Review of Moonlit Nights

[Danielle Briggs]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Moonlit Nights" by Jacob Parr.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Detective Aidan Preston has been on administrative leave since an awful accident occurred months ago during a shift with the Montgomery County Police Department. While working on healing more than just physically, Detective Preston has difficulty staying away from the job for so long. This difficulty becomes an impossibility when a homicide is reported right around the corner from his house. Curious about the circumstances, Preston responds to the crime scene and learns of the extreme violence and mutilation that had occurred. To make matters worse, more bodies start appearing in the same manner just days later. Before he can gather any more intel, he is quickly reminded of his inactive status with the force and that he is not welcome anywhere near the case. Unable to stay away, Detective Preston must find a way to work the case without the aid of the police force, but these murders are much darker than anyone could have predicted, and he may be in over his head.

Moonlit Nights by Jacob Parr is a fast-paced crime thriller that also includes some elements of romance and supernatural themes. I liked that the pace of the story is set from the beginning, making it hard to put it down. Instead of having the constant thought of "who did it," there is the thought of "what did it," which makes this story different from regular murder mysteries. I also liked the various points of view I was given. Some parts were focused on Detective Preston, some on Andrea, a potential love interest and fellow detective, and some on other key characters throughout the story. This variety allowed me to see the story from more than one side, painting a fuller picture in my head of the events.

Even though I liked the presence of a slight romance element, I felt it was poorly written into the story. When the mutual connection is first realized, it is at a horrible, sad time in the storyline, making it feel unnatural and forced. The constant thoughts they each "suddenly" have about each other were more annoying to me than cute and sweet, because one page would be describing the brutal murders in detail and the next would be one of the characters' thoughts about how sexy the other looks and what dating them would be like. I also wish the story's supernatural element would have stayed a mystery much further into the story than it did. The lack of surprise disappointedly knocked some of the thrill and mystery out of the book.

I give this book a 3 out of 5. I enjoyed the fast pace of the story as well as the different viewpoints, but the negatives listed above prevented me from fully enjoying the book. I also found many errors throughout the book, which forced me to give a lower rating as well.

I recommend this book to readers that enjoy murder mystery novels, especially if they enjoy having the full picture, no matter how graphic. Because of this, I do not recommend this novel to younger readers or readers who do not like graphic descriptions of crime scenes and mutilation because the author does not shy away from clear, detailed descriptions.

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Moonlit Nights
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[Shedrack A]

It's funny how detectives can never keep their noses out of cases that have nothing to do with them. It's something I admire about them. Their curiosity, smartness and perseverance in finding answers.

[NetMassimo]

Some parts of the mystery seem intriguing but romance is not my thing, so when it's cheesy, it turns me off. I hope he author does at least proper proofreading. Thank you for your honest review!