Storm Damage

Cliff St. James, Book 1

By: Ed Kovacs

Narrated by: David Marantz

In a city overwhelmed with murder and mayhem, the last homicide before a Category 5 hurricane wipes out New Orleans is quickly forgotten and remains unsolved. Until now.Calling to mind Chinatown’s Jake Gittes or Chandler’s Philip Marlowe comes a new kind of private detective - a mixed-martial arts coach and bare-knuckled former cop who investigates a curious missing persons/murder case. The cold trail quickly heats up, propelling him into a battle of wits and brawn with the deadliest killers operating in the apocalyptic, post-hurricane ruins of New Orleans.With no forensic evidence, a destroyed crime scene, and no corpse, Cliff St. James, who’s practically homeless and on the verge of bankruptcy, tenaciously navigates the gritty aftermath of a city that’s barely functioning. The more layers of deceit he peels away surrounding the case, the grander is the conspiracy that comes into focus, placing him squarely in the cross-hairs of those who specialize in remaining unknown.

©2011 Ed Kovacs (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Relevant and well conceived

Very compelling story line. Hits all the right notes, and presents the characters in a lively manner. Looking forward to book 2!

Sorry, it was just not worth my time

What did you like best about Storm Damage? What did you like least?

Not much, I couldn't finish it. I found the combination of dialog and narrator very annoying for many characters. Don't know whether that's writing or performance. Also it struck me as ludicrous that a honest uniformed cop of only 8 years owned a condo AND a dojo AND used to run a bar? When did he run these other enterprises much less how did he fund them? So much of the early story was a lot of inconsistent cliches.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Not much! I am a James Lee Burke fan and really spoiled by a GREAT author/narrator combo on the Dave Robicheaux former New Orleans cop series. This author is rather new and a comparison to Burke is a brutal one, but one I can't avoid. Hopefully Kovacs will grow. I've read some other author's first books after discovering a good series, and may not have read more, if I hadn't first experienced a superior later book in the series.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Voices for the asian and african-american women characters sounded so stereo-typed and were simply annoying. I don't have any other books from this narrator in my library, so it's hard for me to separate the voice from the pedestrian writing.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Doubt it, but then movies are so RARELY like the books it is not good question.

Any additional comments?

I will return this book, and fill out my James Lee Burke Dave Robichbeaux series with the credit instead.