Official Review: Jack Spade:Dream detective

ValtearTheShadebane · Post by **ValtearTheShadebane** » 08 Feb 2016, 22:01

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Jack Spade:Dream detective" by Carl A Chase.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Jack Spade: Dream Detective, by Carl A. Chase, is a detective story about Jack Spade, a successful private investigator living in 1947. Jack is hired by Thomas Jefferson, a wealthy banker, to find Mr. Jefferson’s missing wife. The case takes Jack through the tough streets of San Francisco to meet with plenty of unsavory characters and close calls. With the help of his associates and the lovely club singer Jennifer, Jack peels back the layers of deceit to discover the dirty secrets between Mr. Jefferson and his wife. This story uses an intriguing way to bring Jack Spade to life: he exists only in James Harper’s dreams. James Harper lives in Los Angeles in the 1980s and is also a private investigator, albeit an unsuccessful one. Out of work for two years, James finally gets an assignment that takes him to Paris to bring back his client’s daughter, Chloe. On the way back, James must draw on his skills as a war veteran to bring Chloe home safely. The book tells two parallel stories but mainly focuses on Jack’s adventures.

This seemed like a great story about two detectives working on separate cases and how they relate to one another. However, there is very little connection between the two throughout the story. James spends most of his days sleeping, giving the notion that his part in the book exists only to give life to Jack. The possibility that James is even aware of Jack is left unclear, but it does not matter anyway; Jack’s adventures would be good enough as a novel by itself.

James Harper seemed a bit two-dimensional to me. For example, James spends a large amount of time sleeping and this is not seen as abnormal; he does not even comment on his exciting dreams. Details about James’ childhood, his love for his young daughter, his relationship with his divorced wife, and his current work situation are given but they are left unresolved. I feel that it would have been better if James’ part of the story was left out of the book since the addition of his activities does not appear to affect the dream world, where most of the story takes place.

In contrast, the characters in Jack’s world are much more developed and entertaining, though I feel there were many unnecessary details about them thrown in. Some minor characters appeared in only a few scenes but their descriptions made it sound like they were going to be central to the plot. This was a bit confusing but it did not distract my attention from the plot too much. The dubious partnership between Jefferson and Moreno was a highlight in the book for me because it was interesting to see how far they would go to protect their secret.

The book reads like an action novel instead of a detective novel. The point of view at times switches to other characters and because of this the reader knows important clues before the detective does. Thus, when Jack picks up on these clues later, the reader is already aware of the implication and this lessens the suspense. Aside from that though, the action is fast-paced and the story closes with a surprising twist at the end.

This is could be a good detective novel, but as it is, it feels unfinished. This book could either do without James Harper or have his part expanded upon to provide more connection to the dream detective other than sleeping. I like the story idea: two detectives, one real, the other not, juxtapose them and have a thrilling detective story thrown in to boot, but seeing how little connection there was between the detectives, I was a little confused. As far as combining the mystery of dreams and the cold, hard reality of murder and deceit, Jack Spade: Dream Detective is a good start in that direction. Overall, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.

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Jack Spade:Dream detective
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MotherTheresa · Post by **MotherTheresa** » 18 Feb 2016, 01:19

The book has an interesting concept. Too bad it fell a little short in some areas.

ValtearTheShadebane · Post by **ValtearTheShadebane** » 18 Feb 2016, 11:17

Yes I agree, MotherTheresa. I think with a little more work, this would have been an awesome novel.

ShepherdDon · Post by **ShepherdDon** » 20 Feb 2016, 20:50

It seems that sometimes it's so easy for an author to confuse the reader when he is really trying hard to be clear. Sounds like that may have happened in opposite ways with the two characters - one has an overabundance of detail while the other has a scarcity. Not sure I'll even try it.

Don

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 21 Feb 2016, 06:22

That was a very honest review. The plot sounds promising and the characters seem interesting. Too bad the the book is not as good as it should be. Good job on the review!

ValtearTheShadebane · Post by **ValtearTheShadebane** » 21 Feb 2016, 14:09

Hi ShepherdDon, I was thinking hopefully there will be a continuation of the story...sort of like a Part Two in a series. Then maybe some characters' storylines could be resolved in the next novel. I haven't heard anything about it yet, though.

-- 21 Feb 2016, 14:22 --

Thanks, kimmyschemy06! When I read the summary of the book, what really jumped out at me was the whole dream aspect to it...I was hoping to see how the two investigators would deal with the mysterious connection they have and what trouble it might land them in. If the author writes another novel about them, building on the first story and expanding it more, I think it would be a very interesting read