At one point in the narrative, Barrett considers that Esther has lost her chutzpah. ??? How on earth did that Yiddishism get planted into the mind of a southern-born Black man?

In the end, the peculiar editing, the insertion of odd, literary adjectives, the eroded version of Barrett Raines, and a plot that's just not particularly compelling make for a disappointing book. I will, however, read Strawman's Hammock now, to see if Mr. Wimberley manages to get back on track.


Rating:
Summary: Good Sophomore Effort
Review: This, the second book about Barret "Bear" Raines from author Darryl Wimberley, follows the African-American detective after the events of his first novel, "A Rock And A Hard Place." Bear's life has not improved since his patron's murder and his discovery of her murderer. He had been promoted to the Florida Bureau of Investigation, but the demands of the job had led to his beloved Laura Anne and sons leaving the capital for home. He and his partner get a case that no one thinks can be solved as a way for him to be eased out of his job. Almost as soon as he gets to Dead Man's Bay, he finds himself having to battle untrusting locals and his own demons, with no clear path to follow. This book did not have quite the story of the first book, but I must admit that the ending got my attention, and I found myself having to reread the narrative to discover clues I hadn't noticed. The villian is painted a little broadly, but I enjoyed the ride. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Dead Man's Bay is Dead On!!!
Review: This, the second book about Barret "Bear" Raines from author Darryl Wimberley, follows the African-American detective after the events of his first novel, "A Rock And A Hard Place." Bear's life has not improved since his patron's murder and his discovery of her murderer. He had been promoted to the Florida Bureau of Investigation, but the demands of the job had led to his beloved Laura Anne and sons leaving the capital for home. He and his partner get a case that no one thinks can be solved as a way for him to be eased out of his job. Almost as soon as he gets to Dead Man's Bay, he finds himself having to battle untrusting locals and his own demons, with no clear path to follow. This book did not have quite the story of the first book, but I must admit that the ending got my attention, and I found myself having to reread the narrative to discover clues I hadn't noticed. The villian is painted a little broadly, but I enjoyed the ride. Enjoy.