The Pain Scale

Long Beach Homicide, Book 2

By: Tyler Dilts

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Long Beach homicide detective Danny Beckett can’t escape the pain. It’s everywhere: in the injuries that earned him a year-long medical leave; in the suffering of every victim he’s ever encountered; in the agony of his past. But he must keep the pain at bay to prove he still has what it takes to do the job. So it’s only fitting that his first major case back is a gruesome one: A California congressman’s daughter-in-law and grandchildren have been brutally murdered, and the carnage is some of the worst Danny’s ever seen. Is it a mob hit? Political retribution? A random sex crime?

Nothing quite adds up…until Danny and his partner, Jennifer Tanaka, begin scratching at the surface of the congressman’s picture-perfect family. Beneath the shiny, camera-ready veneer, Danny discovers a dark, twisted tale of suffering - even as the pain of his own past threatens to derail the investigation.

©2012 Tyler Dilts (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

I love a twisty mystery!

Dilts knows how to craft a good character, and I love getting to know this damaged, observant detective in each book.

A lesson in chronic pain

A good title for this one, as the author gives us plenty of insight about chronic pain while solving his second murder mystery. I liked the book and wished I would have read it instead of listening. The narrator changed from the first installment and I had trouble with following this guy. Much of the time, all the voices sounded the same, which turned out to be a bad thing when there were so many characters to keep track of. The characters also had foreign names that were hard to keep track of. All and all it was a good crime story, but I would recommend the Kindle for this one.

Good story line

It was a well thought out plot with some unexpected twists. Didn't care for some of the language, but I am from a generation that did not need that, I guess. I liked the narrator all right but felt his voice and delivery would be better for comedy or westerns, both of which are great possibilities.

good read.

one of the very few stories that deals with chronic pain. It is the underlying theme, and does't follow the overdone story of addiction. The main story is also well written and entertaining, a must read for those who like a good mystery and also suffer, or know someone with chronic pain.

Synchronization did not work

Would you consider the audio edition of The Pain Scale to be better than the print version?

No

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not really. It was good but not that good

What about Mel Foster’s performance did you like?

He didn't overdo things with the female voices or accents or excessive attempts to differentiate the characters so that it came out forced

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No,But very few books do.

Any additional comments?

My title says it all. I am not an experienced user (this is my first one) however, this was a total failure and synchronization. I spent far too much time trying to find my place when I went from one to the other, most especially going to the audio version. In fact, I generally gave up and settled for close enough, listening to the same thing I had read for several minutes. Not only did it not synchronize but fine-tuning was impossible as far as I could determine. Basically, it was not worth the effort.

Solid Dialog, Characters, and Pace

This was the second of the Daniel Beckett series I read it because I enjoyed the first one so much. Though written in the first person, the other characters are supporting, not add-ons, and they're a tight-knit group. Beckett's partner (no romantic theme) also has a life and Dilts weaves it into the story in a way that I didn't find distracting. It's refreshing that none of the cops is the typical ass of an idiot. If you're the kind of reader who enjoys off-plot ruminations that let you into the mind of the protagonist, such as Beckett listening to and thinking about NPR segments (Garrison Keillor's Writers Almanac and Terry Gross's Fresh Air), you'll find these add a lot of depth to the book. Though I figured out who dunnit before Beckett did, that didn't detract from the story. As soon as I finished listening to this one, I went straight to Audible and bought The Pain Scale. It isn't necessary to listen to them out of order. Dilts doesn't repeat aspects of Becketts day-to-day life so much that I felt irritated. Also, I was relieved that there aren't any "after a long moment" fillers. Two comments about the production: there's a lot of dead space between chapters that I had to get used to, and some dialog is read to sound like a run-on sentence. As I wrote in the headline, the dialog is good (as in natural, not so-so) and has shadings of subtle humor, strong opinions, and space to let the reader read between the lines.

Narration is terrible.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I'm sorry, but Mel Foster is simply too boring. He reads the text in such a flat, monosyllabic tone and draws out the words so painfully that I just can't get into the book at all. The "pain scale" of the narration is just too much to overcome to enjoy this story.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

First, Tyler Dilts included too many anecdotes about totally irrelevant material - who cares about the character's drinking, how much pain he's in, and about his playing the banjo? Boring nonsense. Distracts from the story. I was forgetting what the story was about.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Just plain too much to endure. Couldn't finish the book.

love this author

This is the second book I have listened to from this author. I'm looking forward to the rest.

its a Zero with the circle rubbed out.

This story started off strong, but quickly became convoluted and ended in a whimper. There's are truly horrible triple murder and the introduction to what seemed like a great police team. However, a far fetched government conspiracy of sorts begins to reveal itself.

It's enough to say I am grossly disappointed with this novel.