This is the first book that I've read by Mr. Goble and it was a very good surprise. He has put together a good story, with interesting and fallible characters (just like us readers), after a slow beginning the story gets speed and all the reader wants to do is to reach the end to understand the plot fully. I'll be looking for other titles by this author.
I thank the author, his publisher, and NetGalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The fact that this storyline appeared to somewhat glorify a mentally ill, aggressive, alcoholic police officer led me to give this a two star rating.

City problems - Steve Goble

I’m sorry I didn’t get to read this title and so it expired therefore I cannot give an accurate review. Sorry

A big-city cop, struggling with a previous case, moves to a rural town where bad things rarely happen other than the neighbor's cat being stuck up a tree. However, like all that move from the big cities to the smaller towns, he realizes he can't escape that and decides to try to "right a wrong" by giving his all to this case so it won't end up like the last that forced him out of the city.

This was a fun mystery. I had a great time trying to figure out what was going on and how this story was going to end. Overall, a fun and great mystery.

I received an electronic ARC of this excellent police procedural from Netgalley, Steve Goble, and Oceanview Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Steve Goble is an author I will follow, and one I am pleased to recommend to friends and family. He writes a compelling tale with sympathetic, stalwart protagonists, old-fashioned heroes, and heroines doing their best to keep their world safe for all.

Ed Runyon was a cop in NYC who walked away after the search for a missing teenaged girl, a possible run-away, pretty and blonde, went wrong. The case was bumped several times by cases more immediate, more 'important', and Ed eventually found her tortured and nailed to a wall. That day he drove west as far as Ohio, where he eventually found a job with the Mifflin County Sheriff's Office, hoping to end his policing days chasing cows off the road and arresting shoplifters and Friday-night drunks.

But there are pretty, blond teenaged girls in Ohio, too. And there are also monsters, hiding in the cornfields. Assisting Detective Michelle 'Shelly' Beckworth with the Columbus, Ohio Police Department looking for a missing 16-year-old girl from her neck of the woods, Ed finds himself immersed again in his worse nightmare. Possibly a runaway from Upper Arlington, missing for only two days but a girl with good grades, no record, and a campaign-contributing father, Megan Beemer was last seen at a dance in Columbus on Saturday night. Columbus is in Franklin County. Their most important clue - there were many license plates from Mifflin County in the parking lot of the Columbus, Ohio venue as the band 'Soul Scrapped' from Mifflin County and Hollis High School was the entertainment.

Hoping for the best, Ed takes Shelly under his wing as they try to follow the trail of this missing girl. Ed is contending with nightly nightmares again and finds his days frantic and depressing and more indicative of Mifflin Counties' involvement in what looks more and more like a repeat of Ed's NYC final case. There are times when he is diverted by his SWAT duties or more pressing cases when Ed is afraid he cannot hold it all together long enough to solve this mystery. There are times Shelly isn't too sure, either.

loved getting to know Ed Runyon and his world. This was a well done mystery novel and I enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on.

I struggled with this one. I typically dive right in to police type mysteries. But this one just did not work for me. I wasn't a fan of the characters or the writing style. It just wasn't for me. I wish I'd liked it more.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Steve Goble's City Problems is a police procedural. First in a series, it introduces Mifflin County sheriff's detective Ed Runyon, in rural Ohio. Ed used to work for the NYPD, but quit after finding a blonde teen girl brutally murdered.

While investigating another teen girl's disappearance with Columbus Detective Shelly Beckworth, Ed has serious problems with anger management. He does solve the case but questions his own choices during the investigation..

Mifflin County, Ohio is basically a fueling stop on the I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland (A fictitious county, but most all the stops between Columbus and Cleveland are just that. I used to live in Ohio so I can say that with some impunity). It’s where former NYPD detective Ed Runyon finally landed after a particularly heinous missing persons case sent him over the edge. Running from city issues, he’s now a detective for the Mifflin County Sheriffs Office. Lives in a trailer off a road that is off a road. Near a creek. Plays his guitar. Battles depression and his own guilt about not having done enough to save a teenage girl from a grewsome death. Still drinks too much. Resists an 80yo resident’s invitations to church. Provides overwatch for the regional SWAT team. A local high school English teacher is his current friend with benefits. Decent co-workers. Occasional work-related outbursts. But so far, he prefers cases of a missing tractor to sliced and diced victims nailed in effigy to a wall covered with bloody graffiti.
A big party in Columbus drew kids from all around central Ohio. A girl has gone missing. All the local cops have to go on is that she left with some guy(s?) in a car not from Columbus. The search is focused on stops along I-71 north. Columbus is sending cops and detectives asking for local help. The Sheriff assigns Runyon to help Columbus Detective Michelle Beckworth.
There is the usual give and take about who is in charge. Who is the good cop and who is the bad cop. Basic cop banter. It’s a crap shoot that the missing girl arrived in the county, but they still have to look and start in with the local high school and ne’er do wells in the county like a punk band, football heros, survialists, and so forth.
When Runyon gets a scent, he narrows his laser focus on a suspect. Problem is his interview techniques tend to be a little coarse and Beckworth is continually reigning him in. Problem is that he zeros in on a suspect, he sees only two things. That girl and NY he failed to save (because his case load was so heavy) and how this case parallels that case, and he ain’t gonna let that happen again.
But it does. A drug lady pointing a handgun in his face. Said missing tractor. A day of SWAT duty. Every minute he’s on something else is one minute longer to find the missing girl. And it’s wearing on him to the point of making bad decisions when facing an AR-15.
Goble isn’t a rookie, but he’s not grocery store book rack worthy. Has maybe a half dozen titles to his credit. This book is presented as the first in an Ed Runyon series and I think it’ll be a fruitful venture. Runyon is a seriously flawed cop from his days in NYC. He battles his depression, the bottle, his temper and more with the help of his latter-day hippie girlfriend who gladly accepts a Svengali role to keep Ed’s feet on the ground. Not to mention this is an Oceanview Publishing book and so far I’ve met with good success with Oceanview books.
Serious readers tend to be on the prowl for new authors. Give Steve Goble a go. Glad I did.

Big-city trauma comes to small-town Ohio
Ed Runyon is the sheriff in small-town rural Ohio. He moved there to escape a traumatic past and is happy to just calmly and dispassionately break up weekend bar fights. The narrative continues in his first person conversations. He talks directly to readers in a professional, matter-of-fact cadence. He is a no-nonsense kind of guy, takes no backtalk, and just wants to uphold the law.
Things change when Detective Shelly Beckworth from Columbus arrives to search for a girl who vanished after party. The clues to her disappearance are few, but what there are, point to Mifflin County; Beckworth wants Runyon’s help. The missing person case suddenly turns into a complicated murder investigation, and Runyon struggles to find answers. Every clue unearthed brings more complications and dredges up haunting memories from his past.
The pace is focused and deliberate. Conversations move the plot along, and everyday events are interspersed throughout the story. Readers get a comprehensive picture of Runyon with his dedication to duty, a down-home Buckeye sense of humor, and the sometimes burning desire for retribution. Short, abrupt sentences create a feel of both urgency and tragedy. The plot increases in intensity as the case unfolds, and events become complex and very dramatic.
I received a review copy of “City Problems” from Steve Goble and Oceanview Publishing. This is the first book in the new “Ed Runyon Mystery” series. It effectively establishes the main characters and sets the stage for future compelling stories in Mifflin County, Ohio.

Der frühere New York City cop Ed Runyon hat sich nach harten beruflichen Jahren als sheriff’s detective nach Ohio’s Mifflin County zurück gezogen, für ein ruhigeres gewaltärmeres Leben. Aber dann benötigt Det. Shelly Beckworth vom Columbus PD Unterstützung in einem Vermisstenfall. High school junior Megan Beemer ist seit einer Party in Columbus, auf der eine lokale Band spielte, verschwunden.
Schon der Auftakt des Buches, die ersten Szenen zeigen erste Anzeichen von Humor und Selbstironie.
Ed befürchtet gleich, dass Det. Shelly Beckworth die „City Problems“ mitbringen wird, von denen er in der Vergangenheit schon genug hatte, vor denen er schlussendlich geflüchtet ist, als er es nicht mehr ertragen konnte. Und dass sie dann zu seiner Sorge werden. Dabei hat er doch extra vor 5 Jahren das NYPD verlassen. Das ländliche Polizeileben nun war zwar auch nicht einfach, hatte aber nicht die Form von Verrücktheiten von menschlichen Tieren und Soziopathen, wie eine Großstadt. Der Suche nach der vermissten Teenagerin erinnert ihn zu sehr an seinen letzten Fall.
Ed nimmt mit Shelly die Ermittlungen unter den ansässigen Teenagern auf und hofft inständig, dass bald der Anruf kommt, dass sie woanders gefunden wurde und er sich nicht mehr ständig an den damaligen grausamen Fall erinnern muss.

Es wird viel geflucht und unflätig gesprochen. Was viele Kritiker bemängelt haben. Wer das nicht lesen möchte, auch wenn es heut zu Tage örtlich real sein mag, sollte das Buch besser meiden.
Ich fand den Roman sehr unterhaltend und spannend mit einem passenden Ende. Ich würde durchaus einen weiteren Band zu diesem Serienauftakt lesen.

City Problems by Steve Goble is a rural police procedural. Detective Ed Runyon has left New York for a quieter and more peaceful life in Ohio. A horrid murder in New York drove him to look for a place where life is simpler and less violent. All is well until a detective from Columbus shows up looking for a missing teenage girl and she has reason to believe that the girl might have been taken to the rural area. The investigation proceeds in a haphazard way. The characters are numerous and appear here and there, with most of them seeming to be guilty at one time or another. I found the plot confusing at best and boring and unrealistic at worst. However, I’m sure many will enjoy this mystery. My opinion is not a reason to prevent other readers from enjoying this book. This is the first in a new series and there is no doubt that what will come next will be well worth the read. Thank you to Oceanview Publishing, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for approving this book as EARC.

Thank you to author Steve Goble for introducing us to Ed Runyon.

Ed is not a hero, he is far from it but I wanted to know more about his failures and wins.
I was invested in Ed like everyone else in Mifflin County. As a reader, I felt his pain and the raw emotions he felt when things did not go according to plan. Ed is human and he definitely made mistakes, too many to count.

Ed will definitely make the reader question his actions which is what I adored about this book, you are not getting the warm fuzzy feeling from this guy.

If you are looking for a glorified-too-good-to-be-true protagonist, Ed is not your man. However, if you want to read about someone who has their heart in the right place and is trying very hard to overcome the demons whilst solving crimes, congratulations, you have found your man.

I loved how easy it was to quickly turn the pages and finish this book in less than 24 hours. I appreciate the time stamps and date which gave me an appreciation of when the events took place.

This book is written as first person narrative which takes the reader straight to Ed’s mind and I found this was the best approach to take to really know a new character.

I am looking forward to Ed’s next adventure!

Ed Runyon is an ex-NYPD officer, now living in rural Ohio as a detective for the county sheriff. When the teen of a powerful family goes missing, the officer on the case, Shelly, finds her way to Runyon's area. Though Runyon is a good cop and knows right from wrong, he has a dark side and some demons from his time in New York. Runyon and Shelly team up to find out what happened to the missing girl as Ed tries to manage his demons.

The idea of a cop looking for a change of pace was a nice storyline and I did feel bad that at every turn he was met with more and more darkness. Unfortunately, I just could not connect to this book or it's characters. Ed reminds me a bit of Hopper from Stranger Things - a badass cop who has a big heart but makes some mistakes and is a bit rough around the edges and to me that makes Ed likeable. The storyline itself just wasn't enough for me to get invested in. It's a decent mystery but it just fell flat for me.

**Please note that I whole heartedly appreciate and acknowledge the amount of work and time goes into writing a book and it always pains me to give a poor review.

Excellent! Well done. Writer did a good job , terrific realism. I will look forward to his next book

My thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC ebook of City Problems in exchange for an unbiased review.

Steve Goble has created a tough but weary detective in Ed Runyon. Formerly a NYC cop, Runyon has fled to Ohio in the aftermath of a violent murder of a young girl; Runyon believes he failed to investigate the girl's disappearance in a timely fashion and thus allowed the murderer time to torture and kill the girl. Guilt weighs heavily on Runyon and all the therapy and alcohol and logic don't eliminate his sense of failure. Now in Ohio Runyon works as a detective and SWAT member for a much smaller department where domestic assaults and drug crimes far outnumber murders. The arrival of a Columbus detective investigating the disappearance of a teen girl from a party forces Runyon to confront his demons.

Throw in some anti-government radicals with vast numbers of weapons and some local football stars and Goble has created an environment for great storytelling. I look forward to reading more in the series.

#NetGalley #CityProblems #EdRunyon

This novel is a reminder that law enforcement need better mental health coverage to address burnout and receive treatment for PTSD related to everything they handle in the field.

City Problems by Steve Goble is your standard cop with anger issues and a troubled past mystery novel. It's not a bad novel in any sense, but I found that it lacked some originality for me. The shift in POV didn't work well for me and it felt a bit forced. Overall the story wasn't bad and the twists were enjoyable, but I couldn't quite connect with the main character and the story the way I wanted.

Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for this ebook copy!

I really enjoyed this story. It was interesting and intriguing.
Tense, twisty and utterly absorbing City Problems is a fantastic thriller.
The characterisation is superb, they were my favorite.
The mystery, the suspense. I enjoyed it all!
This is one I will recommend to all my reading friends and family!

Thank you!