An alcoholic guy from our own time gets sucked into his own (bad) novel after he hits his head when he’s shitfaced. He is stuck there with his ex and her new boyfriend who he wrote into the book as a way of coping, but now he can’t escape them.
He quickly realizes that the only way out is through, so he tries to make as little changes to the plot as possible. Unfortunately for him, the drunker he gets and the more he sees of the femme fatale, marilyn (and the handsome thomas), the less he is able to do that. More and more deaths start happening, none of which he wrote in his original novel. So can he really escape? Or will he die by his own creation?
Even though the genre is detective novel slash whodunit, we’re seeing the story from Mike’s perspective, who is first of all getting drunker by the second and secondly is from our own time. Expect a lot of cursing.
Beoordelingen
The Detective is a clever story-within-a-story, narrated by the stymied and frustrated writer-character and protagonist of both tales, Michael Davis. Michael has had a successful writing career until the last couple of years, and he’s struggling with his latest book project, a detective mystery novel. This is a new venture for him, he’s not written in the genre before now, and it has been proving not to be his thing. He’s depressed over his relationship with Jessica, which imploded when he discovered she’d been cheating on him while she was supposed to be working. Perhaps as a means of working out his anger, he’s made Jessica and Jason characters in the mystery; however, the story is still not working for him, and his drinking is beginning to take over his life.
The plot is quite intriguing as the frustrated author finds himself inserted into his fledgling story with its unintended Agatha Christie-style “And Then There Were None” storyline. Michael hadn’t gotten far in his written version of the book, so the ensuing action is as much a surprise to him as it is to readers. Some unusual twists and turns kept me wanting to turn pages. The story, however, still felt a bit rough overall. It required me to re-read passages to try to understand what the author was trying to say. Some of these are intentional on the part of the author, though, as a means of mimicking the actual thought processes of the character; many of the repeated "errors" disappear when Michael is back in the real world. This may extend to some of the repetitive passages in the story, repeated descriptions of features of the house or clothing, explanations of situations, and dialogue, as he lives through the events of the investigation. There is quite a bit of sexual innuendo, some sexual encounters, and death scenes that make this book only suitable for adults.
I recommend THE DETECTIVE to mystery readers who would enjoy a story with a different take on the Agatha Christie “And Then There Were None” storyline.
Reading The Detective was a unique experience, and I'll say that this book brought out a whole range of emotions. The story itself is quite well-crafted, and I found myself really engrossed in the detective’s journey. It’s not the sort of thing I’d usually pick up, but I’m glad I did, as it kept me interested right from the start and through the thick of its plot twists and turns.
Now, I do feel inclined to mention that some themes here didn’t quite align with my personal beliefs, particularly around the romantic relationships portrayed. It’s always a little hard to reconcile certain ideas with my own faith. However, the rest of the story held enough merit that I could appreciate it overall. The plot is tight, well-thought-out, and kept me guessing. And let’s just say, the ending does make you sit up in your chair, even if it took a moment for it to all make sense.
The detective character himself is well-developed, as is the main character Mike. There’s a real depth to the relationships that run through the story, something that adds a certain humanity to it. Despite being a fictional setting, there’s a layer of emotional truth here. I was particularly struck by the way the story dealt with themes of loss and connection. Those elements grounded it in a way I hadn’t expected, almost as if you were sitting there with Mike, figuring things out alongside him.
It’s about 350 pages, so you’ll need to set some time aside to really enjoy it. But honestly, I think it’s worth it if you enjoy a good mystery with an emotional undercurrent. Overall, The Detective is a solid read. It’s smart, emotionally resonant, and definitely memorable. I would recommend it to those who don’t mind a bit of modern sensibility woven into their mysteries.
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. The Detective is a book I normally wouldn't pick up, that's why I am so incredibly grateful for @apolloimperium for sending me this ebook!! I ATE this story up.
Our main character Mike is a troubled writer, who is experiencing a major writing block. He feels as though he wrote a bad story, and has no idea how to continue. After drunkenly getting knocked out, he finds himself transported into the world he created. Mike has to escape the hands of a coldblooded murderer. He gets drunker and drunker to cope with the current (wild) situation. The lines between fiction and reality blur. The characters no longer do what he thinks they will.. He no longer knows what will happen next and whether he is actually safe or not.
The Detective is packed with suspense and left me flabbergasted multiple times. I was very invested in the story. The twists kept coming and I loved it. It never went the way I expected it to which was part of the fun.
I loved the character development. As well as the book being a story within a story. It's something I haven't seen a lot, but I really enjoyed it.
This book does deal with some heavier topics such as alcoholism as a way of coping, depression, grief, etc. So please be aware of the trigger warnings before going into this book. Your mental health matters!
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5
I highly recommend!!
It was great. A story within a story is such and amazing concept that I haven't read before and for this to be a mystery only made it better.
I loved all the characters and how they all gave way for suspicion in their own unique ways.
It was very fast paced and easy to keep up with even with gaps inbetween reading. It felt like an Agatha Christie with the time period but modern in language adding its own spin.
And the ending. I won't spoil it for anyone but I thought it was a fantastic twist.
4/5 stars for me and I would definitely recommend if you want a nice murder mystery to add to your collection.
★ ★ ★ ★.5/5
𝗜𝗳 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗜 𝗳𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱? 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱? 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆?
My book travel buddy today! I finally got around to reading this book I won in a giveaway by @apolloimperium back in July. I was hesitant to start because it's a different genre for me, but I was pleasantly surprised! "The Detective" is an incredibly gripping page-turner. The fast-paced plot, filled with unexpected twists and turns, kept me hooked from beginning to end. I found myself reading it until the end to see what would happen next, completely engrossed in the mystery. I love how the picture (map of the house) helps me visualize the scene I'm reading about.
Trigger Warning: This book deals with grief, depression, and alcoholism.
We follow Mike, an alcoholic washed up author attempting to write a new novel for his publishers. He had a writers block and is working on a deadline- one night get drinks too much and hits his head! When he wakes up he turns up in his own detective novel having to navigate his way through the novel and find out “whodunnit”!
The story is primarily a detective novel…however, it does cover some hard topics such as alcoholism, deception and instability of identity. The variety of characters and relationships just add depth to the story!
The writing style is first person from Mike’s POV as the narrator of the story! It’s really cleverly done and I really enjoyed this aspect! It is full of suspense, humour in some places and a tiny bit suggestive in others 😏 It is like nothing I’ve read before! You’ve smashed this one! Well done!
Overall ratings
🌟 5/5
🌶️ 1/5
☠️ 2/5 (TWs alcoholism, death, blood mentions, drowning)
I liked it. Interesting narration style but i definitely liked it a lot. I don’t usually read books like this and was kind of stand offish at first because the title and the cover don’t really show the actual vibe of the book. I don’t usually like detectives but this one isn’t like a regular detective at all. It’s such a fun story with good characters (and sexy), i was surprised. I think it’s because it’s narrated by the person who wrote the book he’s ending up in (because he hits his head in the real world and wakes up in his own story) and because he does not like the storybhe wrote, he doesn’t care what happens. At first. Then he becomes attached to multiple people. And because the narrator is from current day, and kind of a mess, the writing style doesn’t feel boring or like a regular detective. It’s so good. I recommend it.