Review of Evil Envy

[Mtibza eM]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Evil Envy" by Paul Howard.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Paul Howard, who lives and works as a plastic surgeon in Birmingham, AL, wrote this fiction book titled Evil Envy. It is about a man named Tedy Merrill who searches for people who killed his best friend, wanting to kill them. This is a thriller that will have you asking yourself a lot of questions while flipping the pages.

The book opens up with a prologue in the late Spring of 2016. Here, we are introduced to Tedy, who gets in the buzzing club, seemingly searching for some people. While he is busy scouring, he gets blindfolded and dragged somewhere quiet. He gets a lot of beating that renders him semi-conscious. Ivan Kasparov, a leader of the Russian Mob, enters the room where Tedy is tied up and tells him that no matter what he does, no one will hear him and come and save him.

The first chapter of the book takes us one year back. We learn that Tedy Merrill is a medical doctor and has been a plastic surgeon for the past twenty years. He has come to live in Miami because he has run away from the Russian Mafia that he got embroiled in because of his friend Alex’s wife, Sophie. He manages to keep a low profile, even though most days he attends shady fights where he is just known as a “big guy” and does the drugs that they offer him so he can fit in.

From chapter 2 to chapter 3, Tedy continues to perform his normal plastic surgeries, laying low. And we meet Precious, a baby who is born with a deformed face and who gets help from a plastic surgeon that saves her life. From chapter 4, that is when we learn that Tedy and his friend Clint may have done something bad to anger The Russian Mafia. And now there is another biker gang in Miami that deals drugs. So when Clint is found dead, who does Tedy suspect?

Is it The Russian Mafia or the biker gang that killed Clint? What will Tedy do if he finds the person who killed Clint? Is he more than a plastic surgeon? How would Tedy manage to find those people when the cops are also looking into this case? The questions are found between the covers of this book.

I won’t lie, I didn’t enjoy reading this book. The writing wasn’t gripping. The book opened up with a bang, but in the middle, it lost all that. I found myself going over the words, not sure what I was reading or where it was all leading to because there was nothing happening. The book was filled with narration more than dialogue. I was told everything. Most things were even over-described to the point that nothing much was left to my imagination. I felt like I was looking in from the outside.

I can’t say that the characters were well developed because I didn’t relate or feel intimate with any of them, especially Tedy, even though he was the protagonist. I felt like the author, instead of taking the time to develop the characters, rushed to move the story forward, neglecting character development. The plot was even all over the place.

Much was given out prematurely, resulting in a lack of suspense. Some things didn’t make sense. Like, Tedy was a plastic surgeon who ran away because he did something bad to the Russian Mafia, but what I failed to understand was where he got the money from to be able to sponsor his expensive materials like his Ferrari sports car.

The pace was too fast. Most supporting characters didn’t contribute much to the story. The character by the name of Precious was one of those. I still fail to understand how she fit in all of that that has happened in the book because she just vanished after getting the help.

The book was written in the past tense, but, more often, the author slipped and wrote in the present tense, confusing me. This made the reading experience awkward and irritating. There is nothing that stood out for me that I can say I liked about this book.

Aside from the usage of present tenses, I didn’t come across any other errors. There was a usage of profane language, although it wasn’t that strong or severe to offend anyone. Taking everything into consideration, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I would have rated it lower than this, but I think that would have been too harsh, especially when I enjoyed the last few chapters as there were filled with action. The book doesn’t discriminate. I didn’t enjoy it, so I wouldn’t strongly recommend it to anyone.

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Evil Envy
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[NancyDrew12]

It is always disheartening when a book starts good and loses its spark midway through. Because of all the things you mentioned in your review I have to agree with your rating. Thank you for your honesty and a great review!

[Kaushiki Parihar]

It is such a pity that the book was so awful and you have to disappoint because of that. All you reasonings justify your ratings. Thanks for such an honest review.

[Booklover727]

Very engaging! You made me want to read this book so hard

Already ordered the hard cover !

[Luchris_michael]

I like the plot of the book. The character of Tedy is an interesting one. Good review.

[NetMassimo]

It seems like the author had a good idea but the development wasn't up to the task. Maybe a professional editor could help in properly revising the novel. Thank you for your honest review!

[Mtibza eM]

It seems like the author had a good idea but the development wasn't up to the task. Maybe a professional editor could help in properly revising the novel. Thank you for your honest review!

I agree with you. I am glad you enjoyed reading it.

I like the plot of the book. The character of Tedy is an interesting one. Good review.

It was something else. Thank you.

Very engaging! You made me want to read this book so hard

Already ordered the hard cover !

Wow! I am so happy to hear that. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.

It is such a pity that the book was so awful and you have to disappoint because of that. All you reasonings justify your ratings. Thanks for such an honest review.

I appreciate you stopping by, Parihar.

It is always disheartening when a book starts good and loses its spark midway through. Because of all the things you mentioned in your review I have to agree with your rating. Thank you for your honesty and a great review!

Yeas, it makes you wonder what could have happened. I am glad you enjoyed reading my review.