I bought this book because I knew the author. I don’t particularly like first-person detective novels. I had read Greg’s first novel, Keeper, because he gave us a copy, and I did like that he adds detail to his characters, unlike some of the few others I’ve read in this genre. I started reading this second Atticus and didn’t have any complaints, but I decided early on in the book that I just was not interested in reading this genre. I would be willing to try reading it again, which is better than I can say for some books in genres I enjoy.

351 ( )

a fairly decent filler book, as thriller series go. ( )

After reading KEEPER (reviewed elsewhere), I immediately dove into FINDER, the second in Rucka's Atticus Kodiak series. KEEPER was clearly a novice's book, and I wanted to see if Rucka could do better the second time around.

He does.

Characters are still fairly superficial, the plot still suffers from some inconsistencies, but there is an effort on Rucka's part to tell a story.

He actually almost succeeds. This is still comic-book action in words, and violence defines the structure of the narrative, but, compared to KEEPER, FINDER shows some improvement on Rucka's grasp of his series ( )

The general characterization of a bodyguard and all the trappings of that kind of work, is interesting and different. Also, Atticus wears glasses and hates cars and those are unusual characteristics of a thriller hero. In some ways, the author got the characters just right. The two women in Atticus’s life are interesting too, but shallower. For example, we don’t find out that Atticus wears two earrings in one ear until 1/3 of the way into the book, but it’s one of the first things we’re told about Bridget. The women are mostly described in looks, as is the norm. But the author was trying. Being a man he probably can’t see women very clearly as anything but a body so he is handicapped. Same with Natalie – she’s described as an ageing model and very little is described of her expertise in security and protection. We know she must have an impressive history to be able to run the caliber of agency she does, but we don’t hear about it.

Then there was the Colonel who was way overblown as ‘the bad guy’. He only referred to women as whores or the c word and was a completely irretrievable asshole. In the end he’s left alone and dying of AIDS, but I don’t think that humbled him much. I was hoping for more of a comeuppance but alas, the subtle ending. ( )