Mike gets a call about his new work, the detective, being late for first draft. He later comes across his ex on the street, which sends him into an alcohol fueled writing session. He leans back on his chair, falls and wakes up in his own story. He is stuck with no way out with his ex and her new guy. Quickly he realizes that the only way out is to play along and leave the plot as untouched as possible.
A couple of drinks and a gorgeous femme fatale, Marilyn, later, this solution has flown out of the window. After the two murders Mike knew about, there are more and more dead bodies piling on the already big stack, and Mike stumbles through the story accidentally gathering more and more information about his story he never even knew about.
The mystery surrounding who the murderer is never stops right until the end. Mike didn't finish his novel, so he doesn't know who the murderer is. All of this leads to the conclusion, one he would have never realized if it wasn't for his participation in the story.
The Detective
Page count 244
Language English
Genre Mystery, Romance, Bisexual
Format Paperback
Illustrated Yes
Page count 282
Language Dutch
Genre Detective novel
Format Paperback
Illustrated No
Omschrijving
Mike wordt gebeld over zijn nieuwe werk, de detective, die te laat is voor de eerste draft. Later komt hij zijn ex tegen op straat, waardoor hij in een door alcohol fueled schrijfsessie terechtkomt. Hij leunt achterover op zijn stoel, valt en wordt wakker in zijn eigen verhaal. Hij zit vast zonder uitweg, met zijn ex en haar nieuwe man. Al snel beseft hij dat de enige uitweg is om mee te spelen en het plot zo onaangeroerd mogelijk te laten.
Een paar drankjes en een prachtige femme fatale, Marilyn, later is deze oplossing uit het raam gevlogen. Na de twee moorden waarvan Mike op de hoogte was, stapelen zich steeds meer dode lichamen op op de toch al grote stapel. Mike strompelt door het verhaal en verzamelt per ongeluk steeds meer informatie over zijn verhaal waarvan hij zelf nooit wist.
Het mysterie rond wie de moordenaar is, stopt nooit tot het einde. Mike heeft zijn roman niet afgemaakt, dus hij weet niet wie de moordenaar is. Dit alles leidt tot de conclusie, een conclusie die hij nooit zou hebben gerealiseerd als hij niet aan het verhaal had deelgenomen. Zal Mike het mysterie binnen zijn eigen creatie oplossen, of zal hij een pion worden in zijn eigen verhaal? Duik in het aangrijpende verhaal waarin niets is wat het lijkt en elke pagina een nieuwe laag van bedrog onthult.
Reviews
I liked it. Interesting narration style but i definitely liked it a lot. I don’t usually read books like this and was kind of stand offish at first because the title and the cover don’t really show the actual vibe of the book. I don’t usually like detectives but this one isn’t like a regular detective at all. It’s such a fun story with good characters (and sexy), i was surprised. I think it’s because it’s narrated by the person who wrote the book he’s ending up in (because he hits his head in the real world and wakes up in his own story) and because he does not like the storybhe wrote, he doesn’t care what happens. At first. Then he becomes attached to multiple people. And because the narrator is from current day, and kind of a mess, the writing style doesn’t feel boring or like a regular detective. It’s so good. I recommend it.
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. The Detective is a book I normally wouldn't pick up, that's why I am so incredibly grateful for @apolloimperium for sending me this ebook!! I ATE this story up.
Our main character Mike is a troubled writer, who is experiencing a major writing block. He feels as though he wrote a bad story, and has no idea how to continue. After drunkenly getting knocked out, he finds himself transported into the world he created. Mike has to escape the hands of a coldblooded murderer. He gets drunker and drunker to cope with the current (wild) situation. The lines between fiction and reality blur. The characters no longer do what he thinks they will.. He no longer knows what will happen next and whether he is actually safe or not.
The Detective is packed with suspense and left me flabbergasted multiple times. I was very invested in the story. The twists kept coming and I loved it. It never went the way I expected it to which was part of the fun.
I loved the character development. As well as the book being a story within a story. It's something I haven't seen a lot, but I really enjoyed it.
This book does deal with some heavier topics such as alcoholism as a way of coping, depression, grief, etc. So please be aware of the trigger warnings before going into this book. Your mental health matters!
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5
I highly recommend!!
The Detective is a clever story-within-a-story, narrated by the stymied and frustrated writer-character and protagonist of both tales, Michael Davis. Michael has had a successful writing career until the last couple of years, and he’s struggling with his latest book project, a detective mystery novel. This is a new venture for him, he’s not written in the genre before now, and it has been proving not to be his thing. He’s depressed over his relationship with Jessica, which imploded when he discovered she’d been cheating on him while she was supposed to be working. Perhaps as a means of working out his anger, he’s made Jessica and Jason characters in the mystery; however, the story is still not working for him, and his drinking is beginning to take over his life.
The plot is quite intriguing as the frustrated author finds himself inserted into his fledgling story with its unintended Agatha Christie-style “And Then There Were None” storyline. Michael hadn’t gotten far in his written version of the book, so the ensuing action is as much a surprise to him as it is to readers. Some unusual twists and turns kept me wanting to turn pages. The story, however, still felt a bit rough overall. It required me to re-read passages to try to understand what the author was trying to say. Some of these are intentional on the part of the author, though, as a means of mimicking the actual thought processes of the character; many of the repeated "errors" disappear when Michael is back in the real world. This may extend to some of the repetitive passages in the story, repeated descriptions of features of the house or clothing, explanations of situations, and dialogue, as he lives through the events of the investigation. There is quite a bit of sexual innuendo, some sexual encounters, and death scenes that make this book only suitable for adults.
I recommend THE DETECTIVE to mystery readers who would enjoy a story with a different take on the Agatha Christie “And Then There Were None” storyline.