Review of Veterans Day
Posted: 08 Sep 2021, 00:15
[Following is a volunteer review of "Veterans Day" by J. J. Jorgens.]
Mary Jane Morris is a detective enjoying her Halloween evening with her roommate, Sally Jenkins when she received an unexpected call from her former work partner Davy, an ex-military man. The sense of urgency in his voice was a big concern for Mary, as even they were working together, Davy never had sounded terrified nor confused before even when working with difficulty. Mary Jane rushed her way towards his office driving her Land Rover however, she was too late. Davy has died due to a gunshot wound to his head, which seems to be his own doing. Days go by, and more and more details and the evidence seem to point away from suicide, and someone of power seems to not like this direction. Mary Jane now makes it her goal to find out the truth about what truly happened to Davy.
J.J. Jorgens writing on Veterans Day is such a delight to read. There's a wonderful cast of characters that do not overstay their welcome, and the story is long enough to keep everything explained while being short enough to keep readers interested. What I find most compelling about the writing style is that not everything is explained immediately. Though it should be a given with the genre, not all books of this kind do it this way. Jorgens keeps readers on their toes in finding out more and more about what truly happened to Davy while building up the world and events as well as what Davy had found out leading to his death. He also shows how Mary Jane does her investigative work and how she uses her experience and connections to get more information about people. This is an excellent way to make use of her backstory details, as she is a law graduate turned detective who happens to know martial arts as well as being a sharpshooter. It makes it feel that the background isn't just for show, but as a means to show how readers how well developed of a character she is.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There's not much for me to say negatively impacting of my experience, except for a few nitpicks. First is the stakes. For Mary, early on there is some semblance of urgency with the way she spoke, but for the first three-quarters of the book, there is not much urgency found in her actions. There is not much loss for her personally as well, so some readers may find she's taking her sweet time in solving it, as there would be some instances that the book suddenly focuses on recreational things she does, such as racing and pond management. It just feels out of place sometimes. The other part that I did not exactly enjoy much is how much skill Mary Jane has. Like I have said earlier, I do understand that the backstory being used for her character is also used to show what skills she has, but with how much competence she has alone it feels she's more like a "Mary Sue" than Mary Jane.
The book is professionally edited. I have only seen a few typos here and there based on reading it, and it isn't noticeable unless someone is actively checking for them. I would rate this book a four out of four stars. The enjoyment that I had received while reading the book completely outmatched any nitpicks that I found while reading it, as well as the problems that I noticed were just minor to me and just a personal taste, which is not enough for me to remove a star for this excellent read.
I would recommend this book to fans of mystery and detective-based books. I would not recommend this book, however to audiences that have sensitivity to the portrayal of people in the government office in a bad light, and some of the antagonists in the book are working there. Some male side characters also appear to be sexist against Mary Jane, so people who feel uncomfortable reading through text which may portray sexism should not read this book.
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Veterans Day
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Mary Jane Morris is a detective enjoying her Halloween evening with her roommate, Sally Jenkins when she received an unexpected call from her former work partner Davy, an ex-military man. The sense of urgency in his voice was a big concern for Mary, as even they were working together, Davy never had sounded terrified nor confused before even when working with difficulty. Mary Jane rushed her way towards his office driving her Land Rover however, she was too late. Davy has died due to a gunshot wound to his head, which seems to be his own doing. Days go by, and more and more details and the evidence seem to point away from suicide, and someone of power seems to not like this direction. Mary Jane now makes it her goal to find out the truth about what truly happened to Davy.
J.J. Jorgens writing on Veterans Day is such a delight to read. There's a wonderful cast of characters that do not overstay their welcome, and the story is long enough to keep everything explained while being short enough to keep readers interested. What I find most compelling about the writing style is that not everything is explained immediately. Though it should be a given with the genre, not all books of this kind do it this way. Jorgens keeps readers on their toes in finding out more and more about what truly happened to Davy while building up the world and events as well as what Davy had found out leading to his death. He also shows how Mary Jane does her investigative work and how she uses her experience and connections to get more information about people. This is an excellent way to make use of her backstory details, as she is a law graduate turned detective who happens to know martial arts as well as being a sharpshooter. It makes it feel that the background isn't just for show, but as a means to show how readers how well developed of a character she is.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There's not much for me to say negatively impacting of my experience, except for a few nitpicks. First is the stakes. For Mary, early on there is some semblance of urgency with the way she spoke, but for the first three-quarters of the book, there is not much urgency found in her actions. There is not much loss for her personally as well, so some readers may find she's taking her sweet time in solving it, as there would be some instances that the book suddenly focuses on recreational things she does, such as racing and pond management. It just feels out of place sometimes. The other part that I did not exactly enjoy much is how much skill Mary Jane has. Like I have said earlier, I do understand that the backstory being used for her character is also used to show what skills she has, but with how much competence she has alone it feels she's more like a "Mary Sue" than Mary Jane.
The book is professionally edited. I have only seen a few typos here and there based on reading it, and it isn't noticeable unless someone is actively checking for them. I would rate this book a four out of four stars. The enjoyment that I had received while reading the book completely outmatched any nitpicks that I found while reading it, as well as the problems that I noticed were just minor to me and just a personal taste, which is not enough for me to remove a star for this excellent read.
I would recommend this book to fans of mystery and detective-based books. I would not recommend this book, however to audiences that have sensitivity to the portrayal of people in the government office in a bad light, and some of the antagonists in the book are working there. Some male side characters also appear to be sexist against Mary Jane, so people who feel uncomfortable reading through text which may portray sexism should not read this book.
******
Veterans Day
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon