Review of Dead Watch

Goodreads | Eric_W Welch (Forreston, IL)'s review of Dead Watch:

Listened to this as an audiobook.  Read by a favorite: Richard Ferrone who seems to make a specialty of John Sandford's books.

A refreshing change from the increasingly redundant Lucas Davenport series. In this case we follow Jacob, "Jake,"  Winter, a "forensic bureaucracy specialist."  He works for the president's chief of staff as a fixer who uses his knowledge of the bureaucracy to solve problems. He has one "Rule":  who benefits? Answer that question and most every problem becomes easily solvable. Shades of Mike Lawson's Joe DeMarco, another very good series.

Madeline Bowe's husband, Lincoln, an ex-Senator has disappeared.  He was becoming a thorn in the side of the "Watchman" a nebulous group reminiscent of the Brown Shirts and Ku Klux Klan all rolled into one. Jake's "research" soon uncovers a much larger plot related to the presidential election.  To reveal any more might spoil it.

All that being said, my one complaint is that some of Jake's more extreme actions in the end of the book (endings are not a Sandford strong suit,) seem out of character and occur only because it gets the author off the hook.  I much prefer conclusions that use the protagonist's intelligence to turn the evil-doer's actions back on themselves without the seemingly inevitable reliance on bullets, to my way of thinking, the dummies' way out.  I suppose many authors feel the necessity to appeal to the large segment who complain if there's no "action." Action is cheap.

Great for traveling, mowing, doing chores.

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