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Appointment with Death
Please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!His victims will plead for their lives. His victims are mostly unassuming, everyday people, yet he is not picky. He will dabble in killing prostitutes, cops and whoever dares to cross him. Silas is a man filled with pure unremorseful revenge. The police seem baffled at the killings "this sort of thing just don't happen here."If not here, where? The killer tends to play Cat and Mouse with the authorities daring them to find him. No one is safe, a town will be turn up side down. The frenzy of this killer will grow with every victim. His time to shine is now!
- GenresMystery
60 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 2, 2013
Appointment With Death is a mystery-cum-crime thriller novella by none other than David J. Dundas. David's talent has been recognized in the prestigious "Cambridge Worlds Who is Who" registry. Apart from being a writer he is a former War Veteran, and a retired Police officer. David has a very creative writing style and using which he tries to exploit reader's fear of the unknown & the darkness.
The book is just under 60 pages on e-reader, which makes it a quick read. The story follows life of Mike Murphy our stories protagonist. Mike has aptitude as well as interest in law enforcement (from school days) using which, he starts his career as a small town cop and soon enough he get promoted to detective (In first chapter itself...) Mike get's his hands dirty in a case where, a serial killer is on the move and is leaving his victims all over.. Every victim has something in common; first of all these victims are prostitutes and secondly killer gouge out their eyes as trophies. So now mike has to do everything in power and use all his skills to get to the culprit behind these killings. So the book has a strong plot line which makes the whole reading a quick thing. Also story is solid enough to hold the suspense in the story.
But still the Character development seemed not well planned nor described, which is required to give them that mystery touch which is key factor in any suspense novel (with exception of Mike). Book simply fails to deliver on the grounds of execution. Often times I had to flip pages back and forth to keep up with the time-line of story. And if it wasn't for this confusion within the story I would have gladly rated it with 3.5 to 4 points but given circumstances, I think even 3 points would do injustice to other novel I have rated with 3 points.
Thus, if you can get past the jumps between characters and time-lines the book is good enough mystery-crime novel. For me book fell short to keep its promise and so I'll rate it 2.5 of 5.
The book is just under 60 pages on e-reader, which makes it a quick read. The story follows life of Mike Murphy our stories protagonist. Mike has aptitude as well as interest in law enforcement (from school days) using which, he starts his career as a small town cop and soon enough he get promoted to detective (In first chapter itself...) Mike get's his hands dirty in a case where, a serial killer is on the move and is leaving his victims all over.. Every victim has something in common; first of all these victims are prostitutes and secondly killer gouge out their eyes as trophies. So now mike has to do everything in power and use all his skills to get to the culprit behind these killings. So the book has a strong plot line which makes the whole reading a quick thing. Also story is solid enough to hold the suspense in the story.
But still the Character development seemed not well planned nor described, which is required to give them that mystery touch which is key factor in any suspense novel (with exception of Mike). Book simply fails to deliver on the grounds of execution. Often times I had to flip pages back and forth to keep up with the time-line of story. And if it wasn't for this confusion within the story I would have gladly rated it with 3.5 to 4 points but given circumstances, I think even 3 points would do injustice to other novel I have rated with 3 points.
Thus, if you can get past the jumps between characters and time-lines the book is good enough mystery-crime novel. For me book fell short to keep its promise and so I'll rate it 2.5 of 5.
January 6, 2013
Appointment with Death by David J Dundas is a relatively short crime story. It follows Mike Murphy, a detective in Silverton where people are showing up dead. They are murdered by the same person because this serial killer had his own unique way of leaving his victims. Detective Murphy narrows the possibilities as the killer keeps taunting him and he even leaves bodies of some people close to him as a "Catch me if you can" statement. Maybe the goal is to kill Detective Murphy as the 'cat and mouse' game continues until finally Detective Murphy thinks he knows who this killer is and why he is killing these people. The real test is if he can find and stop him before more people die.
The characters are varied in their development with some are more developed than others. Mike Murphy is the most developed and the story starts off with him before he went to the Police Academy so there is more of a background for him. There are enough characters in the story to make it realistic including other police personnel and those outside the police force such as the prostitutes. The killer is developed enough to understand what is going on and why. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters in the story though.
