Guest Review: The Zen Man

It happens, we all receive books that fall outside of the genre that we typically read or have books on our shelves that we haven't had a chance to read... yet. Well, having an avid reader for a husband helps me get through some of the back log. I am happy to welcome back Murray, my hubby, as he reviews The Zen Man.

Without further adieu, I will now turn over the blog to Murray...


The Zen Man by Colleen Collins

Format: ebook
Pages/Size: 441 KB
Published: December 18, 2011
Publisher: WIN, Inc (Self)
Genre: Mystery, Fiction

My Rating: 3.5/5

Summary (from amazon.com):

Just as washed-up criminal defense attorney, life-long Deadhead (nickname “The Zen Man”), and current PI Rick Levine decides to get relicensed as a lawyer, he’s charged with killing one and ends up in the slammer with a half-mil bail.

Released on bond, Rick and his girlfriend Laura have 30 days to find the real killer. In the course of their investigations, they dig for dirt among Denver’s shady legal backrooms to its tony corporate centers. Dodging bullets, a kidnapping, trumped-up charges and the FBI's unwanted intervention, Rick and Laura continue tracking key suspects who have motive...eventually learning that true redemption begins at home.

Review:

How to review this book?

First of all, as you may remember from my previous attempts to write reviews, this is not my profession and I don’t claim to be an expert on the fundamentals of creating classic works of literature. I read ‘em, and tell you if I like ‘em.

So with that said I will say I liked “the Zen Man”. I also was annoyed by it over and over.

The plot and basic story was great. Grabbed you early and had a ton of twists and turns from start to finish. It kept you guessing “who done it”? Then even if you guessed correctly the constant surprises forced you to re-evaluate your theory throughout the book.

Now for the “annoying” part I mentioned earlier. There were things about the story that kept getting on my nerves.

First, I didn’t understand the majority of the quotes at the start of the chapters. A few I could find relevance in the story, but the majority seemed to just be placed there for the fun of it. I am completely open to the possibility that I am just a dummy or didn’t look hard enough for the connection. However, I don’t read crime fiction to test myself, I read it for entertainment. It didn’t take away from the story; I just didn’t see how it added either.

My second complaint was that the main characters seemed to act very irrational at times. I don’t want to go into too much detail and spoil the book, but it seemed to me that as a few events occurred, the decision making left something to be desired and made me question their reasoning. I often sighed in frustration when the protagonist would do exactly the opposite of what I thought made sense. I should note that I’m not a private investigator, so what the heck do I know??

So to sum it up, I give an overall rating of 3/5. Not a perfect story, frustrating at times, but overall worth a read and quite entertaining from start to finish.