Friday, January 4, 2013

Blog Tour Thriller Review "The Big Exit" by David Carnoy

Title:  The Big Exit
Author:  David Carnoy
Publisher:  Overlook
Publication Date: October 11, 2012
Genre:  Mystery Thriller
Format: Hardcover 320 pages  | Kindle 513 KB

Where to find David Carnoy Online:
Website

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Goodreads

Buy the Book:  Kindle   |  Hardcover

Synopsis: 
By the acclaimed author of the remarkable debut novel, Knife Music, The Big Exit is a suspenseful crime novel that keeps the surprises coming right up to the end.
Richie Forman is freshly out of prison. By night, he makes a living impersonating Frank Sinatra in San Francisco’s lounges and corporate parties. But then his ex-best friend—the man who stole his fiancée while he was in prison—is found hacked to death in his garage, and Richie is the prime suspect. In a murder mystery with the twists and turns of a microchip, Carnoy weaves his characters like a master. He has written an authentic, unputdownable thriller that is sure to chill and delight.

My Review

I have read a lot of Crime/Thriller novels over the past 6 months and while this wasn't my favorite, it did keep me turning pages right to the end.  It reminded me a little of Gone Girl, plot wise, but I didn't hate myself for wasting time when I was done with it like I did with Gone Girl!  I also finished this one much faster.

Richie is fresh out of prison and trying to make a fresh start when he finds himself accused of killing his former best friend.  This former best friend married Richie's ex-fiance while he was in prison for a crime he believes he didn't commit.  In real time, the time from the murder to the resolution is relatively short, but we have scenes that go all the way back to when Richie starts working for the Exoneration Foundation.  I think that the flashback scenes were nice and they helped to tell the story, but I had a hard time with the tense change as we went from past to present.  It's probably not something that will bother most people, but for some reason it did me.  In fact it may not even be noticeable to some, I am just really weird about stuff like this when I am reading!

I will say, that while I liked the story I never fully connected to any of the characters.  They were likable enough, but there was something that kept me just outside of the story throughout the whole book.  I kind of feel like I just got to know them on the surface and it never went any deeper than that.  I liked the (minor) character of Ashley the best, but she isn't explored in any depth at all since she was just a bit player in the story.  I know that this is somewhat of a sequel to Knife Music, which I haven't read, so that may be why I didn't get some of the characters.  There is a character, a lawyer, who is starting fertility treatments and there is a whole chapter devoted to her injections, etc...and then it's not really explored further.  These types of things may be connected to the first book.  I don't particularly feel the need to read the other book though.

All in all, it's a pretty fast paced read and there are some twists that you will see coming and some you won't.  I like that it had a nice tidy ending!  If you like thrillers, detective novels or anything about Silicon Valley then you may want to give this book a try.  It's not a read again book for me, but I did enjoy it!

Author Bio
While David Carnoy lives in New York City with his wife and children, his novels take place in Silicon Valley, where he grew up and went to high school (Palo Alto). His debut novel, Knife Music (2010), was a Top-10 bestseller on the Kindle and also a bestseller on the Nook. More medical thriller than high-tech thriller, to research the novel Carnoy spent a lot of time talking with doctors, visiting trauma centers, and trailed a surgeon at a hospital in Northern California to help create the book's protagonist, Dr. Ted Cogan.
The Big Exit (2012) isn't a sequel to Knife Music per se. However, a few of the characters from Knife Music figure prominently in the story. His second novel has more of a high-tech slant and reflects Carnoy's experiences as an executive editor at CNET.com, where he currently works and is trying resolve his obsession with consumer electronics products. He went to college at Wesleyan University and has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University.
Disclaimer: Every Book received for review on the tours for Partners In Crime are given in exchange for an honest review. The eBooks are sole property (copyrighted) of the author and should not be sold, distributed to, or exchanged among other people not part of the tours, nor should they be listed on file sharing sites. Failure to comply with this disclaimer, will result in removal from all future tours. 

9 comments:

  1. Great...I love mystery novels and am looking for a new author. Thanks for the opportunity to win this giveaway.
    sharon.bourque@sympatico.ca

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  2. Sounds like a great read, but I think I'll pick up Knife Music first!
    I have the kindle app on my tablet. Thanks! By the way, I love this collaboration!

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  3. Thanks for your honest review and sharing the book details with us. Nice post!

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  4. Sounds like an interesting read. I have a kindle.

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  5. Thank you so much for your reviews. I am new to your site and have enjoyed it. The first book I read that you recommended was by Dean Taylor, The Middle Aisle. Of course I saw that it was sequel to Lancaster House, so I got that one first. OMG! I could not wait to finish reading it. I immediately picked up Middle Aisle and am almost thru it. I liked your review so much that it made picking those books very easy. These books were wonderful because the language was not vulgar at all. Do you comment on language context? I read on Kindle on my tablet.

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  6. Thank you so much for your reviews. I am new to your site and have enjoyed it. The first book I read that you recommended was by Dean Taylor, The Middle Aisle. Of course I saw that it was sequel to Lancaster House, so I got that one first. OMG! I could not wait to finish reading it. I immediately picked up Middle Aisle and am almost thru it. I liked your review so much that it made picking those books very easy. These books were wonderful because the language was not vulgar at all. Do you comment on language context? I have a Kindle app on my tablet. Thk you for chance to win ebook.

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  7. I read Knife Music first based on your comments and liked it better than The Big Exit. Knowing the characters does help, but I felt Knife Music was more engaging. Perhaps it was the shifting between the past and the present that made The Big Exit a little harder to follow. Both were definitely better than Gone Girl, which I agree was a big waste of time.

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  8. I have read Knife Music, and thought it was good. This one I was really on the fence about when it comes to picking it up. Your review was good, so I may give it a try. I just finished R.S. Guthrie's Blood Land, it was a suggestion and I found it to be great. I love the Crime Fiction genre, and it played into that really well. SO if someone needs a recommendation check out rsguthrie.com, I guess you never do know until you try. Thanks for this review and I will add this one now to my tbr list!

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