I have read a lot of fiction in the 81 years on this planet, so when I read the description of this book on Early Reviewers it sounded interesting. But other titles captured my attention and it’s been a while before I could read this novel.
I was disappointed by the story in many ways. First in the publishers note it was stated this was the debut novel. As I began reading I was prone to overlook the different names and strange beginning. In the context I felt the author was writing in the 30’s with jargon and sentence structure, but then he would talk about being in the 21st century. I was confused and it got worse with all the jumping around.
Reading about the author’s background and education surprised me.. then I understood why all the weird names from a lawyer. It was also unwise to compare his detective to the really great fictional detectives of our world..
I will to be reading any more of his fiction. ( )

I received this book from Early Reviewer awhile ago and saved it to take with me on a trip as it sounded like an ideal airplane read. Well, it wasn't, mostly because of the way the plot jumped around and the various roads the story followed. I did like the satire aspect and would try another book by this author. ( )

I received a free copy of this book from Librarything.com in exchange for an unbiased review.

TR Softly is sort of a modern day Sherlock Holmes, complete with his own band of Irregulars.

The book starts with a trial of a notorious mobster, Romo Malbonum. The Feds had been trying to get the goods on him for years. Then one day he calls the FBI and gives it all up. Confesses to everything he's done, gives up all his associates, waives his right to an appeal, and meekly accepts multiple life sentences. The day after the trial he recants his testimony but it's too late.

Then the book switches to the early life of TR (he was named for Teddy Roosevelt) Softly. We learn how in 4th grade he meets 6th grader Khaki Blumenthrace, who sort of takes him under her wing, pretty much forces him to work hard at school so he can skip grades and catch up to her by high school. They become fast friends and while in high school, they form a detective agency (i'm skipping a lot of details). When they graduate from college she goes on to a career in phycology, he starts being a detective seriously.

A quick aside on character names. Most are ridiculous. Khaki Blumenthrace? Judge Pickscreed? Mallory Greenstock? And perhaps the worst: Mark Mallycorn Pohtiss the president of the United States.

Three story lines (TR, the Malbonum case, and the President) come together when Mallory (the other woman in TR's life beside Khaki) calls in TR to consult on the Malbonum case. She was the US Attorney who prosecuted him. She's suspicious because after this case, 2 other gangsters did the same thing: spilled their guts, accepted sentence then recanted.

So there's a mystery and apparently TR Softly is the world's greatest detective.

It would be too much of a spoiler to go into much detail as to what TR finds out. Suffice it to say he uncovers a super secret FBI department with totally unbelievable technology that they used on these gangsters. Then they use it on the President.

The story of the President is told in asides and a brief biography. He is a Trump-like character which might have been good satire except Trump is pretty much beyond satire.

I didn't really like the ending. OK TR finally gets together with a woman (Mallory) after having been holding himself out for Khaki for years. But how this happens is beyond belief.

I didn't hate it but parts of it were a slog and I wanted to finish it for the promised review. ( )

I'm giving this book 3 stars because of the way the story jumps around. At times it was rather confusing. I have to agree with 1 reviewer who said it's like the author wasn't sure what kind of a book to write. I will say that once he settled on a story for a while it was interesting and a fun read. I received this from LibraryThing Early Reviewer for an honest review. ( )

I received an advance copy of this book. Thank you
This is a really good book. There is humor, there are plots and subplots, twists and turns, characters that interact beautifully with each other, all coming together to be an enjoyable read.
The story starts off with the DA getting a call, that if she can work quickly, she can finally put away a long time slippery mob boss. All goes as planned, until it doesn't, her slam dunk case turns on its head when the accused recants his testimony. To help her get to the bottom of the story, she calls her long time friend TR Softly. From here, the book takes a short detour to give us some history on TR, his youth, and how he came to be someone the DA would call. The plot picks back up when he meets with her, and starts to plan what he needs to do to get to the bottom of the mystery. I won't go on further, because that's where some of the fun angles come in. Enjoy. ( )