The Death Dealing Game (A Frank Boff Mystery Book 5)

Good read

I'd never heard of this author (or the series) before yesterday, but boy, am I glad I grabbed this book!I'm sure that it would have been more interesting for me if I'd read the previous books, but this is a stand-alone, so I didn't need to have read them to be able to jump right into the story. And what a story!I loved this book! What a pleasure to read not only almost perfect editing (very few grammar and/or spelling errors), but also fantastic prose that flowed extremely well. If I hadn't had to be up early this morning, I'd have finished reading it last night. And even then, I had to force myself to turn off my Kindle, set it down, and head to bed.Frank Boff (the protagonist) is a well-thought-out character whose intelligence and wit are exactly what I look for in a mystery/suspense book. And I loved the character of Emily Lynch. Well, not immediately, but she kinda grew on me until I decided that, yes, her rough edges were smoothing out and she's really a gem. (Maybe not a diamond, but rather a baroque pearl - one which has a few flaws that can be overlooked.)For people who are averse to reading profanity, I do have to say that there is a little bit of it (certain characters - one similar to Tony Soprano), but it wasn't so overwhelming (as a lot of books are these days) that I would have deleted it off my Kindle. (Maybe a few 4-letter words per chapter... but not *every* chapter.) I guess it's up to the reader to decide just how much profanity he/she will tolerate. (i.e. If you're willing to put up with a few 4-letter words here and there, I don't think you'll be sorry that you did.)This is a relatively fast-paced book laced with some humor, wit, and truisms. And I'm SO looking forward to reading more from this author!

This is the fifth book by Nathan Gottlieb which features private investigator Frank Boff as the central character in the series. It's pretty rare when a series like this maintains the level of writing quality that we see here.Actually, it seems as though every book in the series has gotten better. Rather than the reader being able to predict what the characters are going to do, Frank Boff seems to be getting more and more complex as a character as do the supporting players around him.This time, we're introduced to a new player - Emily Lynch, a tall and beautiful police detective who's battling her own demons - in this case - booze - which threatens to not only cause her to lose her job, but even her own life (and the lives around her - including Frank Boff, who really prefers working alone.)What makes this book and its predecessors in the series so terrific is the incredibly tight dialogue that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat from start to finish. The dialogue in these books keeps an amazing level of excitement for the reader as the pages fly by.This book continues the apparent evolution of Frank Boff, private investigator, as he finds himself once again questioning his decision to remain on what he calls "The Dark Side" of the law where he finds himself. As this volume comes to its conclusion, it's apparent that the ongoing story of the very complex Frank Boff is far from over. And now it seems as though he has another character in his life. The equally complex Emily Lynch appears to be getting ready for another part of her life. But this time, her complicated life is made even more so with the world of Frank Boff intertwining with her own.I predict that other readers of Nathan Gottlieb's novels are as eager to get their hands on book six as I am. They really are worth the wait.

Gottlieb has done it once again. Written another crime mystery, pulpy noir in my opinion, that grabs the reader's interest and keeps him/her from wanting to stop reading. I read at night and often fell asleep and woke myself back up to continue reading. I just didn't want to wait to get to the next chapter. In this particular Boff story, a female character, Emily Lynch, is introduced. A suspended cop with a drinking problem, she is paired up with Boff as a favor to a friend and they go through an adjustment period to work through a case. They make an unlikely team but manage to solve a complex case that requires drilling down from one level to the next in order to find the "leader of the pack" so to speak. Each finds the other to be an acquired taste, but in the end their relationship works. The story focuses almost as much on the crime as it does on the character development which is amusing at times. The ending is a zinger, as always with Gottlieb, leaving the reader to wonder, what will Boff do next? Cliffhanger. I loved the book. Gottlieb has a sense for personalities and uses them to define the characters more than drawing from physical characteristics, with some exceptions, and I find this most appealing as it eliminates the two dimensional descriptions and replaces it with three. Well done!

Fast-moving, brutal and realistic. The characters and personalities are believable. Interesting and entertaining dialogue. The coping mechanisms and life skills are easily understood.PTSD Veteran now a police detective sprays perfume around her neck thinking that will mask the smell of the alcohol she consumes.“The crimes my clients may or may not have committed are of no concern to me. I’ll represent any felon whose checks don’t bounce. Except for rapists and child molesters, out of respect for my wife.”“It’s because as Meg Ryan’s character says all women fake orgasms at some time.”"I don’t. If a guy can’t bring me off, I just throw his a@@ out of bed.”I may re-read this story and look forward to other works by this author.