Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (1589)

Content

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2352 KP) rated The Silent Second in Books

Jan 16, 2020

Good, but Not the Tone I Was Expecting

Chuck Restic has spent twenty years in HR, and he’s good at his job – making sure employees get along so they don’t sue each other or, more importantly, the company. That’s how he first meets Ed, who has had a complaint filed against him. Ed seems like a nice guy, and their meeting goes well, but then Ed disappears a couple of days later. A plea from Ed’s family to figure out what happened to him intrigues Chuck. He’s recently separated from his wife, and he wants to do something to fill his time away from work, so he uses his boredom as an excuse to start poking around. The trail quickly leads to real estate around Los Angeles, but how could that have led to Ed’s disappearance?

I’d seen the author speak at a library event a while ago, and I thought this book sounded like fun. While I certainly enjoyed it, I found the book to be darker in tone than I was expecting. There were a few laughs when Chuck was in HR mode, but for the most part, this felt more like a hard-boiled book. But that’s my only complaint with the book. I really did like Chuck – in fact, I could identify with him a bit too much. (Maybe that was part of my problem.) The rest of the cast are just as strong and become well-rounded people as we learn most about them. The plot was great with plenty of twists and an ending I didn’t see coming. The book was light on foul language and didn’t get too graphic with the violence or sex, which I most definitely appreciated. This is a solid debut, but pick it up when you are in the mood for something on the darker side.