P. J. ParrishGenre: Crime Thriller
Published: 2007
Personal Rating: 4/5
Yearly Count: 14
P. J. Parrish is actually a sister team and this is the first in their new series starring Joette (Joe) Frye, who was plucked from their Louis Kincaid series. One sister is more adept at "character development" while the other's strength is the "gory stuff", so they make quite a pair . . . and it works!
In A Thousand Bones, Joe (note: pet peeve of mine - naming characters with cross gender names) who is currently on the Miami Police Department's Homicide Division shares with her lover, Louis (too close to Louise for my liking) Kincaid, about her past harrowing experience of being a rookie cop in Echo Bay, Michigan. Almost the entire book is told in flashback, which gives the reader a great understanding of Joe and how she dealt with chasing down a killer.
Ultimately, Joe's experience happened to be one of terror. The word choice and sentence structure contributed to a very fluent flow with no lulls in the story. I didn't find it to be a page-turner, yet I was always interested - making it a good, solid read. I look forward to following this series.
This was my first read for the 1st in a Series challenge! So funny but I also bristled at the name "Joe". I wasn't wowed by the book but actually I think I'd like to give the Kincaid series a try. That one sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteSounds good - I love good crime fiction :-)
ReplyDeleteIliana ~ Oh! You read this for the First in a Series Challenge?!? Why not come back and link your review? :)
ReplyDeleteI almost read the first Kincaid book for the challenge, but decided I may as well start with this new one.
Suzi ~ It's nothing earth-shattering, but very good. Like I said...a good, solid read. :)
You do make it sound interesting, Joy! Funny about the gender bender names. It does seem like a needless twist. Woman doing a Man's' job! kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteEver since Nancy Drew and her pal George....
Carrie K ~ "Gender bender names" . . . is that what they are called?!? :) Perfect.
ReplyDeleteNancy Drew and George are great examples of that, yes. I don't like that. It takes several times reading the name to get my head wrapped around that it's not a male. I think that could create more irritation and confusion for any reader. Why does an author like that? Plain and simple, I don't like to waste my time deciphering the gender of characters.
I'm not sure I've ever paid that much attention to the gender of a character's name, but now I'm forever destined to notice. I'm trying really hard not to start any more series for a while until I get farther along with your challenge. But I enjoyed your review anyway.
ReplyDeleteFramed ~ Sorry to push my pet peeve on you! However, if you had run across any "gender bender" names, I think you would have developed your own neuroses about it anyway. lol (I'm just trying to get myself off the hook.)
ReplyDeleteIt really bothers that they spell it Joe, like a guy's name, instead of Jo.
ReplyDeleteSounds a book I'd like. Thanks for the good review, Joy.
Booklogged ~ It would have been much more helpful if it had been spelled "Jo".
ReplyDelete