Book 834: Blackout – Marco Carocari

In general, I don’t read a lot of mysteries or thrillers, even though I really should (see next paragraph). However, when the publicist reached out about this one with a gay protagonist I thought sure why not give it ago.*

Although there were definitely some issues with this book, pretty sure the authors native language isn’t English, for the most part I enjoyed it. And if my reaction to the two big reveals in the novel are anything to go by I really should read mysteries/thrillers more often. The first WTF moment happened and I had to take a few minutes to collect myself. I mean it was obvious it was coming looking back, but I got caught up in the story and didn’t pay attention to the clues or hints. And then the second one, I was just pissed about.

But first, let’s talk about the characters. If there was one weakness apart from the language, it was the characters. I’m about a week out from reading it and I don’t remember anyone’s names or specifics. Outside of the protagonists, Franco, who witnessed his father’s murder as a 4-year-old and is the black sheep of the family because he’s gay, and Aidan, the new-to-town cop who doesn’t do corruption, I don’t recall anyone else’s names or even really their part in the story. The one exception is the couple Ben and Jerry, who I remember for obvious reasons, and they had a threesome with Franco off the page early on. However, I’m now wondering if their names were even Ben and Jerry.

Franco sighed, his gaze fixed on nothing. He believed everything happened for a reason, even if the reason remained elusive, at times. One simply adapted and learned to live with it. What ifs were pointless wastes of time, of course, yet he couldn’t stop himself. (Chapter 19)

The plot for the most part made sense and kept me engaged. It wasn’t the best mystery/thriller I’ve read and I’m sure it’s not the worst out there either. I struggled a bit with the repetition and sometimes the jumping from present day to flashbacks was a bit abrupt, but for the most part the various flashbacks to the murder and scenes that led up to the murder fit into the present-day plot seamlessly with the exception of one that stood out like a sore thumb and still bothers me.

Where this book really could’ve used some help is from an editor. They not only would’ve helped with the repetition and the one seemingly-random flashback, but they could’ve made the ending pack more of a punch. I’m not going to lie I was getting madder and madder leading up to the last few pages because we hadn’t heard anything from Aiden and honestly, I almost wish he hadn’t of shown up at all. Maybe, it’s from reading too many romances recently, but that last page was a serious let down and you can’t even call it a happy for now, it’s more like an okay now what.

Recommendation: This was a good effort for a debut novelist. It was engaging during the read, but a few days after I barely recall any of the characters or details. I enjoyed that the protagonists were LGBT and their chemistry was undeniable, but ultimately, I felt short changed by the ending, but that’s a personal preference. I’m not sure I’ll go out of my way to read Carocari again in the future, but I don’t feel I wasted my time reading this like I have with some in the past.

*I received a copy of Blackout via a publicist in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

Opening Line: “Francesco DiMaso steered his old, blue Ford LTD down 5th Avenue in the waning evening light, woefully unaware he was about to have his ticket punched in less than seven minutes—six, if traffic was good.”

Closing Line: “‘It’s okay,’ he said, and tightened his embrace. ‘I got you.'” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)