Dead Watch (Night Watch) | John Sandford | A new character with possibilities...

Dead Watch (Night Watch) | John Sandford | Let's pray for more Prey...

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Dead Watch (Night ...

	Dead Watch (Night Watch) John Sandford Berkley, 2007 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 90 reviews view larger image
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A new character with possibilities...

I'm a big fan of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport character, but I'm always a bit fearful when a big name author launches a new character. It's hard not to compare it to the existing series, and as such it's difficult to give it a fair reading on its own merits. Such is the case with Sandford's latest, Dead Watch.

Jacob Winter works for the government practicing "forensic bureaucracy". In other words, he tries to figure out what *really* happened when things screw up. In this case, he's asked to check into the disappearance and murder of a former senator by the name of Bowe. He lost his seat in a pretty dirty campaign, and in retaliation he was accusing the current administration of all sorts of misdeeds. When Winter is asked to step in and figure out the real story, he finds that the actual story is much more complex than he originally thought, none of the answers will avoid major political ramifications to both sides, and his budding infatuation with the senator's widow is flavoring his actions towards his actual boss. And the more he learns, the bigger liability he becomes to those who hope to profit from Bowe's death. Shutting Winter up becomes pretty appealing to a number of people...

On its own, the Winter character does pretty well. I can see over time that this could be an enjoyable series. I struggled a bit with the political intrigue going on (not my preferred genre), as well as trying to keep the characters straight. But as a first shot for a probable new character and series, it's not bad. I'd definitely pick up the next Winter novel and give it room to grow...

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Let's pray for more Prey...

Sandford at his worst is still better than some authors at their best. If I had not been expecting something like his Prey series, I would've enjoyed this more. Not a bad read, just not up to Sandford's usual dazzle.

A Good but Flawed Political Thriller

Lincoln Bowe, former Republican Senator from Virginia, has been attacking Arlo Goodman, the state's Democratic Governor. Suddenly, Bowe disappears, and Goodman is suspected. The Democratic White House hires Jake White, former Army intelligence officer, to flog the bureaucracy into action and find out what happened to Bowe. Along the way, White uncoverers a plot that could destroy the President . . .

All pretty good, if a bit overlong. But at times it depends on idiot plotting, which detracts. And Sandford can't stop from attacking the Republicans as evil, because they aren't "me-tooing" the Democrats, even though the things he attacks the GOP for have nothing to do with the plot. I find political lectures that amount to 'anyone who doesn't agree with me is an idiot, or evil' to be irritating, especially when there's no reasons given for agreeing with the author.

Still, worth reading. Recommended for suspense fans.

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Interesting, but not plausible

The book was a good read, but I have difficulty visualizing the main character - Jake Winter - who specializes in forensic bureaucracy. Not that he isn't interesting and resourceful, but solving politically linked crimes by threatening someone's career or promising a better future to those who help, seems a bit far-fetched. Everything falls too neatly into place, especially with the good guy winning the beautiful and rich widow.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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