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Jake Diamond #1
Catching Water in a Net
In this award-winning debut, San Francisco PI Jake Diamond is a hero who plays both sides of the Private Eye street. He is a careless dresser with a sloppy lifestyle and he couldn't keep his marriage from falling apart. But he also epitomizes the best of the modern shamus. He has the kinds of friends a man in his profession needs-jailbirds, mob bosses, and a cop who can surreptitiously run license plate numbers for him.
Jake has been down on his luck lately, barely making enough money to pay the bills and it looks like business might finally be picking up. A woman comes to his office begging him to find her missing husband who has been accused of murder. Jake remembers that his mentor Jimmy Pigeon always says "Whenever I'm asked to locate a missing spouse, the words 'no, but thanks for asking' always come to mind" and almost turns the case down, but then he learns that the murder victim was Jimmy Pigeon.
Determined to discover the identity of Pigeon's killer, Diamond scrambles between Los Angeles and San Francisco following leads that range from weak to delusional. With the help of his trusty and sarcastic assistant, Darlene Roman, compulsive gambler Vinnie "String" Stradivarius, and Italian-American "businessman" Joey Russo, Jake slowly uncovers the motives behind Pigeon's murder.
Jake's adventure has all the components of a great new private eye series-scares, suspense, lots of laughs, a few tears and a big surprise at the end.
Jake has been down on his luck lately, barely making enough money to pay the bills and it looks like business might finally be picking up. A woman comes to his office begging him to find her missing husband who has been accused of murder. Jake remembers that his mentor Jimmy Pigeon always says "Whenever I'm asked to locate a missing spouse, the words 'no, but thanks for asking' always come to mind" and almost turns the case down, but then he learns that the murder victim was Jimmy Pigeon.
Determined to discover the identity of Pigeon's killer, Diamond scrambles between Los Angeles and San Francisco following leads that range from weak to delusional. With the help of his trusty and sarcastic assistant, Darlene Roman, compulsive gambler Vinnie "String" Stradivarius, and Italian-American "businessman" Joey Russo, Jake slowly uncovers the motives behind Pigeon's murder.
Jake's adventure has all the components of a great new private eye series-scares, suspense, lots of laughs, a few tears and a big surprise at the end.
- GenresMystery
230 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2001
92 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 21, 2012
Note: The basis of this review is limited. Although the author has forwarded me their complete manuscript, I have refrained from further reading because the book lacks a particular element in its writing. All grades are based on honest evaluations and will be supplemented by a couple of examples to prove my point.
Catching Water in a Net
By J.L. Abramo
Cold Honest Truth:
This book has less sophistication than a comic strip.
OVERALL RATING: D
Whenever somebody glances at a manuscript, most people can easily tell the kind of book the author has put out there for the public. If the book has block paragraphs and little or no dialogue, it’s going to be a tough read. If the book has too much dialogue, the reader is not going to have a dire urge to call the work excellent; he or she will garner the writing as a form of ‘screen play.’ The overall attempt when someone tries to write a book is to obtain the ability to achieve the balance between dialogue and plot. I would not absolutely consider the book an excellent source that achieves that; instead, the book completely remains unbalanced as a work of writing. Although I should say something regarding the actual content of the book, the presentation of the information interferes far too much with the main storyline; hence, the reason for the grade.
CHARACTERIZATION: C-
Even though the author has given his characters a ‘voice’ through the pages of dialogue interaction, I am more apt to say that the writing is not sufficient enough to prove these characters as either round or realistic. In fact, if one were to go through the entire ten chapters, he or she can easily get the impression that the manuscript is better fit for a screen play than an actual novel. Think about it: why expect readers to use their imaginations where there is little or nothing said about the first setting of the story altogether? The other problem the book has created within the first two pages is the sense of melodrama. The lack of speech tags, short pauses, and far too casual conversation makes me feel like I am being warped into a parodied black and white murder mystery.
The last thing that forced me to put the book down from further reading is the overuse of clichés and poor analogies. How personable is an Office Depot catalog? How many cents does it take to get the ties dry cleaned? This is not an amusing read.
RHYTHM/DIALOGUE: D
See above note.
Cover Design: A+
Great cover!
Formatting: D
Speech tags, page numbers, and justified texts are all part of the same reasons why readers like myself do not think the book merits beyond the grade given. I find the book tremendously difficult to follow without any of these.
