Review of The FBI Inspector
Posted: 23 Aug 2021, 23:19
[Following is a volunteer review of "The FBI Inspector" by Jay Dubya.]
The FBI Inspector by Jay Dubya is a collection of 25 short stories from the crime/ thriller/ mystery/ horror genre revolving around the cases taken up by Inspector Joe Giralo and his three trusted agents Salvatore Velardi, Arthur Orsi and, Daniel Blachford. The book discusses various high-profile cases in great detail, for which I should commend the author for putting in so much research work.
Joe Giralo is an enigmatic individual with a funny bone that is a little tricky to understand for most people, including his team of agents. But they respect him for his work and how his brain works, solving crimes left and right. Now, making characters a perfect role model would be too unrealistic and thus, Joe has his own quirks, for instance, occasionally he keeps certain morsels of information from his agents for whatsoever reasons (like trying to save them from the stress and worry of it all) and then when the scene unfolds, he dramatically reveals all the uncommunicated information. This doesn’t sit right with me, as even though Joe probably has their best interests in his mind, this keeping of important information leaves his officers at a disadvantage. Additionally, secrecy cannot be a good thing for the team, when pursuing a profession where information is everything.
However, the book falls by the wayside as an intriguing mystery novella because of the writing style that the author chose for the book. There are a lot of significant details in the complete novel, ranging from the extensive road networks, the clues in excruciating detail, and so on. These details, however, seem overbearing in the dialogue style narrative that the author pursued. Excessively long paragraphs with equally long sentences made it uncomfortable for me to keep track of all the information the author tried to impart in just one section. Apart from this, the unwarranted use of a thesaurus is clearly visible in the entire book, owing to the fact that the author refrains from using the same word twice in the same sentence, making the text seem pretentious and grandiose. I would like to describe the book in Jay Dubya’s own words, that he has so rightly put into Agent Salvatore Velardi’s mouth, “Here you go again; wildly vociferating your annoying drivel ... you’re providing me with general useful information that instantly translates into being useless and meaningless.” Nothing explains the book more accurately than this sentence coming straight out of the author’s pen.
The author has to be appreciated for the amount of careful research that he has put into each and every sentence of this book. However, this acts as both a pro and a con of the book. With so much information crammed in sentences that can be a little hard to comprehend, most of it flies right over the reader’s head. I could not invest myself entirely in the book, as should be the case with a crime/ mystery novel. I had high expectations going into the reading, but all my hopes came crashing as soon as I reached the second story in the book. It was a disappointment for me.
The book has no mention of sexual activities or profane language and so is suitable for readers of all ages. I would also recommend this to people who have an eye for detail and enjoy well-researched stories, albeit with a little too many specifics. The book has negligible grammatical errors, and though there are a few instances where words such as 'guys', 'boss', 'fellas', etc., have been capitalised, I understand that it is a part of the writing style. I will be giving the book 3 out of 4 stars.
******
The FBI Inspector
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
The FBI Inspector by Jay Dubya is a collection of 25 short stories from the crime/ thriller/ mystery/ horror genre revolving around the cases taken up by Inspector Joe Giralo and his three trusted agents Salvatore Velardi, Arthur Orsi and, Daniel Blachford. The book discusses various high-profile cases in great detail, for which I should commend the author for putting in so much research work.
Joe Giralo is an enigmatic individual with a funny bone that is a little tricky to understand for most people, including his team of agents. But they respect him for his work and how his brain works, solving crimes left and right. Now, making characters a perfect role model would be too unrealistic and thus, Joe has his own quirks, for instance, occasionally he keeps certain morsels of information from his agents for whatsoever reasons (like trying to save them from the stress and worry of it all) and then when the scene unfolds, he dramatically reveals all the uncommunicated information. This doesn’t sit right with me, as even though Joe probably has their best interests in his mind, this keeping of important information leaves his officers at a disadvantage. Additionally, secrecy cannot be a good thing for the team, when pursuing a profession where information is everything.
However, the book falls by the wayside as an intriguing mystery novella because of the writing style that the author chose for the book. There are a lot of significant details in the complete novel, ranging from the extensive road networks, the clues in excruciating detail, and so on. These details, however, seem overbearing in the dialogue style narrative that the author pursued. Excessively long paragraphs with equally long sentences made it uncomfortable for me to keep track of all the information the author tried to impart in just one section. Apart from this, the unwarranted use of a thesaurus is clearly visible in the entire book, owing to the fact that the author refrains from using the same word twice in the same sentence, making the text seem pretentious and grandiose. I would like to describe the book in Jay Dubya’s own words, that he has so rightly put into Agent Salvatore Velardi’s mouth, “Here you go again; wildly vociferating your annoying drivel ... you’re providing me with general useful information that instantly translates into being useless and meaningless.” Nothing explains the book more accurately than this sentence coming straight out of the author’s pen.
The author has to be appreciated for the amount of careful research that he has put into each and every sentence of this book. However, this acts as both a pro and a con of the book. With so much information crammed in sentences that can be a little hard to comprehend, most of it flies right over the reader’s head. I could not invest myself entirely in the book, as should be the case with a crime/ mystery novel. I had high expectations going into the reading, but all my hopes came crashing as soon as I reached the second story in the book. It was a disappointment for me.
The book has no mention of sexual activities or profane language and so is suitable for readers of all ages. I would also recommend this to people who have an eye for detail and enjoy well-researched stories, albeit with a little too many specifics. The book has negligible grammatical errors, and though there are a few instances where words such as 'guys', 'boss', 'fellas', etc., have been capitalised, I understand that it is a part of the writing style. I will be giving the book 3 out of 4 stars.
******
The FBI Inspector
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords