Despite reading this book fairly quickly, it took me a bit to get into it. I think the scene was too gritty and heartbreaking for me to thoroughly enjoy. I thought the main character was well written with her many flaws out in the open for all the world to see. A shame what happened to some of my favorites in the book. You'd like to see a nice resolution for them, but alas. The novel ended well.

Slow moving plot that doesn't really take off until more than halfway through the book.

I am not talking about the kind of slow building, on-the-edge-of-your-seat anticipation of a well crafted story that has the reader anxiously wanting to dig into the heart of the story. I mean slow to the point of being boring. Had I not made a commitment to review this book I would have never finished it. Several times I put it down and had to force myself to pick it back up and continue reading.

Black Hills by Jennifer Schneider and Franklin Schneider begins when Alice, a private detective from New York, is called in to investigate a murder case involving the spouse of an estranged former colleague. The first half of the book consists mainly of Alice and her new Native American sidekick aimlessly going around partying, doing drugs, and not really investigating much of anything. Once the story jumps into gear - in respect to the whole murder case and whatnot - the situation becomes so implausible that it's something of a trainwreck to the finish line.

Needless to say, I cannot recommend this book.

R rated material. There is abundant drug use, strong language, and adult/sexual situations.

***Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this book.