A Private Investigator Thriller Series of Crime and Suspense)

I recently had the opportunity to read "Booker: Streets of Mayhem" and was quite excited by what I found! Mefford's depiction of PI Booker is stark, realistic, and endearing! A tough honest good guy in a world that isn't exactly fair, Booker's adventures kept me riveted to the story, and eager for more!

Graduating from high school in Big D I enjoyed reading this book. Even played ball at Riverchon Park, saw the Cowboys in the Cotton Bowl, went to the State Fair, graduated from Texas Tech and was in Dallas when Kennedy was shot.

Sometimes I take a detour from my usual reading fodder. Sometimes its a success, sometimes not. This book, for me at least, falls somewhere between the two.

On the plus side, the story is full of action, with a lead character who is, on the whole, very likeable. A character who has a strong sense of right and wrong, but who is also a little lost, and somewhat flawed. And in the context of the story, this works very well.

However, for me, the story was a little jarring in places, due to the jumping between the various plot lines, and elements of repetition. Additionally, the ending seemed to be a little bit too easy. Regretfully, this marred my enjoyment of the overall tale.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book #1, In the Booker series

This story features a private detective with attitude who shows a rebellious streak and is determined to solve cases handled to him. Dallas is where all the action takes place and where Booker will do anything in his power to protect the people living in this city. But even with the best of intention, Booker is dragged from one situation to another and faces seedy situations that seem insurmountable. He is tested to his limits when a white supremacist group claims responsibility for an explosion on a bus killing fifteen people mostly children, fracturing the community and setting panic in the city….and this is just the beginning….

This novel is simply a roller-coaster ride filled with crackling action and suspense. Mr. Mefford slowly introduces his protagonist and letting us know him before plunging us into unexpected twists and turns so captivating it is hard not to stay riveted to the pages. I was hooked from the start and I simply couldn’t help but to zip through wanting to see who was responsible for these terrible acts of terrorism. To better know the players the story is told alternately from the point of view of Booker and the person responsible for the bombings. Although the story flows fast, it is smooth and well-written with all the great elements a thriller needs in order to capture and hold its reader till the very last page: “Booker” has it, no doubts…

Incredible in the sense that not one sentence could possibly exist in the real world, not one event, not one description. Nothing, literally nothing makes any sense. Whatever motivates the plot is kept carefully hidden from the reader, and you end every paragraph thinking, wha...?

I became an instant fan of John Mefford after reading Fatal Greed so I was excited to start this book too. For the most part I enjoyed this read, it was a little alarming at times but incredibly thrilling! I am really enjoying thrillers the more I read them.

Booker was an awesome character! He was very entertaining and a helluva cop, even when he was suspended he still managed to be cop like. I liked how even though he was suspended he didn't let it stop him, he picked himself up and found what he needed to do. That's all anyone can really do and it was refreshing to be reading it.

I didn't care for any of the racism. I know it exists in the world I have to read about it everywhere else, so I don't like it in my books. It sucks that it still exists and I hate reading about it in the news so I really, really hate it in my books. I'm glad Booker was able to keep his cool the way he did when he was faced with it.

This was a pretty face paced book, it did not take long at all for things to start happening. All I'll say about that is it starts with boom. There was so much action in this book that it made it so much more enjoyable for me than I thought it was going to be. The ending was kind of easy, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing yet. It was good because it was almost like you could let go of the breath you were unknowingly holding. It was bad because I'm always looking for a long drawn out fight but I enjoyed the way it ended.