Retribution

By: Robert McCaw

Thank you NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for the ARC of this book!

About the Book (From Goodreads)

In the back alley of a bar on Hawaii Island, a young man is found stabbed to death. When Hilo Chief Detective Koa Kane begins investigating the crime, the murder weapon is recovered only a few feet away from the body. Crime scene technicians find fingerprints on the knife¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ — they are a perfect match for Koa’ s younger brother, Ikaika.

As the brothers scramble to prove Ikaika’ s innocence, another crime sends shockwaves through the Hilo police force. A sniper tries to take out Makanui, Koa’ s closest colleague. As Koa tries to figure out whether these crimes are linked, the sinister force continues their killing spree, threatening Koa and his loved ones at every turn.

Could Koa be the real target? If so, who is behind this trail of retribution? With his own secret criminal past, Koa confronts an all-out offensive against those closest to him and his police force to which he has devoted his life. As the bodies pile up, Koa finds himself the ultimate target of a ruthless adversary and must risk it all to survive.

MY REVIEW

I was so excited to read this book, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a fantastic book for me. The murder and mystery is exciting. There is also a lot of action. Those are all good aspects of the book and made the book enjoyable. However, there was SO much prose. There was SO much description and SO much unnecessary background information that did not push the plot forward. Reading other reviews, many people really loved this, which is awesome because everyone has their own taste and this book is definitely great for some people. Unfortunately, it did not resonate with me. If there was less of that prose, and more focus on the dialogue, then I believe I would have enjoyed it more. I am just particular about what I like, but that doesn’t mean this is a bad book by any means. McCaw is very talented at painting a picture. So there you have it; if you like books with vivid description that also has mystery, murder, and action, then you’ll enjoy this book.

This comes out on June 6, 2023. You can pre-order it here.