Matt Hughes (3) (1949–)

This short novel is a nice detective story with an interesting main character and, for the most part, a fast-moving plot. The only slow parts are some tangents where there's a bit too much explanation of some political aspects of the plotline--that could be just me and my very limited tolerance for political "stuff", but I skim/skipped over most of it and it didn't hamper my understanding of the story. Other than that, the book is a quick read, well-written, with a nicely complicated plot, interesting characters, and a narrator I'd like to hear more from. I'll be watching to see if he turns up in other novels.… (más)

The language has a straight forward reading style and I finished the book in a couple of hours. My overall impression of the work is that it is quite masculine in feel. I do not mean that the crime solver, "Raff," is a super hero kind of sleuth. In fact, he has a bit of the charming bumbliness of Inspector Clouseau, a bit of the exactitude of Holmes, and a smidge of the class of Poirot. This is not to say that he cannot survive several thrashings with injuries that most of us would not be able to manage. He does what it takes to make a living. He is sort of an ordinary Joe who finds himself, by chance, in the midst of the evil doings of greedy people. We like him and we want him to thrive. The book has gore and it has humor. The title is a term in forestry. Should we clear out the remains of the woods to build homes for humans? Does this land need to be "developed?" Should we disturb life as it has been for generations? Read it before it gets snapped up by media moguls. My thanks to LibraryThing for a complimentary copy.… (más)

I got this in exchange for a review at LibraryThing.

Now, the plot was good and the writing was direct and straightforward, which is normally good. However, I felt that the writing was little bit too straightforward. Sometimes, each a sequence of paragraphs on the same page would still start out with "I...". Plus, the vocabulary is a little simple. The book may seem better if there was maybe some more descriptive words for better flow and if some figurative language or reading elements could be added.… (más)

Sid Rafferty, a writer for hire, lives with his girlfriend in a small town in Vancouver. The many threads of this novel include, but are not limited to, the preservation/cutting of old growth forests, historical events that might or might not become a movie, relationship issues that need to be dealt with, deaths that might be murder, illegal activities, politics, past relationships that impact the present and personal issues that may or may not be dealt with. Mr. Hughes has managed to tie everything up in a tidy story that is interesting left me wondering what will happen in the next book about Sid Rafferty.… (más)