Book Review
Dark Paradise by Gene Desrochers
Book 1: Boise Montague Series
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Publication Date: June 12, 2018
Format: Hard Cover / Paperback - 337 pages
Kindle - 1936 KB
Nook - 561 KB
ISBN: 978-1947392168ASIN: B07DQ3K5ZN
BNID: 2940155560098
Genre: Murder / Mystery / Caribbean Noir / Thriller
Buy The Book:
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.
Book Description:
Book Excerpt:
Behind me, the door I’d entered through opened. A very tan redhead showing signs of aging from many days spent in the sun entered carrying a laptop bag and shouldering a camera. A red Carnegie Mellon University baseball cap that looked like it had been run over by a garbage truck covered part of her tough, but beautiful face. She looked me over like I was a mongrel who’d wandered in begging for table scraps.
“You need something?” She dropped her stuff down on the cushioned chair next to the counter.
“Uh, yes, I wondered if I could get some clippings or microfilm or copies or whatever it is newspapers give for issues two to eight years old. Are they digitized yet?” I stammered.
“Seriously, what do you want?” She pulled her Ray-Bans off and the gray-blue of her eyes stunned me for a moment. Using her sunglasses, she tapped my shoulder. “Hello?”
The faint odor of cigarette smoke assaulted me when she got close.
“Clippings, you know, news from the past,” I said.
As she slipped the glasses into a case from her purse she said, “Yes, but you implied that something here was digitized.” She pursed her thin lips. “This newspaper went online three years ago, so, the last three years are available online in the archives section if you buy a subscription. You a subscriber?”
“I don’t have a subscription,” I said defensively.
“Figures. This is why my job is constantly in danger. Everyone expects news for free.” Her fine hair moved in a blur as she shook her head derisively while she rummaged for something in her bag.
“Hey, I’m happy to buy a subscription. I support journalism,” I said. It sounded lame.
We both flinched as a thunderous banging rang through the room as something or someone hit the other side of a door to my left.
She threw her hands up, exclaiming, “Not again!”
“What? What’s that?” I said.
“Calling the cops,” she sang out. “They said they’re gonna start charging us if this happened again,” she whispered.
Another, more urgent banging erupted through the room. The reporter had her cell out.
“Wait,” I said. “Is it really that dangerous?”
“No, just annoying.” She pressed a button on her phone. “You believe this? Now I’m on hold. I could probably walk over to the police station faster. He’ll probably take a dump on the floor by the time we get back.”
***
Excerpt from Dark Paradise by Gene Desrochers. Copyright © 2018 by Gene Desrochers. Reproduced with permission from Gene Desrochers. All rights reserved.
“Clippings, you know, news from the past,” I said.
As she slipped the glasses into a case from her purse she said, “Yes, but you implied that something here was digitized.” She pursed her thin lips. “This newspaper went online three years ago, so, the last three years are available online in the archives section if you buy a subscription. You a subscriber?”
“I don’t have a subscription,” I said defensively.
“Figures. This is why my job is constantly in danger. Everyone expects news for free.” Her fine hair moved in a blur as she shook her head derisively while she rummaged for something in her bag.
“Hey, I’m happy to buy a subscription. I support journalism,” I said. It sounded lame.
We both flinched as a thunderous banging rang through the room as something or someone hit the other side of a door to my left.
She threw her hands up, exclaiming, “Not again!”
“What? What’s that?” I said.
“Calling the cops,” she sang out. “They said they’re gonna start charging us if this happened again,” she whispered.
Another, more urgent banging erupted through the room. The reporter had her cell out.
“Wait,” I said. “Is it really that dangerous?”
“No, just annoying.” She pressed a button on her phone. “You believe this? Now I’m on hold. I could probably walk over to the police station faster. He’ll probably take a dump on the floor by the time we get back.”
***
Excerpt from Dark Paradise by Gene Desrochers. Copyright © 2018 by Gene Desrochers. Reproduced with permission from Gene Desrochers. All rights reserved.
“You need something?” She dropped her stuff down on the cushioned chair next to the counter.
“Uh, yes, I wondered if I could get some clippings or microfilm or copies or whatever it is newspapers give for issues two to eight years old. Are they digitized yet?” I stammered.
“Seriously, what do you want?” She pulled her Ray-Bans off and the gray-blue of her eyes stunned me for a moment. Using her sunglasses, she tapped my shoulder. “Hello?”
The faint odor of cigarette smoke assaulted me when she got close.
“Clippings, you know, news from the past,” I said.
As she slipped the glasses into a case from her purse she said, “Yes, but you implied that something here was digitized.” She pursed her thin lips. “This newspaper went online three years ago, so, the last three years are available online in the archives section if you buy a subscription. You a subscriber?”
“I don’t have a subscription,” I said defensively.
“Figures. This is why my job is constantly in danger. Everyone expects news for free.” Her fine hair moved in a blur as she shook her head derisively while she rummaged for something in her bag.
“Hey, I’m happy to buy a subscription. I support journalism,” I said. It sounded lame.
We both flinched as a thunderous banging rang through the room as something or someone hit the other side of a door to my left.
She threw her hands up, exclaiming, “Not again!”
“What? What’s that?” I said.
“Calling the cops,” she sang out. “They said they’re gonna start charging us if this happened again,” she whispered.
