Monday Book Review: Officer Jones

Officer Jones (JP Warner/Officer Jones Book 1) by Derek Ciccone

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2014

As the fearless international correspondent for GNZ News, JP Warner has always risked his life to beat the competition to the story, and received all the notoriety and riches that comes with it. But an event makes him realize that there’s no end to the chase, and the further he runs, the more he loses himself. So he decides to leave the jaded industry, and returns to the idyllic Connecticut town he grew up in, hoping to rediscover the person he once was.

But any chance to find peace shatters when he looks into the eyes of local policeman Kyle Jones. JP sees the same look he’s seen in the many fanatics he’s covered over the years. And soon finds himself on a collision course with Officer Jones, while also battling the forces within himself, as he races to cover the biggest story of his life.

My Take:

What caught my attention to download and read this free ebook was one, it was free; two, all the grammar nazis who panned the book due to the ‘horrible spelling and editing’ of the ebook. As an author myself, I can testify that self-editing and proofreading is near impossible and finding an editor/proofreader who understands where the book is going in the series you’re working on is near impossible. I did not find the errors (that I could not pick out) too awful, as the reviews stated, to make it “unreadable”.

Once I picked up the ebook, I could not put it down. Ciccone finds a way to hook you right at the beginning, capture your attention-even through exposition, explaining landscapes, setting up scenes, so you don’t even realize you’re being led by the nose. Ciccone is masterful in his storytelling, characterizations and relationships. Readers are led from city to city in a bizarre story of best friends in the military, to murders that share something in common but no one knows what.

Ciccone doesn’t waste any words in this premier novel in his JP Warner series. We are shown how world-weary the main character is, how he wants to return to a semblance of normalcy in his life by returning to his home. We see how difficult returning home is and maybe see ourselves in JP Warner, worn down by life-only to be dealt a crushing blow by a family member’s untimely death.

This sets the mood for this modern noir and I applaud Ciccone. I give 5 stars.