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I downloaded a free copy of The Poisoned Rose (Book One of the Gin Palace Trilogy), from Amazon. In exchange, I offer this, my fair and honest review.
Declan MacManus, known as Mac, seems a haunted soul to me. He lives alone in an upstairs apartment, stopping from time to time to visit at the bar below with the barkeeper, George, in exchange for free drinks. When the manipulating Frank Gannon hires him to assist Augie Hartsell with the odd “investigative” job in exchange for some easy and much-needed cash, Mac does so. But he soon discovers the seedy side of the work and gives it up. Unfortunately he does n ot do so before he makes enemies—at least one of which operates with legal force—the Chief of Police. When Augie ends up in dire straights, Mac cares for his teenage daughter, which causes rumor to run rampant. All the while, a young woman seeks Mac’s assistance, though he is unaware of her real name and his past connection to her. Unfortunately for Mac, he discovers the pertinent facts when it is too late.
For me, the best part of this read was Daniel Judson’s “voice.” Here are just a few examples of things that caught my attention:
Posted on Amazon, GoodReads and BookLikes, added to my Facebook page and two Google+ review groups, tweeted and cover pinned.
I downloaded a free copy of The Poisoned Rose (Book One of the Gin Palace Trilogy), from Amazon. In exchange, I offer this, my fair and honest review.
Declan MacManus, known as Mac, seems a haunted soul to me. He lives alone in an upstairs apartment, stopping from time to time to visit at the bar below with the barkeeper, George, in exchange for free drinks. When the manipulating Frank Gannon hires him to assist Augie Hartsell with the odd “investigative” job in exchange for some easy and much-needed cash, Mac does so. But he soon discovers the seedy side of the work and gives it up. Unfortunately he does n ot do so before he makes enemies—at least one of which operates with legal force—the Chief of Police. When Augie ends up in dire straights, Mac cares for his teenage daughter, which causes rumor to run rampant. All the while, a young woman seeks Mac’s assistance, though he is unaware of her real name and his past connection to her. Unfortunately for Mac, he discovers the pertinent facts when it is too late.
For me, the best part of this read was Daniel Judson’s “voice.” Here are just a few examples of things that caught my attention:
- “I could feel waves of intoxicants moving like thickly clustered schools of tiny fish in my blood.”
- “The Hansom House bar was his court, but what the poor guy didn’t know was that he was, to those who came to it, more jester than king.”
- “He was a giant to my gargoyle, blacksmith to my scarecrow.”
- “She reminded me of a bird that had stunned itself by flying into a window.”
- “He stood just inside my living room, the shut door behind him. It was as if someone had planted a tree there—he was that large and that firmly set.”
Posted on Amazon, GoodReads and BookLikes, added to my Facebook page and two Google+ review groups, tweeted and cover pinned.
