A Measure of Darkness by Jonathan Kellerman, Jesse Kellerman: Review

I love a good cop fiction story so I was excited to be able to review this upcoming story from a well published author of more than 40 novels! Here are my thoughts.

A Measure of Darkness by Jonathan Kellerman, Jesse Kellerman
Series: Clay Edison (Book 2)
Publisher: Ballantine Books (July 31, 2018)
ISBN-13: 978-0399594632

ABOUT:

Deputy Coroner Clay Edison goes to extreme lengths for a forgotten Jane Doe in the new thriller from a father-son team of bestselling authors who write “brilliant, page-turning fiction” (Stephen King).

Clay Edison is busy. He’s solved a decades-old crime and redeemed an innocent man, earning himself a suspension in the process. Things are getting serious with his girlfriend. Plus his brother’s fresh out of prison, bringing with him a whole new set of complications.

Then the phone rings in the dead of night.

A wild party in a gentrifying East Bay neighborhood. A heated argument that spills into the street. Gunshots. Chaos.

For Clay and his fellow coroners, it’s the start of a long night and the first of many to come. The victims keep piling up. What begins as a community tragedy soon becomes lurid fodder for social media.

Then the smoke clears and the real mystery emerges—one victim’s death doesn’t match the others. Brutalized and abandoned, stripped of ID, and left to die: She is Jane Doe, a human question mark. And it falls to Clay to give her a name and a voice.

Haunted by the cruelty of her death, he embarks upon a journey into the bizarre, entering a hidden world where innocence and perversity meet and mingle. There, his relentless pursuit of the truth opens the gateway to a dark and baffling past—and brings him right into the line of fire.

A Measure of Darkness by Jonathan Kellerman, Jesse Kellerman

This is the first time that I have read a book by this author, compilation of authors, I should say. I love cop fiction and suspense thrillers so I was really looking forward to this one.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the suspense portion of the story, mainly in that there was little to none. This is a crime solving, cop fiction story that was quite good. The author has good story to tell and it was engaging and interesting. I loved the old school crime solving and great characters they developed. They were unique and varied, which really held the story together.

I also loved the tough to find connection that allowed the crime to be solved. Definitely a plus in the strategy

The problem is that there was no feeling of excitement; no ramp up to a big ending. It just felt a little flat to me. It could be because the crime solving was developed over many months. With no pressing feeling of suspense in the story, it did not leave me overly excited about the story.

Another thing that was interesting to me is as a first time reader, I didn’t know who the main character was. I had to go back to look up his job because I thought it was quite odd that a deputy coroner could do the things he was doing, yet I still wasn’t sure what he did. So in that aspect, I think you have to read other installment of the series to fully understand who the characters are.

I would be interested in reading more from the author. As I said before, the story is solid and very unique so you get great entertainment. There’s just no drama and excitement to really get you to feel “all in” to the story.

Disclaimer: Chris has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free ebook so she could evaluate and use it for this post. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.

AMidlifeWife

Hi! I’m Chris! Just a Midlife Wife sharing about life’s journey; screaming and kicking through it while supposedly aging gracefully…

Focusing on healthy living, low carb & keto, things I am loving right now, and life in general.

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