Catfish Cafe

Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect, Not Quite
Review: I've read all of Emerson's books, and this one just wasn't quite as great as the rest of them. It's hard to find fault with this writer since his protagonist is such a likeable character, living and working in my favorite city, but this was just kind of a downer for me. Eagerly awaiting Earl's next effort. Where in the damp Northwest will Thomas have his next (mis)adventure? I'd like to write Mr. Emerson personally, but don't know how. Please keep us up to date on coming books.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting!
Review: PI Thomas Black, an ex-Seattle cop, is asked by his old partner, Luther, for help finding Luther's daughter. The daughter had been driving a car later found turned over in a ditch with a dead body in the back seat. Did she kill him? Is someone trying to kill her? Is she already dead? This was an exciting and very well-written mystery. The tunnel scene at the end had me so riveted I missed my bus stop. Now that's something! Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Boring.
Review: This is the first book I have read by Emerson. Although it's a small book, it was a difficult read. The writing was a bit stale and uninteresting. There's not a lot going on in this book besides rather straight and to-the-point storytelling. There were a lot of characters--too many to keep track of--suffering from under-development.

In some parts of the novel, I found it difficult to track who was saying what because the thoughts and/or actions of one character were contained in the same paragraph as the dialogue of another character. A small complaint, maybe. But when carried on over a few pages, this style of dialogue writing is unnecessarily confusing and cramps the novel's flow.

I may read another Emerson book, to give him a fair "shake", but it will be much lower on my reading list.