Book Review – This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies

Book Title: This Doesn’t Happen In the Movies

Author: Renée Pawlish

Genre: Mystery, Private Eye

Word Count: 55886

Formats Available: eBook (Kindle, Nook, Etc)

Synopsis: This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies is a rollicking ride. Witty, intrepid Reed Ferguson, a wannabe private eye with a love of film noir and detective fiction, needs a paying client to prove his career choice to himself and his parents. The customer shows up at his downtown Denver office in the form of Amanda Ghering, a rich, attractive, but unhappily married woman. She hires Reed to find her missing husband, but it doesn’t take long before Reed realizes that all is not as it seems. The superb cast of characters in this humorous mystery include a duo of oddball brothers who lack common sense and a genius computer geek. Follow Reed as he solves crimes akin to his cinematic hero, Humphrey Bogart.

Review: This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies successfully infuses gritty noir with humor and a splash of pop culture, mixing a delightful cocktail that really hits the spot. With fairly high marks across the board, especially in Style/Technique, Renée Pawlish delivers a clever story layered with suspense, demanding the reader’s attention. 

The main character, Reed Ferguson, embodies his black and white heroes—private eyes from the silver screen, with a modern spin. Although not completely helpless, Reed’s first client—damsel in distress Amanda Ghering—is difficult to work for. Even when sober, her secrets require Reed to seek the help of close friends to unveil the story behind her story.

Having lived in Denver for a couple of years, the setting really brought me back. Along with the characters, these little details made me feel like I was re-visiting the area and reinforced the believability of the story, also scoring high in Authenticity/Originality.

The copy was clean, allowing me to breeze through this novel without tripping over minor formatting issues or spelling/grammar errors that sometimes accompany self-published books. The Plot/Pacing was a perfect suit with fun twists within twists, leaving me eager to read Reed’s next big adventure.

Author Bio: Renée Pawlish was born in California, but has lived most of her life in Colorado. When she’s not hiking, cycling, or chasing ballplayers for autographs, she is writing mysteries and thrillers. She also has some middle grade novels waiting to be published.

Renée loves to travel and has visited numerous countries around the world. She has also spent many summer days at her parents’ cabin in the hills outside of Boulder, which was the inspiration for the setting of Taylor Crossing in her novel Nephilim: Genesis of Evil.

Score: 44

Grade:

 

 

 

Contest!!! Author Renée Pawlish is running a contest on her Facebook page. Click here to enter for your chance to win signed copies of her first two novels AND naming rights in the next book in the Reed Ferguson series.

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