{Book Review} Panic (A Leopold Blake Thriller #1)

Author: Nick Stephenson

Genre: Adult mystery, thriller
Published: March 2013
Publisher:
Pages: 200
Source: ARC from Author

Goodreads Summary:

Leopold Blake, expert criminology consultant for the FBI, had his weekend all planned out – and it didn’t involve dealing with a murdered senator, a high-profile kidnapping, and at least three near-death experiences.

Three politicians have been murdered in as many weeks, all expertly dispatched, and only Leopold can get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, as all hell breaks loose on the streets of New York City, he soon finds himself the next target of a powerful enemy who wants him silenced. Permanently.

Against a backdrop of political corruption and murder, Leopold and his team must fight for their lives to uncover the truth before it’s too late.

My Rating of this Book – 2 out of 5 stars

My Review:

At first, I was very intrigued by Panic, especially in the initial chapters. They were thrilling and engaging. I loved the introduction of the different characters. I even liked how Leopold proved himself an expert in the very first chapter, countering the doubt the police had over the homicide scene. Unfortunately, about half way through, the story lost my interest for several reasons.

The first reason was that Leopold had too much knowledge about… well… everything. It wasn’t that he was just an expert. He knew where all the right leads were, never hitting a dead end even once. He knew the right people to get him on the right track. He even knew when someone was dead without any real sign or evidence. It was like Leopold just always had the answer, making him an unbelievable character in my opinion. He should make some mistakes, follow some wrong leads, trust the wrong people… have some sort of flaw.

Second, everyone just went along with whatever Leopold did – especially Mary, who is an officer of NYPD. There should have been some resistance, some questioning of his methods since at times they were technically illegal. Mary should have challenged Leopold, put up some sort of fight, yet unlike the cop in the first chapter, she basically handed over the lead investigation to Leopold and stepped aside, letting him do whatever he pleased. Hardly anything like Kate in ABC’s Castle or even Inspector Lestrade from Sherlock Holmes.

Finally, this mystery, thriller had more physical struggles than mental, and as much as I love action, I felt it was a little overwhelming in this plot. Most of the time, it seemed like one fight after the next, causing it all to blur together. Not exactly my kind of action. And honestly, I would have preferred some more mental struggles, encrypted clues, or anything to challenge my mind as I read.

In all, if you are interested in pure action with a little mystery, then I would definitely recommend Panic as the perfect novel to read, but overall, this book just wasn’t my cup of tea.