Kate Atkinson’s Big Sky (Little Brown, $28.00) has been well received and gotten sterling reviews as another thriller in her Jackson Brody private detective series. I had never read her work and was expecting an English version of Jack Reacher since the jacket flap said he was a tough, no–prisoners kind of guy. Unfortunately, I found the book a colossal disappointment.
Atkinson throws a host of characters at you, along with many references to an intricate back story that are not well explained, and a murder mystery that is simply not very mysterious. Worse, the hero appears in only about a fourth of the scenes, usually dealing with parenting problems familiar to anyone with a teenager, instead of sleuthing. The only interesting character is a former sex slave now married to a wealthy man; however, Crystal is never in much real danger as the plot plods along.
We know immediately that there is an ongoing child sex-slave conspiracy and it only takes a few pages to figure out who’s involved. Atkinson throws in a couple of washed-out actors at a comedy show in Whitby (the former home of Bram Stoker) for little reason, though they consume many pages.
The only thing intriguing about two young, petite, police constables is whether they will have sex. Unfortunately, they don’t. The climax is predictable with Brody practically irrelevant in the solution. Save your money. D-
Steve E Clark as seen in the New York Times is Author of Justice Is for the Lonely and Justice Is for the Deserving, Kristen Kerry Novels Of Suspense. Steve is a 2017 NY Big Book Award winner and a 2018 Independent Book Awards recipient. You can purchase his books via https://steveclarkauthor.com/buy-the-book/ or request it at your local book store. Want to know more about Steve Clark, read more reviews or speak directly with Steve? Learn more about Steve at SteveClarkAuthor.com
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