Saturday, October 26, 2013

The Reckless Engineer by Jac Wright

I was given an advanced e-book copy of The Reckless Engineer by the author and asked to honestly post a review.  Before I do that, I have a small rant.

What the feck is up with people posting negative reviews of books they haven't read, because they don't like the subject matter, characters, and/or the author?  Are you twelve?  Did the mean girls in high school pee in your cornflakes?  Did your parent forget to teach you common decency?  Seriously people, it's embarrassing.

Okay, I feel better.  Now on to my review. 

The Reckless Engineer is the story of Jack Conner, the cheating husband of Caitlin McAllen, the only daughter of a very wealthy Scottish oilman.  The story opens with Jack's phone call to Jeremy Stone because Jack has been arrested for murdering his current mistress, Michelle, and Jack needs a solicitor.  Jeremy is not an attorney, but he shares a suite of offices (and receptionist) with Harry Stavers, solicitor for the rich and famous and Jeremy's best friend from college

As Harry works on Jack's defense, Jeremy investigates what happened and tries to untangle the mess Jack has put himself and his family in by having multiple affairs with women at work. The action follows Jeremy to the McAllen English estate and Scotland where Caitlin's family still lives and works.

The premise of the book is very interesting and the mystery is solid.  Jeremy who is an engineer by trade, attempts to find the murderer before Jack is convicted and sent to prison.  Jeremy is also trying to keep his engineering firm solvent, reconcile with his ex-wife, be loyal to Jack's ex-wife and his current wife, and keep a good working relationship with the McAllens, who have hired him to run the company in Jack's absence.

The mystery is good, but the engineering stuff was over my head and not as interesting to me as a good murder mystery.  I could do without Jeremy's attempts to reconcile with the ex-wife, in fact, I could have done without that part of the book, because I thought it didn't fit well with the whole premise of the book.   Of course, as this is the first installment in a series, I feel sure that the relationships will be fleshed out and the reader will learn much more about Jeremy's relationship with his ex and why he is having such a hard time letting go. 

2 comments:

Jac Wright said...

Very insightful. Thank you.

Jac Wright said...

Hi Tarri. I hope you don't mind my quoting you and cross posting the review link on my blog. (I have to ask permission.)

http://mysterynewsreviews.blogspot.co.uk/