Too drawn out and uninteresting. I had to quit this book with so many more waiting for me. My apologies to the author and publisher.

I tried hard to get into this book as I thought the subject would be interesting but unfortunately for me the style did not click and the part I read (about 50%) before I gave up much too long. Sorry!

Very interesting book. A bit slow at times, but overall was good. Thanks to Netgalley for this free copy. My opinion was my own.

Luke McGinty is a good detective, still sad and a bit beaten by his wife's death. His work is all he has. This was a good but slow moving read. Although Luke has solved many cases, he has never been faced with absolute evil. He has now.

Book Review: Penchant for Vengeance by Robert Downs
Review by Dawn Thomas

280 Pages
Publisher: Black Opal Books Publication

General Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Police Procedural

The story stakes place in Charlottesville, Virginia. Luke McGinty is a police detective. He is a solidary man haunted by the death of his wife three years ago. When he gets a call that a body was found in front of the movie theatre, he jumps into his 1974 Camaro and races to the scene. The place is crawling with police offices, forensic technicians and the medical examiner. The killer has staged the crime scene with religious connotations. His investigation takes him to a local church, a strip club, and a high school.

He begins to put the pieces together and realizes the case is bigger than he thought. He looks into a couple of other cases that seem unrelated to each other. He needs to find anything that might link the cases together if he wants to find the killer before he kills again.

The book is written in first person, present tense. The characters are developed but I found the main character a bit too sullen and at times unbelievable. An example is when he goes to a strip club and does not look at any of the women because of the memory of his wife. The story is well written and holds your interest but ends abruptly and leaves you wondering what happens next.

I wish I had liked this book better, but it has some major issues. The core could be good but something has gone wrong in the editing. Maybe it had software issues? I'd advise a revamp so that this book's true potential can shine. I think the author can do a great deal more with this book with some help and some adjustments.

My copy came from Net Galley. My review is my own and my opinions​ are my own.

Interesting story concept, but difficult to follow. The ongoing animosity with his fellow detective was distracting and unresolved. Luke's investigation with the death in an other precinct and how that was not taken to final resolution also added to the distraction of the story.

A pretty good read, especially since C'ville has been in the spotlight recently. (3-star review on Amazon).

I found that this story moved at a very slow pace. The ponderings of the detective I found to be very repetitive The main character seemed to be a law unto himself, doing what he wished without due recourse to anyone (not unusual in itself) but without any real idea of where the case was going. I am still not convinced by some of the arguments put forward.

2 stars

This book is written in the first person.

Detective Luke McGinty is called to the scene of a murder in Charlottesville, Virginia. The mutilated man is so far unidentified. McGinty gets the idea to go to church seeking ideas and possible clues to the total mutilation of his victim. He suspects that the murder might have religious aspects.

This book moves very slowly. It mostly consists of Detective McGinty wandering around and bumping into things like a moth on a hot light bulb.

I want to thank NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA), Members Titles for forwarding this book to me to read.

I did not finish this book. After spending four days attempting to get into it and finishing about a third of it, I admitted to myself that it never grabbed my interest and finally gave up. Thanks to Net Galley and Black Opal for an ARC for an honest review.

I didn't take to Police Detective Luke McGinty or his investigation, and so didn't find the story of much interest.