Whiskey Sour

This is a crime thriller by JA Konrath featuring detective Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels and her one-joke sidekick, Benedict (he’s always eating, yuck, yuck).

 

Will the next piece of candy be the one with the razor blade in it? Will Jack open the closet where the killer is hiding? I thought the thriller element was well done. Unfortunately, I had some issues with the plot. Would a cop really just start eating from a bag of candy someone mysteriously left on the front seat of the car? Would the killer really break into a police lieutenant’s house and hide in the closet?

 

Actually, these points are minor tips of a very large iceberg. No police force is nearly so stupid as these Chicago cops. The killer is supposedly hard to catch, despite being an evidence-producing train wreck who abducts people off the city streets in broad daylight before riding away in his rather conspicuous ice cream truck. Am I exaggerating? Not at all.

 

If I were to list every point in this story that was ridiculous, this post would be as long as the book. You really need to take your brain out of your head and stick it in the freezer while you’re reading this story. But here’s the thing: I don’t think the book is supposed to be taken too seriously. I think it’s meant to be a quick, fun read, and if you don’t mind rolling your eyes a lot (I think I sprained mine a couple of times), you’ll find that it does accomplish this.

 

On another positive note, the main character is interesting. She drives around in a wreck of a car that barely starts (Lt. Columbo, anyone?), and she’s developed to a likable extent.

 

There are lots of other books featuring the Jack Daniels character, so if you like this book you’ve got a lot more to read.