The Abbey; By Chris Culver

Ash Rashid, former Indianapolis homicide detective now working for the prosecutor\’s office, has a new investigation on his hands that strikes too close to home. Ash\’s new investigation involves his niece\’s murder complicated by the fact that her body was discovered in the home of one of Indianapolis\’s wealthiest families. The coroner called it a drug overdose but none of it makes any sense to Ash.

I thought this book started out good and continued that way through the first half and then things started getting uninteresting. It seems like it lost its flow, as if the lack of earlier character definition started haunting the author in his search to try to formulate a plausible beginning to an end.

A few of the main characters

– Olivia Rhodes, Detective Rashid\’s partner, was one character that I thought could have been further developed. As the book progressed, her role seemed to diminish, only to re-emerge in a major way

– Detective Rashid\’s wife Hannah, and daughter Megan were involved towards the end of the book by being victims themselves

– Nassir and Rena, Rashid\’s sister and brother-in-law, and parents of Rachel, the victim

– Detective Mike Bowers, Rashid\’s trusted partner at the end

– Konstantin Bukoholov, Russian mob boss and owner of the \”Lucky Bastard Saloon.\” This fellow is a very interesting character, one of the books best

– Karen Rea, antagonist, has a plan to infect China with a deadly virus

Detective Ash Rashid\’s murder investigation leads him on a twisting and turning adventure to find his nieces murderer. Rashid is a conflicted man, a man who is coping with how to best deal with the demands of the gun-toting violent nature of his job, law school at night, and his Muslim faith. Not having the full cooperation of the police department and the seemingly obstructive behavior emanating from his own bosses, not to mention his own partner Olivia Rhodes, he moves forward in his own imbibing manner.

Even though Detective Ash Rashid never drew a sober breath in this book he plods forward in his attempt to unravel the mystery. A mystery that eventually involves Dr. Karen Rea and her nephew Azrael. His investigation becomes increasingly personal; if he does not solve it soon it threatens to involve his family.

I would rate this book 3/5 stars. The book has some nice character formation in the beginning, continuing through the halfway point, and then it begins to lose momentum. I thought the author was struggling in the last third of the book to find a plausible way to end it. However I think he did a satisfactory job. It was an entertaining read, not a real page-turner, but not bad. Definitely worth the price.

I would look forward to reading another book by this author, especially since I do like reading this genre. I was entertained by the idea of a former homicide detective working for the Indianapolis prosecutor\’s office investigating the death of his niece, and at the same time juggling a bottle of booze, night school, and his Muslim faith. That is good stuff.

The Abbey

Reviewed by Raymond James

Raymond James is a website developer and writer living in Minneapolis. For more Ebook reviews and information please visit: http://www.ebookreadershop.net or http://www.cookingandmore.net

Raymond James is a website developer and writer living in Minneapolis. For more Ebook reviews and information please visit: http://www.ebookreadershop.net or http://www.cookingandmore.net

Author Bio: Raymond James is a website developer and writer living in Minneapolis. For more Ebook reviews and information please visit: http://www.ebookreadershop.net or http://www.cookingandmore.net

Category: Writing
Keywords: Muslim,police,law school,Indianapolis,gun,alcohol,murderdrugs,homicide,overdose,russian mob,china