Necessities by Boyd Taylor (Book #4 in the Donnie Ray Cuinn series)
Book Details:Category: Adult Fiction, 225 pages
Genre: Suspense Crime Fiction
Publisher: Katherine Brown Press
Release date: December 5, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (There is a murder and allusions to sex. Some mild cursing.)
Where to buy this book:
Add Necessities to your Goodreads
How I got this book:
Received a review copy via iRead Book Tours
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Donnie Ray Cuinn returns to Austin to defend a war hero accused of murder. David Lewis lost both legs in Iraq, but he has overcome his nightmares and his disabilities by sheer willpower. He has learned to run and to box and is a successful newspaperman with a beautiful wife and son. Now the nightmares have returned and he must stand trial for murder. With twists that never seem to end, this gripping legal thriller is filled with suspense and indelibly drawn characters dealing with love and betrayal.
This is the second of Boyd Taylor's Donnie Cuinn crime thrillers that I have read and I think that this fourth book in the series, Necessities, was even stronger than the first book, Hero. I now need to go back and read the intervening two stories as well!
Necessities is split into a book of two halves and I loved Taylor's audacity in scarcely even mentioning Cuinn until the second half of the tale. Instead, we start out by following and really getting to know disabled war veteran David Lewis. A strong and determined man, we still get to see his weaker side and I enjoyed reading about how he finds himself in a seemingly perfect marriage that is perfect to his wife for surprisingly different reasons. Taylor frequently turns established genre conventions on their heads. His characters are completely real and believable, but unexpected within the crime genre and I think this gives an extra lift to the storylines too. If you're trying for a greater number of diverse reads this year, Boyd Taylor books are certainly worth looking in to.
I don't want to say too much about the storyline in this review because I just know I would inadvertently spoil a twist or denouement for someone. Enough to say, I think, that I rarely give crime series novels the full five stars, but Necessities absolutely deserves every single one!
Watch the book trailer for Necessities (Book #4 in the Donnie Ray Cuinn Series):
Meet the Author:
Boyd's first novel "Hero" was prescient in its story about fake news. His second novel, "The Antelope Play," dealt with drug trafficking in the Texas Panhandle, an unfortunately accurate forecast. The third, "The Monkey House", involved commercial development of a large green space in the center of Austin, all too familiar to Austin residents. Whether his upcoming novel "Necessities" predicts future events with the accuracy of the earlier books remains to be seen.
Connect with the Author: Website ~ Facebook
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Ends March 7, 2018
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Please let me thank you for the review. I appreciate you reading my book and I hope you get a chance to read the earlier ones as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping by, Boyd :-)
DeleteI entered-- *fingers crossed*! Looks good! Thanks for the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
DeleteI have to admit it took me a moment to realize those were leg prosthetics, but now that I see them, it does make me happy to see more disability being shown on a cover! And it sounds like this was a well-written book with a great, realistic character!
ReplyDeleteI think Boyd Taylor writes disabled characters authentically - another character is blind. He shows their disability and, if relevant, the practical problems to be overcome, but without being patronising or pitying.
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