A fun and pacey read.
Ex-police detective Jack Dawson is trying to pick up the pieces of his life after the death of his beloved wife. His adult son is busy carving out a successful political career, and Dawson has just taken a job as a mall cop. When he is visited by a local Florida cop, his life takes an interesting turn. Hired to find out who is threatening to murder a local judge, Dawson meets an array of characters, some of whom turn out to be different from who they first appear to be. But with his son’s career being threatened with blackmail, Dawson is caught between a rock and a hard place.
Local Adelaide writer Troy Adami has put together a fast-paced crime novella in the Ellroy/Leonard/Chandler style. At only 170-odd large-print pages, Blood and Bowling is a day’s reading by the pool. Dawson is a likeable character, and one which the reader happily goes along with. There are enough twists and turns to keep the interest going, and a decent historical mystery at the root of it all.
Adami is a dialogue-heavy writer. It is almost as though he really wanted to write a screenplay, but produced a novella instead. Enough of this dialogue is pacey and witty, but great swags of it appear to be meaningless padding. Although the story is set in Florida, nothing is made of the setting. There is little or no sense of place. It could just as easily have been set in Patagonia, the middle of Cairo, or on Mars.
The plot itself is satisfying enough to make the read worthwhile, although structurally it would have benefitted from a good editor. There is also far too much exposition of the telling, rather than showing, variety. And in true gumshoe style, women are only wives and waitresses.
However, if what you are after is a rollicking cops and bad boys story, Blood and Bowling moves at a good pace, provides enough wit and charm to hold interest, and is an easy read.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
This review is the opinion of the reviewer and not necessarily of Glam Adelaide.
Distributed by: Troy Adami (for purchase via Amazon)
Released: August 2022
RRP: $17.95
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