Another, more urgent banging erupted through the room. The reporter had her cell out.
“Wait,” I said. “Is it really that dangerous?”
“No, just annoying.” She pressed a button on her phone. “You believe this? Now I’m on hold. I could probably walk over to the police station faster. He’ll probably take a dump on the floor by the time we get back.”
***
Excerpt from Dark Paradise by Gene Desrochers. Copyright © 2018 by Gene Desrochers. Reproduced with permission from Gene Desrochers. All rights reserved.
“Clippings, you know, news from the past,” I said.
As she slipped the glasses into a case from her purse she said, “Yes, but you implied that something here was digitized.” She pursed her thin lips. “This newspaper went online three years ago, so, the last three years are available online in the archives section if you buy a subscription. You a subscriber?”
“I don’t have a subscription,” I said defensively.
“Figures. This is why my job is constantly in danger. Everyone expects news for free.” Her fine hair moved in a blur as she shook her head derisively while she rummaged for something in her bag.
“Hey, I’m happy to buy a subscription. I support journalism,” I said. It sounded lame.
We both flinched as a thunderous banging rang through the room as something or someone hit the other side of a door to my left.
She threw her hands up, exclaiming, “Not again!”
“What? What’s that?” I said.
“Calling the cops,” she sang out. “They said they’re gonna start charging us if this happened again,” she whispered.
Another, more urgent banging erupted through the room. The reporter had her cell out.
“Wait,” I said. “Is it really that dangerous?”
“No, just annoying.” She pressed a button on her phone. “You believe this? Now I’m on hold. I could probably walk over to the police station faster. He’ll probably take a dump on the floor by the time we get back.”
***
Excerpt from Dark Paradise by Gene Desrochers. Copyright © 2018 by Gene Desrochers. Reproduced with permission from Gene Desrochers. All rights reserved.
My Book Review:
In Dark Paradise, the debut novel and first book of the Boise Montague Series, author Gene Desrochers weaves an intriguing murder mystery tale that follows private investigator Boise Montague's investigation into the murder of his childhood friend Roger Black.
This dark Caribbean noir mystery tale is set in the tropical island setting of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Boise returns to his Caribbean childhood home from Los Angeles after the death of his wife Evelyn. The police thought that Evelyn's death was an accident, but Boise thought it was murder but he couldn't prove it, and the police had threatened to arrest him for interference in the investigation. Heartbroken and defeated, Boise hoped that by coming home to St. Thomas, he would be able to pick up the pieces of his life, but the island isn't the same as when he grew up there, and he finds out that his childhood best friend Roger Black had turned into a drug dealer and died two years ago on Christmas Eve. Boise decides to look into Roger's death, thinking he was murdered, and solicits the help of Dana Goode, a local reporter for The Daily News. While investigating Roger's death, Boise and Dana find themselves unexpectedly getting involved in a kidnapping investigation of a sixteen year old local girl that entangles them in more danger than they bargained for all in the name of getting justice.
Author Gene Desrochers provides a multi-layered storyline that has enough mystery, suspense, drama, treachery, secrets, and intriguing twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing, while weaving an intricate and complicated web of what the motive of Roger's murder and the local girl's kidnapping could have been, and the spectrum of possible participants who could have been involved in committing them.
Told in the first person perspective, Boise takes the reader along for the ride on his stealthy investigative adventures. This engaging Caribbean noir mystery story has realistic characters; witty island dialogue and humorous interactions; a rich description of the island setting of St. Thomas; and a multi-layered storyline that easily draws the reader into the interconnection between Boise's childhood past and the present, and how the pieces of the murder and kidnapping investigations puzzles comes together and are solved.
Dark Paradise is the kind of island murder mystery that easily keeps the reader captivated, guessing, on their toes, and wanting more!
RATING: 4 STARS
About The Author
Author Website
Amazon Author Page
Goodreads
Contest Giveaway
Win A $20 Amazon Gift Card
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Virtual Book Tour Event
Tour Participants:
01/01 Showcase @ Bound 2 Escape
01/02 Interview @ BooksChatter
01/04 Interview @ A Blue Million Books
01/07 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews
01/07 Showcase @ Just Books
01/08 Review @ sunny island breezes
01/08 Showcase @ The Pulp and Mystery Shelf
01/09 Interview @ Quiet Fury Books
01/09 Showcase @ The Reading Frenzy
01/10 Showcase @ Stacking My Book Shelves!
01/14 Guest post @ Crack A Book Cafe
01/15 Review @ Wall-to-wall books
01/16 Guest post @ CMash Reads
01/17 Showcase @ The Bookworm Lodge
01/19 Showcase @ Eclectic Moods
01/19 Showcase @ Mythical Books
01/22 Showcase @ Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
01/24 Review @ Nesies Place
01/25 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews
01/28 Showcase @ Midwest Ladies Who Lit
01/29 Blog Talk Radio w/Fran Lewis
01/29 Review @ Just Reviews
01/29 Review @ Life at 17
01/30 Guest post @ Read and Review
Fantastic post. Twists and turns!!?? My kind of book!
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl! Great debut book and start of a new series. :)
DeleteI have been to St Thomas, so the location, along with the murder intrigues me.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Hi Sherry! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it. I've never been to St. Thomas, the rich description of the Virgin Islands makes me want to visit, and the storyline kept me hooked! :)
Delete