Coastside Detectives: The Grand View

By: Matthew F. O'Malley

Narrated by: David Angelo

The views of San Francisco, so well known from dozens of film noir tales and classic novels, are the backdrop to a tale rooted in the smart-bombed skyline of present-day Baghdad, with results in San Francisco just as deadly.

Detective Mike Mason now lives in Pacifica, a small coastal town just south of San Francisco, but is drawn back to the rough streets of the city's Tenderloin District by a new client named Laura Grandviewer, who is as beautiful as she is untrustworthy. Lies and half-truths send Mike upon a crooked path, and before he can unsnarl all of the loose ends, Laura has set waving in the criminal winds, a growing body count will work to unnerve this hardened detective and end in a climactic splash of blood.

The latest in a long line of West Coast private eyes, Mike Mason takes stock of the state of his soul, as he navigates the complexities of a criminal caper and finds clarity for both in the fog-scrubbed sky viewed from California's winding Highway One.

Matthew O'Malley is also the author of multiple award-winning short stories found within his Tales for Sale series. This is the first audiobook in the Coastside Detectives series.

©2010, 2015 Matthew O'Malley (P)2019 Matthew O'Malley

good detective

a very well written book it was very enjoyable Mike was a very interesting character the narrator was good and overall it was a very good book
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

My hometown mystery

Knowing all the places mentioned made me feel right there with the story. It all was happening right here in my hometown .

Clients lie

hard-boiled, private-investigators, law-enforcement, art-theft, artifact, greed

Everybody lies. Especially the client. Joe takes the call but Mike takes the case using a part time nerd employee and a street girl for surveillance help. There's an art dealer who seems suspicious, an "importer" who has a somewhat derelict plane plus a boat as well as some interested law enforcement. Things get really busy after the first murder! Loved it!
Narrator David Angelo has the perfect delivery for this book!
I won this audiobook in a giveaway! :)

A clean private PI story

What I liked:

*The story was fun with twists and turns. It was not predictable.
*There were many surprises.
*The story reminded me of the old time detective stories I enjoyed (clean).
*The narrator brought the analytical, don't mess with me detective alive.

I was given a copy of this audiobook from the narrator at my request.

Loved it!

I wish this story was a series. I really loved the main characters and its nod to film noir.

Detective Mike Mason is Phillip Marlowe light but I enjoyed him. A lot of the story took place inside Mike's head, a la Marlowe, and the narrator does a decent job with the cadence. There is a dame with questionable ethics, a hardened old-timer, an over-worked police force and lots, and lots of mystery.

It really is too bad this story is not a series...

4/5 Stars - Modern Noir Fic

Summary:

Mike and Joe get a job that should be easy. Watch a guy named Hamid, but things get more complicated quickly.

Additional Comments:

Mike is kind of an old-fashioned detective set in the modern world.
Clean except for a few curses. 2 f-bombs near the end.
Not very realistic but enjoyable.
Smugglers and thieves galore.
Pretty sure he would have been sued multiple times in the modern US. Set in San Francisco.
The client lied ... that comes to the forefront quickly.
Cool twists and turns.
Has one of my pet peeves: a preview of another book. It seems like page stuffing. Maybe some people like it.
Narrator did a nice job.

Conclusion:

Not realistic but a fun PI with no consequences sort of thing.
*I received a free copy from the author/narrator. I have freely chosen to review. All views are my own.

Noir Plot was Good

The back ground was given from days of when they started in the Tenderloin District. To a new client that draws Mike back there, Laura is beautiful untrustworthy and lies, sending Mike to taking crooked paths, and murdered bodies.
Noir type story, with a good description of Mike for a PI. I liked the narrator, David Angelo,his voice was relaxed and fitted into the story and brought it to life. Given ARC audible for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

Only for die hard detective fiction fans

I received this for book for free in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book, but I found myself disinterested in the characters. They felt very flat to me. If hard boiled detective stories are your favourite thing, that's the only reason to listen. Otherwise, I'd say pass.