Official Review: The Heart Taker Murders by Carl A Chase
Posted: 01 Dec 2016, 09:26
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Heart Taker Murders" by Carl A Chase.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The Heart Taker Murders by Carl A. Chase is an interesting juxtaposition of a traditional crime novel and a plot that could have come from the X-files. Lt. Charles Washington is investigating a serial killer case involving young female victims who are left with their hearts taken out and their blood drained. During the investigation, Lt. Charles Washington stumbles across a prior unsolved crime that matches the MO of the killer in his current case leading him to re-open that cold case. Eventually, Lt. Washington finds hard evidence that the cases are indeed linked. He deduces that the killer is living an unnaturally long life due to unsavory practices connected with his crimes. Once Lt. Washington makes this find, solving the case becomes a race against time. The stakes are upped significantly when more people die and threats are made against Lt. Washington and his family. Finding the killer becomes a matter of personal safety to Lt. Washington.
The author includes some interesting plot twists. It is safe to say that I was unable to figure out “who done it” until it was revealed toward the end of the book. However, I can’t say that the storyline was easy to follow. The narrative often jumps from one person to another without warning, and some characters are not consistently referred to by first or last name. Overall, I feel the writing style is rough.
While I feel that The Heart Taker Murders has definite points of interest, it needs considerable development in order to overcome some major problems. The language is typical of what one would expect from a crime novel complete with investigative details; however the pace is not steady and the characters are not fully developed. Transitions between scenes are rough. I am sorry to say that these issues greatly hindered my enjoyment of the book.
My other major critique is that a better editor is desperately needed. Spacing needs to be adjusted throughout as the necessary space is often missing after a period or a comma. The author regularly switches between past and present tense within the same paragraph or even within the same sentence, such as “Later that night, I was sleeping like a baby when I’m awakened by the pounding of the phone.” One character is introduced with a last name of “Rosado.” This character is consistently referred to as “Rosa do” throughout the rest of the book.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars, due to the lack of plot development as well as the pacing and editing issues. I would suggest that the author comb through the The Heart Taker Murders for mistakes, smooth out transitions, fix the pacing issues, and further develop the characters. The book should not be thrown away. With the right improvements, this could be a decent read.
******
The Heart Taker Murders
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Heart Taker Murders by Carl A. Chase is an interesting juxtaposition of a traditional crime novel and a plot that could have come from the X-files. Lt. Charles Washington is investigating a serial killer case involving young female victims who are left with their hearts taken out and their blood drained. During the investigation, Lt. Charles Washington stumbles across a prior unsolved crime that matches the MO of the killer in his current case leading him to re-open that cold case. Eventually, Lt. Washington finds hard evidence that the cases are indeed linked. He deduces that the killer is living an unnaturally long life due to unsavory practices connected with his crimes. Once Lt. Washington makes this find, solving the case becomes a race against time. The stakes are upped significantly when more people die and threats are made against Lt. Washington and his family. Finding the killer becomes a matter of personal safety to Lt. Washington.
The author includes some interesting plot twists. It is safe to say that I was unable to figure out “who done it” until it was revealed toward the end of the book. However, I can’t say that the storyline was easy to follow. The narrative often jumps from one person to another without warning, and some characters are not consistently referred to by first or last name. Overall, I feel the writing style is rough.
While I feel that The Heart Taker Murders has definite points of interest, it needs considerable development in order to overcome some major problems. The language is typical of what one would expect from a crime novel complete with investigative details; however the pace is not steady and the characters are not fully developed. Transitions between scenes are rough. I am sorry to say that these issues greatly hindered my enjoyment of the book.
My other major critique is that a better editor is desperately needed. Spacing needs to be adjusted throughout as the necessary space is often missing after a period or a comma. The author regularly switches between past and present tense within the same paragraph or even within the same sentence, such as “Later that night, I was sleeping like a baby when I’m awakened by the pounding of the phone.” One character is introduced with a last name of “Rosado.” This character is consistently referred to as “Rosa do” throughout the rest of the book.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars, due to the lack of plot development as well as the pacing and editing issues. I would suggest that the author comb through the The Heart Taker Murders for mistakes, smooth out transitions, fix the pacing issues, and further develop the characters. The book should not be thrown away. With the right improvements, this could be a decent read.
******
The Heart Taker Murders
View: on Bookshelves
Like greenstripedgiraffe's review? Post a comment saying so!