Sunday, May 15, 2011

Book Review: Nick of Time - By Tim Downs

**This is not my photo**
I just finished reading "Nick of Time" by Tim Downs; a book in the series of "Bug Man Novels".
Personally, I was a bit skeptic when I first read the description of this book but I was introduced to a whole new kind of writing and I actually really like it! Don't be fooled by the description if you are one to decide on reading books by the back cover, I personally thought it sounded stupid and more like a book a 9-year-old would read. But I was completely wrong.
I am happy to post this description of the book...

Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak lives in a world of maggots and blow flies and decomposing bodies. No wonder he's still single. 
But Nick has finally found a woman as strange as he is - a dog trainer Alena Savard, a woman who is odd, reclusive, and can seemingly talk to animals. It was a match made in heaven. 
Nick and Alena are scheduled to be married on Saturday - but there's one small problem. Nick has disappeared.
Caught up in a murder case involving an old friend, Nick finds himself on a manhunt that's drawing him farther and farther from the church where Alena is waiting. But will he make it back in time? Could Nick's single-minded focus cause him to forget his own wedding? Is he really pursuing a killer, or is he running away from something else? 


I have to say, I was very uneasy about reading this book, I was quite afraid I would have very little positive things to say about it ha-ha. But I rest my case, I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. This book had to be one of the most strangest reads I've ever picked up, but the character development is interesting, and the quirky ways of Nick and his VERY amusing antics and dialogues made it a fun and mysterious/suspenseful book! Never thought by looking at the back of the book that this book would be anywhere near making me laugh pretty hard.
Nick is a complete jerk sometimes, but the way he does things is REALLY funny. He's very sarcastic, and loves snapping at everyone (especially policeman ha-ha).
The story I would have to say is very intriguing, I don't really have anything much to say about the plot of the book, other than its very unique. Overall I really did like this book, it was a nice story with humor, mystery, and suspense. That's another thing; it constantly kept me on my toes when I got to probably around the middle of the book...

Negative stuff I suppose, there is a few references to beer but no one get's drunk, and there is no inappropriate content such as even a little kissing. And there is one scene with Alena, she took shelter in a bar to wait out of the rain for a call from Nick, and there is a man who flirts with her and follows her out of the bar when she rejects him. And it suggests that he was cheating on his wife at home, and there is a little bit of confrontation that suggest something bad might of happened if she hadn't done something about it, but nothing bad does happen so don't worry.
Those things don't bother me personally, but I thought I should throw that out there in case there is anybody who happens to come across this and doesn't like reading that kind of stuff. Along with that stuff there is some violence things, but that's what comes along with being a forensic scientist/entomologist.
But the things that do bug me; (haha, not meant to be a pun with the "Bug man" ;) is that I couldn't tell who was talking half of the time sometimes, I think that's a pretty amateur mistake on a writer's part, I mean I'm only fifteen and I try to throw a few "He said" "she said" things in there every now and then.
But there wasn't very much besides a couple of descriptions in between phrases, and those were the only times I knew who was talking.
That bugs me a lot, I have to go back and make sure I know that was Nick who said this... and not the other person.
I was also a bit disappointed with the ending, but I suppose not all books can end the way you wanted it to. I think the thing I like about the ending is that it leaves it open for sequels, or not, so the readers can imagine the future of Alena and Nick by themselves.
That's all I have to say negative about it though.

One more thing though...
There is a pretty radical twist in the book! You will be just as surprised as I will be! I am not going to say anything about it but... WOW. I was totally not expecting that twist in the book, Tim Downs caught me completely off guard lol!
That's it for my review. =) Hope you pick up this book and read it, if you like things like I just described.

Overall I rate this book four out of five stars. 

~Jazmine

Thanks to booksneeze.com for supplying me with this free copy of the book for purely reviewing purposes. 

NOTE: I am not obligated to write a positive review, only an honest one.

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