Books read in 2011: No. 7 - The Cradle of Ruin: Detective Michaels

by Jesse C. Dedman

Started: February 3
Finished: March 16

Notes: Editor, publisher and writer Dedman passed along to me a copy of one of his most recent novels, and I couldn't pass up the chance to read it. Jesse's works tend to be quite dark, which is fine because that's the sort of mood I've been looking for in my next fiction reads.

Mini review: Sheesh, it took me long enough to read this one, but it's not the author's fault. I read this e-book on my computer, which I don't care much to do though I did it in this case. And then my computer had a major crash a while back, which didn't help. This e-book really put me in the mood to write something dark, and that's fine with me. The story here started off strong and then it weakened somewhat, though it gathered its strength again toward the end. Still, I felt the ending came a bit too quick for my liking, and would have preferred it to have been stretched out a little more with a little more meat to it; the final fight scene was over too quickly, in my opinion. SPOILER: My favorite aspect about this novel (really a collection of linked short stories) was the main character, Detective Michaels. In a world gone insane after apocalypse, Michaels might be the most insane of all. Literally. He sees people who aren't there. Are they dead spirits speaking to him? Or is he crazy? That's up to the reader to decide. But one of the interesting aspects of this story is trying to figure out what is real and what is just part of Michaels' imagination. You never can tell for sure.