Official Review: The Test by B.A. Sherman

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Test" by B.A. Sherman.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Test, written by B.A. Sherman, is a psychological cop thriller and the first book in The Greg Dorn Series. A mental patient named Ricky Ryan escapes from the state hospital one day with a stolen car. Running a stoplight, he kills Greg's mother and sister. Months later, Greg and his father finally gets word of the trial date. Unfortunately, Greg's wish to see the thief of his life rot in prison isn't granted. There is no trial; Ricky, having settled for a plea bargain, gets a guileless slap on the hand instead. An inner darkness soon makes itself known to Greg. As the years go by, it grows.

Finally, Greg is a cop. From Parsons, Kansas, he transfers to a traffic department in Denver. The city is different than what he's used to. For one, it is cramped with road users who seem to neglect the ethics of safe driving. Road rage statistics are sky high. Accidents occur frequently, and the cops who try to make the roads safer are treated like garbage. Greg especially, receives his fair share of rude, unnecessary treatment. Meanwhile, the darkness inside him continues to grow. The moment soon comes when the darkness has had enough. "It," as Greg calls it, soon comes forward, takes control of Greg's body, and unleashes years of accumulated fury.

The author has been in law enforcement for more than two decades. The technical police jargon is a major strong point in this novel. Nothing should be taken away from the book itself though. Somehow, the author manages to transfer the protagonist's anger to the reader as well. His characters are very easy to relate to; their actions are completely justifiable. There is more than one twist in this intriguing novel with its surprising ability to get readers' adrenaline up and running when the real action finally begins.

I found the quality of the writing standard, but not a flaw at all. The author may not be a guru when it comes to poetic English, but he certainly knows how to keep things interesting. Nothing is introduced to the novel that doesn't play some sort of role in the overall storyline. As a psychological thriller, this book succeeds. The main protagonist clearly acts like someone housing a lot of inner demons. Greg is withdrawn at first, and only "loses" it when his wife takes his kid and leaves him to his own devices. As for weaknesses, the quality of the writing is the only apparent drawback.

Greg Dorn isn't Dexter Morgan from Jeff Lindsay's famous books, but readers who loved Lindsay's books will find something similar and original courtesy of B.A. Sherman. This book consists of extremely violent content and strong language. If these are qualities in a book that you don't like, you should not read this. If you're wondering what the title has to do with a serial killer, you'll have to read the book to find out. My rating is 3 out of 4.

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The Test
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Like Leon Durham's review? Post a comment saying so!

[BlaqkViolette]

Sounds very interesting! Great review!

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

BlaqkViolette

Thanks a lot. The book is interesting.

[bluemel4]

Making anger a seperate entity is an interesting concept. Great review!

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

@ bluemel4

Thanks. The whole beginning of this novel revolves around the protagonist's anger. So much so that you actually become angry yourself. The separate entity part comes later, and things really blast off from there.

[bookowlie]

I really enjoyed reading your review. The plot sounds fascinating.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

@bookowlie
Thanks. It was interesting to read a book about a traffic cop going Dexter on rude road users. The author gets my praises for originality at least.

[bashermanstoryteller]

Thank you Leon Durham for the Review! I appreciate the time you took to read my work. Thanks So Much!

Take Care,
B.A. Sherman

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

@bashermanstoryteller

My pleasure.

[bookowlie]

@bookowlie
Thanks. It was interesting to read a book about a traffic cop going Dexter on rude road users. The author gets my praises for originality at least.

"Going Dexter"....very funny! I miss that show.

[mluthe1]

This sounds like a pretty interesting read. The only thing that I find a bit troubling is the possibility of too much of a parallel to the character Dexter. What could make this stand out is if the author played around with the idea of letting the reader see inside the antagonist as well. I may have to check this out. I have never read anything police related as far as plotlines and main characters. Good review.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

* bookowlie

I only watched the first series. But I'm going to start hitting the books pretty soon.

* mluthe

This was a first cop-main-guy-book for me as well. I hope you like it.

[hottensiah]

The author involves the reader's feelings to be same as his characters in the book. Its an intriguing book. So good you get to feel like you the one who's the actual character in the book.

[Ella Rose Orocio]

i like it . my only advice is, make it more interesting so the readers wont find it boring