| Book Review: Point And Shoot by G. D.
Baum
This post was written by zzsimonb on 13 February, 2007 (13:39)
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All News, Reviews, Book Reviews
ISBN: 1419619810
222 pages, Softcover
Booksurge Publishing
If there is a tagline for Lock Tourmaline the hero of Point
and Shoot, it would be “That man is an asshole!”
G. D. Baum is new to the literary world and in this, his
first book, he introduces us to his main character Lock.
Lock is en ex-cop, turned private investigator, who luckily
is also a karate expert, which almost no one seems to like.
Lock has the uncanny ability to be in the wrong place at
the wrong time.
Mr. Baum has created an interesting book, although I am
still not quite sure how to categorize it correctly. Parts
of it contain the typical ex-cop turned PI jaded dialogue
found in this genre of writing:
“I stood there. The smart thing would have been to
come back later. But I didn’t like this creep. First
he was in her life and I was not. Second, he had just closed
the door in my face. And third, most importantly, he clearly
had something to do with what had gone on last night”
Other parts relate to martial arts techniques, which my
research shows are very accurate, no doubt a result of the
authors acknowledged background in karate.
Yet another theme running though the book is a love story,
when Lock is not battling the bad guys he is looking after
his girlfriend who is dieing from cancer, and her 15 year
old daughter.
In Point and Shoot we meet a number of highly entertaining
characters. Lock’s mentor in the martial arts is an
aging bouncer for a sexual bondage club with the catchy
nickname of Grandfather. His ex wife is a cokehead who has
connections with a New Jersey crime family. While various
other less than ‘pillars of society’ round out
the motley cast of characters.
At the beginning of the book we are introduced to Lock,
and his not so easy life. He has recently retired from the
police force in favor of opening up a couple of Karate schools,
one run by Lock himself, and the other run by his Ex-cop
friend Cho. Unfortunately this does not quite pay the bills.
In order to make ends meet Lock also acts as a sometime
bodyguard for a member of one of the shadier crime families
in the area.
Lock is asked to help out in providing security for a summit
between the two major crime lords in the area to discuss
the turf wars. It does not take much rocket science to figure
out that the meeting will end badly. One dead, and several
injured later, everyone involved is screaming for retribution.
Our hero still has some Policeman in him, and decides to
don his recently retired Glock Nine, and investigate. In
doing so Lock stirs up a veritable vipers nest, the action
is fast and furious.
If you love a good PI story, this book will be for you.
I personally thought that there was maybe too much dialogue;
some of the dialogue could have been better served with
descriptive passages.
If you are looking for a quick, fun read, try Point and
Shoot. This is a very popular genre of writing and I am
sure that Point and Shoot will do well.
Simon Barrett
http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com
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