Rate this book

A Hard Death (2009)

by Jonathan Hayes(Favorite Author)

3.98 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0099538644 (ISBN13: 9780099538646)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Arrow

review 1: I didn’t read the first book in this series. Despite there obviously being a lot that happened, you get the gist of it through this book. Jenner took things into his own hands while in New York, and as a result he is now working in Florida, trying to lay low and just do his job. But when the man who hired him is found dead, just the first in a chain of strange events, laying low is no longer an option.This isn’t a happy book. Hayes does a nice job of maintaining the noir feel, even when there is a little bit of romance involved. I thought the forensics were well handled, and was interested in the portrayal of the migrant farms, of both the workers and the people who run them. And Jenner is a man who believes in doing what’s right, no matter the consequences to himse... morelf.My one complaint is that Hayes goes a bit overboard with making the bad guy bad. There’s one aspect of him that is particularly horrifying, and I’m not sure it was necessary. The guy was bad enough without throwing in that extra dysfunction.Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to not only picking up the first in the series, Precious Blood, but seeing what comes next.
review 2: In this book I follow Dr. Jenner as he moves to a new town and immediately finds himself in the middle of murder and drama. It starts out fun enough. He moves in and the former M.E. has been found murdered and he has to perform the autopsy. Then bodies start popping up hanging from trees and being run over. Love it.And then I find out that all the murders are connected and I feel a bit deflated. I don’t want everything to be connected. I want different story lines where the lead character, in this case Jenner, is torn from one case to the other. But as it turns out one case gives him clues to another.Dr. Jenner is likable enough. He seems like a normal man: likes his job, has insecurities and falls for women everyone tells him he shouldn’t. His relationship with Rudge was interesting as the appeared to be good friends but there was some struggle at times when one tried to overshine the other.The first creep factor for me was a scene between daughter and father by the pool. Jenner was meeting a woman he would later date at her house when out of the pool comes her naked father. His daughter just giggles and says “Daddy”. Throughout the book we see just how odd their relationship is and how uncomfortable everyone is around them.The overall book was good. There was a lot of racial and ethnic undertones – book revolves around Mexican run farming – which while rings true to the climate, takes some getting used to the first couple of times it is thrown your way. I did enjoy reading it, but it wasn’t a book I rushed through dinner to pick up and continue. less

Download links for: A Hard Death

Advertising