Overall Grade: D
Catching Water in a Net
By J.L. Abramo
Cold Honest Truth:
This book has less sophistication than a comic strip.
OVERALL RATING: D
Whenever somebody glances at a manuscript, most people can easily tell the kind of book the author has put out there for the public. If the book has block paragraphs and little or no dialogue, it’s going to be a tough read. If the book has too much dialogue, the reader is not going to have a dire urge to call the work excellent; he or she will garner the writing as a form of ‘screen play.’ The overall attempt when someone tries to write a book is to obtain the ability to achieve the balance between dialogue and plot. I would not absolutely consider the book an excellent source that achieves that; instead, the book completely remains unbalanced as a work of writing. Although I should say something regarding the actual content of the book, the presentation of the information interferes far too much with the main storyline; hence, the reason for the grade.
CHARACTERIZATION: C-
Even though the author has given his characters a ‘voice’ through the pages of dialogue interaction, I am more apt to say that the writing is not sufficient enough to prove these characters as either round or realistic. In fact, if one were to go through the entire ten chapters, he or she can easily get the impression that the manuscript is better fit for a screen play than an actual novel. Think about it: why expect readers to use their imaginations where there is little or nothing said about the first setting of the story altogether? The other problem the book has created within the first two pages is the sense of melodrama. The lack of speech tags, short pauses, and far too casual conversation makes me feel like I am being warped into a parodied black and white murder mystery.
The last thing that forced me to put the book down from further reading is the overuse of clichés and poor analogies. How personable is an Office Depot catalog? How many cents does it take to get the ties dry cleaned? This is not an amusing read.
RHYTHM/DIALOGUE: D
See above note.
Cover Design: A+
Great cover!
Formatting: D
Speech tags, page numbers, and justified texts are all part of the same reasons why readers like myself do not think the book merits beyond the grade given. I find the book tremendously difficult to follow without any of these.
Overall Grade: D
May 26, 2013
A woman enters San Francisco P.I. Jake Diamond's office and asks he help her find her husband. The police are also looking for him because they think he killed his partner. Then Jake learns that the person killed was Jake's friend and mentor, Jimmy Pigeon.
The plus that Jake has in his operation is that he knows many cops and underworld figures and he uses his contacts to help solve the case.
I felt I had read stories like this before and rather than being turned away, it let me remember the fine detective writing of Raymond Chandler and his character, Philip Marlowe.
There were some surprises along the way and the author brings everything together nicely at the conclusion.
This is the author's first novel and I look forward to reading more of Jake Diamond's adventures.
The plus that Jake has in his operation is that he knows many cops and underworld figures and he uses his contacts to help solve the case.
I felt I had read stories like this before and rather than being turned away, it let me remember the fine detective writing of Raymond Chandler and his character, Philip Marlowe.
There were some surprises along the way and the author brings everything together nicely at the conclusion.
This is the author's first novel and I look forward to reading more of Jake Diamond's adventures.
August 24, 2010
Not quite as good as the second book, but an enjoyable read. Jake is a PI who is relaxed and laid back. But when his mentor. Jimmy Pigeon is killed, he must find the killer even if he has no client. The murder brings him into contact with ex-wives, gangsters and the police. The story starts slowly and builds to a crescendo. My only complaint was that in the end too many people were involved and I lost track of who was who. But the main plot stays focused and clear.
April 11, 2013
A classic PI novel set in two classic PI towns: San Francisco and LA. It's got booze and dames, corpses, a wisecracking hero and more twists and turns than The Big Sleep. There's a host of supporting characters on both sides of the law - sometimes at the same time. A fun read, though at times I did find myself getting confused by the various plot lines.
July 17, 2012
This author is a friend of my son's. He is as witty and interesting in person as his character is in the novel.
Abramo's word choice and vision are brilliant. Not a wordy author, but well chosen words. Perfect for the gumshoe detective genre!
Abramo's word choice and vision are brilliant. Not a wordy author, but well chosen words. Perfect for the gumshoe detective genre!
December 4, 2014
It could be just me, but I felt Catching Water in a Net had a very rough start and that the story struggled to flow the entire length of the book. The mystery aspect was very well done; other than that I can't give the book two thumbs up.
August 9, 2016
It started a little rough, but, it DID deliver!! It is pretty interesting, and the ending is a WOW!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews