Rate this book

Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries (2009)

by Marshall Thornton(Favorite Author)

3.97 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Torquere Press

series

Boystown

review 1: I started the series during a vacation and missed writing reviews after each book, so this is more a review of the books I've read/listened to until now (I'm in book 5). I don't want to give away any of the plot, so it's a more general note.First thing to say is that even though I downloaded the books from amazon, so far I listened to the audiobooks I found afterwards and had to have, too. I've listened to some audiobooks over the last months and imo this narrator does one of the best jobs I came across to since my membership on audible. He has a very good way to make me feel Nick 's voice just right and it's a joy to listen. He also makes it easy for me as a non native speaker to understand.The books - the series.... It grabbed me right from the start. The writing itself ... moreis brilliant and "takes no prisoner"- I find no better way to describe the style. Never rushed, never too long. The characters you meet in the books are taking on form very fast. The story, Nick's life we accompany is not a fairy tale, and neither are the people in it. I think I can't say better as that it feels real, honest, without compromise, without bullshitting - only real. I love that. There is a mystery, there is love, there is sex and there is a sight on the life of a person who could have been lived for real. Some might deny that it is romance, and for sure it's not what mainstream defines as typical for romance but for me it is it: one of the most romantic, sometimes heartbreaking romance I ever read. Because it is so real.
review 2: I like understated writing (the British do it especially well), and I enjoy hardboiled. Both can be very subtle and enjoyable, especially if you're good at reading between the lines. But this book was SO plain and unemotional that I often found it dull -- nothing seemed to have any impact.That's not to say it's badly written. It isn't. The author obviously crafted his writing intentionally -- and the plots and characters are both well designed. But, to me, it was like listening to someone telling a story in a complete monotone. Just not enough modulation.I did greatly enjoy a few paragraphs out of each book -- especially those paragraphs that discuss Nick's former relationship, and his interactions with his family and/or cops. In those situations, the plain, simple style worked fine for me. But that wasn't enough to carry me through.eta -- I just noticed in the author's bio that he has an MFA in screenwriting. This may explain a large part of my problem with the story. When you write screenplays (or plays, as he has also done), you depend on actors to bring your words to life -- but in a book, the emotions are all up to the author. I suspect that, in part, Thornton is showing his training with his emotionless writing.Several people have said that the series continues to improve, so I'm not giving up yet. I'm happy to write this off as "first book" or "first book in series" syndrome. But I'm giving this one a flat 3 stars. less

Download links for: Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries

Advertising