From Mike Nappa - The Raven

My read during our trip to Arizona this week was The Raven, a new release from Mike Nappa. This book was slow to start, but eventually intriguing.  It’s an interesting look at business and politics explored through the lens of a magician and 2 detectives.  It’s also a long and deep look at bitterness and revenge.  One of the main characters, The Raven, is pretty quirky.  I almost put the book down because he drove me a little crazy at the beginning of the book.  But there is development of the character as well as redemption, as the story unfolds.

It's written in a time lapse format, starting in the present, then backtracking before going forward in the book again.  It's narrated by several different characters.  Parts are violent, but not too graphic.  The story does have elements of suspense and several good twists.

From the publisher:  "As part of his regular street performance, a deception specialist who goes by the name The Raven picks his audience's pockets while they watch. It's harmless fun--until he decides to keep the spare wallet a city councilman doesn't seem to miss, hoping for a few extra bucks. When he finds not money but compromising photos of the councilman and his "personal assistants," The Raven hatches a plan to blackmail the man. However, he quickly finds himself in over his head with the Ukrainian Mafia and mired in a life-threatening plot code-named, "Nevermore."  Private investigators Trudi Coffey and Samuel Hill must scramble to sort out the clues--and their complicated feelings for each other--to rescue The Raven and save hundreds of lives from a wildcard bent on revenge."

I would recommend this book to male and female readers age 15+.  I received this book as a gift from the publisher, so I am sharing my honest review.