I love this cover, and the book isn’t bad either. Bigler’s debut novel is all about Kurt West, bounty hunter. But West doesn’t just hunt your normal bail jumpers he also hunts aliens. In Murder & Mochas he does both.
I’m not sure what to say about this book, not sure just why I liked it. I lost the thread of the plot a couple times because several of the characters had very similar names and I kept mixing them up but it seemed to move along at a good pace. West, called the Beowulf by aliens, is trying to find the killer of a member of a diplomatic party on earth for a summit and find a human drug dealer who has skipped on a very large bail. And he do it all in 71 hours.
The beginning and end of the book were interesting and enjoyable but there was a section just before West calls in his ex-CO for backup where he couldn’t seem to keep his mind on his cases and spent an (for me) inordinate amount of time thinking unhappy thoughts about his ex-girlfriend who didn’t consider him marriage material and any other attractive female who sauntered past. Just like a man.
But once he partnered up with Logan the pace and the dialogue picked up and moved. One thing that stood out for me was that the conversations between West and Logan felt right. It had the flow and snap of two long time friends.
“But if it were me, I’d just string them up publicly.”
“Right, that’s why you were only ever a sargeant.”
“Touche, Lance Corporal.”
“Hey, I made Lance Corporal three times. That should count for something.”
A lot of time was spent in bars and restaurants, and Starbucks- aliens love Starbucks, and a fourth dimensional tourist destination called the Drift.
The book did have an occasional grammar or construction error and they were noticeable because the majority of the writing was smooth and easy to read, so easy to read that I’m on my way to buy Mercury & Murder, book 2 in the series.
38 Caliber Reviews 