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A review by saareman
The Silent Watcher by Victor Methos
3.0
The Creeper Defense
Review of the Amazon First Reads Kindle eBook edition (November 1, 2024), released in advance of the official publication by Thomas & Mercer in hardcover/paperback/ebook/audiobook (December 1, 2024)
I thought that this was heading towards an Unsatisfactory Ending Alert at one point, but it did somewhat redeem itself in the end. What happened was that after the mysterious killer was caught at about the 60% mark, his defense attorney was actually making a better case than the hapless public prosecutor in the court proceedings that followed. That seemed to foreshadow a completely nihilistic ending, which didn't quite happen. But the ending was still downbeat with a heartless collateral damage element to it, so I can't rise above a 3 rating.
Otherwise the team on the investigative side was an intriguing bunch with enigmatic Judge Hope Dawson, Guardian ad Litem Piper Danes, and haunted homicide cop Lazarus Holloway. There were subplots that felt under developed or dropped, although possibly the sequels in the series will continue to develop those. Overall it was still a fair police procedural / courtroom drama read.
Trivia and Links
The Silent Watcher is book #1 in a projected Vegas Shadows series. Book #2 will be [b:The Night Collector|220054325|The Night Collector (Vegas Shadows Book 2)|Victor Methos|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|226982356] with an expected publication date of September 16, 2025.
Victor Methos is the very prolific author of 40+ novels which usually involve lawyers and courtroom showdowns. He usually writes books as mini-series which run from duologies to trilogies. His most popular work (according to GR ratings and reviews) is [b:A Killer's Wife|46224901|A Killer's Wife (Desert Plains, #1)|Victor Methos|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578494269l/46224901._SY75_.jpg|70195821] (Desert Plains #1 - 2020).
Amazon Prime First Reads advance reading copies (ARCs) are available to Amazon Prime subscribers. They offer advance reads of books in Kindle eBook format one month before the date of official release. The current month's selection is available here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
Review of the Amazon First Reads Kindle eBook edition (November 1, 2024), released in advance of the official publication by Thomas & Mercer in hardcover/paperback/ebook/audiobook (December 1, 2024)
I thought that this was heading towards an Unsatisfactory Ending Alert at one point, but it did somewhat redeem itself in the end. What happened was that after the mysterious killer was caught at about the 60% mark, his defense attorney was actually making a better case than the hapless public prosecutor in the court proceedings that followed. That seemed to foreshadow a completely nihilistic ending, which didn't quite happen. But the ending was still downbeat with a heartless collateral damage element to it, so I can't rise above a 3 rating.
Otherwise the team on the investigative side was an intriguing bunch with enigmatic Judge Hope Dawson, Guardian ad Litem Piper Danes, and haunted homicide cop Lazarus Holloway. There were subplots that felt under developed or dropped, although possibly the sequels in the series will continue to develop those. Overall it was still a fair police procedural / courtroom drama read.
Trivia and Links
The Silent Watcher is book #1 in a projected Vegas Shadows series. Book #2 will be [b:The Night Collector|220054325|The Night Collector (Vegas Shadows Book 2)|Victor Methos|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|226982356] with an expected publication date of September 16, 2025.
Victor Methos is the very prolific author of 40+ novels which usually involve lawyers and courtroom showdowns. He usually writes books as mini-series which run from duologies to trilogies. His most popular work (according to GR ratings and reviews) is [b:A Killer's Wife|46224901|A Killer's Wife (Desert Plains, #1)|Victor Methos|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578494269l/46224901._SY75_.jpg|70195821] (Desert Plains #1 - 2020).
Amazon Prime First Reads advance reading copies (ARCs) are available to Amazon Prime subscribers. They offer advance reads of books in Kindle eBook format one month before the date of official release. The current month's selection is available here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).