The plot is good and the story always progressed toward the final goal but I had a hard time really getting into it. It was enjoyable and has a good entertainment value but there was no real connection going on with any one and the story failed to draw me in. You know how some books you are drawn into them and it's like you are right there next to the characters in your mind's eye watching as the story plays out with each turn of the page? Well, that didn't happen at all. It was me sitting in my bedroom reading a story. I never got drawn into it nor did I connect with any of the characters but even so, it still was a good crime story.
The characters are varied in their development with some are more developed than others. Mike Murphy is the most developed and the story starts off with him before he went to the Police Academy so there is more of a background for him. There are enough characters in the story to make it realistic including other police personnel and those outside the police force such as the prostitutes. The killer is developed enough to understand what is going on and why. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters in the story though.
The plot is good and the story always progressed toward the final goal but I had a hard time really getting into it. It was enjoyable and has a good entertainment value but there was no real connection going on with any one and the story failed to draw me in. You know how some books you are drawn into them and it's like you are right there next to the characters in your mind's eye watching as the story plays out with each turn of the page? Well, that didn't happen at all. It was me sitting in my bedroom reading a story. I never got drawn into it nor did I connect with any of the characters but even so, it still was a good crime story.
February 14, 2013
Mike Murphy becomes a cop against his father's wishes for him to work in the mill. He is also promoted to a detective in a very short span of time. This novel focuses on Mike's case of finding out a serial killer, who murders prostitutes and takes out their eyes. Mike is parterned with Ed Rogers and both of them try their hardest to find the killer. But all they get are dead ends. Between this, there is another cop who pretends to be a prostitute to find the killer.
The author has tried to give a good and crime novel.
The story is interesting, but has a major flaw of editing and organizing. Perspectives from different characters are just scattered in the novel, but there is no means of identifying whose perspective it is told, unless you guess. This makes it difficult to get the thoughts of the author. Also, the characters have no depth. I just don't care about the characters. But, what I did care about is the mystery of the killer. So, the author sure knows how to weave a crime thriller. But, as I said before, presentation lacks and thus, it failed to hold interest.
The author definitely have some ideas and also has potential. But as flaws outrun the strengths, this novel is given 2 STARS!
The author has tried to give a good and crime novel.
The story is interesting, but has a major flaw of editing and organizing. Perspectives from different characters are just scattered in the novel, but there is no means of identifying whose perspective it is told, unless you guess. This makes it difficult to get the thoughts of the author. Also, the characters have no depth. I just don't care about the characters. But, what I did care about is the mystery of the killer. So, the author sure knows how to weave a crime thriller. But, as I said before, presentation lacks and thus, it failed to hold interest.
The author definitely have some ideas and also has potential. But as flaws outrun the strengths, this novel is given 2 STARS!
January 21, 2013
Mike Murphy knew he wanted to be a cop, even though his father did not want him to. His mother backed him and he succeeded, not only becoming a policeman, but even being promoted to detective.
Mike and his partner, Ed Rogers, patrolled the streets. But the murders that began with prostitutes had the entire force baffled. No matter what leads they had, the killer always seemed to be one step ahead, leaving no clues behind as to his identity. The killer became more confident, thinking he could not be caught. The situation became so bad, they had to call in the FBI to help solve this case. Who is this serial killer and what was his/her motive?
Although the plot has great potential, who doesn’t like a good murder mystery, the writing leaves a bit to be desired. The story seems to skip around from one person to another without any reasoning, and seems to be too choppy and skips around. Parts and/or details seem to be eliminated which would make for a better flow.
The characters themselves are great, from the detectives to the Chief of Police to the madam and her escorts and everyone involved. Very quick read. But overall the writing needs some better flow.
Mike and his partner, Ed Rogers, patrolled the streets. But the murders that began with prostitutes had the entire force baffled. No matter what leads they had, the killer always seemed to be one step ahead, leaving no clues behind as to his identity. The killer became more confident, thinking he could not be caught. The situation became so bad, they had to call in the FBI to help solve this case. Who is this serial killer and what was his/her motive?
Although the plot has great potential, who doesn’t like a good murder mystery, the writing leaves a bit to be desired. The story seems to skip around from one person to another without any reasoning, and seems to be too choppy and skips around. Parts and/or details seem to be eliminated which would make for a better flow.
The characters themselves are great, from the detectives to the Chief of Police to the madam and her escorts and everyone involved. Very quick read. But overall the writing needs some better flow.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews