Christopher Rice has been writing very good novels since 2000, and his debut "Density of Souls". I've read a fair number of his books, now, and each of them has been interesting and engaging.

In "Light Before Day", he takes readers to Los Angeles and the seedy underbelly of LA. It's a noir tale of sex, drugs, and revenge. If you're a fan of LA-based crime and mystery, then I'd definitely recommend you give this novel a try.

Light Before Day was unfortunately a forgettable novel for me. I did not enjoy the plot as much as I did with other Christopher Rice books. While the novel is not entirely bad, I was not drawn into the story. I couldn't really connect with the characters. ***THREE STARS***

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Adam Murphy wants to be a serious journalist. Unfortunately, he spends his days writing copy about underwear and abs for a gay lifestyle magazine. When a troubled young porn star brings him a tip about a recently deceased marine’s secret visit to an infamous pimp for underage boys, Adam is determined to break the story…until someone starts threatening his life.
Undeterred, Adam begins to unravel a deadly conspiracy involving runaway sugar daddies, salacious A-list parties, and three handsome young men who have vanished without a trace. Now he must enter the seedy underbelly of LA to find the truth behind their disappearance, as well as the disappearance of his ex-lover, Corey—who may have some deadly secrets of his own.

This was one of those books that it a little hard to pin down for a review. The parts that I enjoyed, I liked quite a lot...but the things that weren't great, really drove me nuts.

What's to like about this: well, it is, at its heart, a mystery novel and I am good with that. Mysteries are what I grew up with so I have read a LOT of them - and this one does pretty well in that aspect. I liked that Christopher never shied away from the bad stuff that happens in and around California at that time - sex, drugs, murder - by the poorest people and by the richest. It runs the gamut from child pornography to assassinations...sometimes uncomfortable, but that's what I want from time to time.

What bugged me: the constant metaphors - they ranged from "clever" to "just stop, already!" His editor needed to tell him that once a page is too much...Also particularly annoying was the constant plot twists which, I have to admit, caught me out once (I was probably crying in the corner from another failed metaphor) and threw me from the story. One good, solid plot twist can do the story wonders...multiple one (I think 3 or 4 easily), just becomes frustrating. Finally, the cast was huge - it just felt too heavily populated for the real mystery story to come through...

Overall? A pretty good mystery novel wrapped inside a frustrating writing style.


Paul
ARH