Official Review: El Camino Drive by Edward Izzi
Posted: 30 Jul 2020, 14:37
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "El Camino Drive" by Edward Izzi.]
El Camino Drive by Edward Izzi is a crime thriller that revolves around mysteries of love, vengeance, domestic issues, marital conflicts and kinship ties as its major thematic concerns. Antonio Valentino is described by Ross, his brother, as an adulterous man, who had a very patient, loyal and loving wife. The story begins with a flashback to the events preceding his murder (Antonio's). He had been involved with an "under dog's" wife, who was jealous enough to stop his wife's sexual escapades.
John Valentino (Antonio's son), is not only a drunkard, but also a hopeless detective that has been recently divorced from his wife. His excessive consumption of alcohol has made him an absentee father, which does not augur well with Marina, his wife. This divorce and subsequent separation from the love of his life and sons throws him into a state of depression. Efforts by his boss to get him a counselor do not seem to bear fruit, as John seems to be battling issues from his past, which haunted him well into adulthood. What really troubles John? Why does his drunken behaviour appear incorrigible? Will he find help?
This intricate tale adopted two points of view, first-person and third-person points of view. The former allowed the author to narrate the story from John's perspective. In so doing, I was able to look at things from the protagonist's perspective and get involved in his emotional engagements. Moreover, I could actively participate in the narration by attempting to provide solutions whenever John was in a dilemma. The third-person point of view was the author's, which frequently took an omniscient perspective. Izzi was able to creatively fill missing gaps in the novel because the omniscient voice allowed him to solve puzzles without slowing down the plot.
Izzi majored in flashback and lexical deviation in his narration; this is basically what I liked most about the book. His ability to use dream motifs whenever his characters were reminiscing is outstanding. This is what I believe actually maintained the tension and emotional build-up in the novel. Set in the United States, the realistic approach used to develop the characters is evident in their use of Italian vocabulary, which added a sense of authenticity to the book.
I must express my disappointment at how the resolution stage of the plot was developed. It made the book appear as though the author was in a hurry to conclude the story. His provision of instant relief in complex situations that took plenty of time to develop left me feeling disappointed. The grammatical errors I found detracted from my enjoyment of the book because I had to re-read some sentences twice to make sense out of them. I, therefore, recommend another round of editing for this book. I rate this book three out of four stars. I could not award it a maximum rating due to the issues that I have raised. I recommend it to readers that enjoy crime thrillers filled with suspense. Sensitive readers are advised to beware the graphic descriptions of murder scenes in each criminal activity.
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El Camino Drive
View: on Bookshelves
El Camino Drive by Edward Izzi is a crime thriller that revolves around mysteries of love, vengeance, domestic issues, marital conflicts and kinship ties as its major thematic concerns. Antonio Valentino is described by Ross, his brother, as an adulterous man, who had a very patient, loyal and loving wife. The story begins with a flashback to the events preceding his murder (Antonio's). He had been involved with an "under dog's" wife, who was jealous enough to stop his wife's sexual escapades.
John Valentino (Antonio's son), is not only a drunkard, but also a hopeless detective that has been recently divorced from his wife. His excessive consumption of alcohol has made him an absentee father, which does not augur well with Marina, his wife. This divorce and subsequent separation from the love of his life and sons throws him into a state of depression. Efforts by his boss to get him a counselor do not seem to bear fruit, as John seems to be battling issues from his past, which haunted him well into adulthood. What really troubles John? Why does his drunken behaviour appear incorrigible? Will he find help?
This intricate tale adopted two points of view, first-person and third-person points of view. The former allowed the author to narrate the story from John's perspective. In so doing, I was able to look at things from the protagonist's perspective and get involved in his emotional engagements. Moreover, I could actively participate in the narration by attempting to provide solutions whenever John was in a dilemma. The third-person point of view was the author's, which frequently took an omniscient perspective. Izzi was able to creatively fill missing gaps in the novel because the omniscient voice allowed him to solve puzzles without slowing down the plot.
Izzi majored in flashback and lexical deviation in his narration; this is basically what I liked most about the book. His ability to use dream motifs whenever his characters were reminiscing is outstanding. This is what I believe actually maintained the tension and emotional build-up in the novel. Set in the United States, the realistic approach used to develop the characters is evident in their use of Italian vocabulary, which added a sense of authenticity to the book.
I must express my disappointment at how the resolution stage of the plot was developed. It made the book appear as though the author was in a hurry to conclude the story. His provision of instant relief in complex situations that took plenty of time to develop left me feeling disappointed. The grammatical errors I found detracted from my enjoyment of the book because I had to re-read some sentences twice to make sense out of them. I, therefore, recommend another round of editing for this book. I rate this book three out of four stars. I could not award it a maximum rating due to the issues that I have raised. I recommend it to readers that enjoy crime thrillers filled with suspense. Sensitive readers are advised to beware the graphic descriptions of murder scenes in each criminal activity.
******
El Camino Drive
View: on Bookshelves
