Searchable Whereabouts
Non-series
Tinisha Nicole Johnson
Xpress Yourself (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9799757-0-0 (0979975700)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9799757-0-7 (9780979975707)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $16.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): After becoming obsessed with finding her Uncle's
killer, and no definite answers from the police, Rahkel Williams
enlists the services of private investigator, Darrin Miller. With his
help, she sets out to find answers and it's not long before they both
begin to get personal.
As time goes on, Rahkel finds herself caught in a web of lies and
deceit, where nothing and no one are as they seem. She begins to wonder
if she can trust anyone. The deeper Rahkel searches for answers, the
stranger things become, while people of interest are being killed and
she’s afraid she’ll be next. There is a race
against time
for Rahkel to find the truth.
Review: Rahkel Williams discovers the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of her beloved uncle in Searchable Whereabouts, a debut thriller by Tinisha Nicole Johnson.
Rahkel is a nurse who does a little bookkeeping for her uncle on the
side. She's had a tough run lately, recovering from divorce and
substance abuse. But she's convinced she's on the right track in life.
One day she comes across some unusual entries in her uncle's accounts
and asks him about them. He waves them off as being routine business
matters, but several days later he's found dead, badly burned in a car
accident. Convinced that her uncle was murdered, Rahkel embarks on a
personal investigation to uncover the truth.
The formulaic plot of Searchable Whereabouts
is brightened by the character of Rahkel Williams. She's not a typical
heroine and has plenty of weaknesses to balance her strengths. Although
the book's resolution is foreshadowed early and is not unexpected when
it happens, there is a fair amount of misdirection along the way. The
suspense in the story increases when Rahkel becomes a target herself,
though it's never quite clear what she knows that makes her a threat.
One thing that doesn't work to the story's advantage is that it takes
place over the course of 7 months or so (not including the 8 months
that pass prior to the final chapter which reads more like an
epilogue); a much tighter time frame would have helped maintain a
higher tension level.
There are a number of stylistic and syntactic problems with Searchable
Whereabouts.
There is no uniform voice to the story. The narrative
abruptly shifts from formal to informal and back again for no obvious
literary reason. The dialog is mostly conversational but often doesn't
sound natural, especially in the context of the story. And somewhat
inexplicably, towards the end of the book there are a couple of
chapters from a different character's point of view; it's unnecessary
and confusing. Finally, the
book could have benefited greatly from a critical eye towards editing.
Sentence
structure is frequently awkward and commas are used far too often,
disrupting the flow of the text and making the story seem choppy and
uneven.
Searchable Whereabouts
is a moderately successful first novel, but the reader needs to
overlook some of its shortcomings to appreciate the story being told.
Special thanks to Tinisha Nicole Johnson for providing a copy of Searchable Whereabouts for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
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