Hold Back the Night
A Detective McDaniel Thriller #1
by Axel Blackwell

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Crime drama

When Detective Darren McDaniel is called in on a case involving a pre-teen girl found dead on a bus bench with a chain around her ankle, he knows it’s going to be bad. Child molestation and human trafficking feature heavily in this book, so let that be a warning to any who would prefer to avoid those topics.

Overall, this book reads like a typical police procedural story. It drags a bit as the lead characters wait for things to go through the proper channels, warrants to come through, etc., though it’s broken up some by the main character’s backstory being given to us in bits and pieces. There is some attempt at comic relief, but the book mostly stays dark and serious throughout. McDaniel’s relationship with his family is a breath of fresh air in this kind of story, and I really liked the way his wife pushes him to open up to her. There are some clichés, especially near the end, but it’s not overdone. There is a decent amount of language in the book (much of it even more unnecessary than usual), but no other content issues, other than the glaringly obvious one mentioned in the first paragraph.

When I read a self-published book, it is my intention not to let things that a professional editor would help with affect my view too much. I’m not saying that there is no burden of responsibility here, but it’s harder for self-published authors. So while it did not affect my rating, I will at least mention that there are definitely some typos and incorrect word choices, things that probably would have been fixed by some research and/or more editing (for example, a character uses an M1 Garand, but it’s spelled “Grand” in the book). Things like this can detract from the book for some, so let that be a warning. Overall, I enjoyed the book, even though the author left a pretty major loose end. I don’t know if I’ll continue the series, but I do recommend the book to fans of procedural crime dramas.

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