A Voice for Independent Authors
― E.A. BUCCHIANERI
REVIEWING TODAY: EVO BY DIANE MAY
To say EVO by Diane May is a contemporary crime thriller is to understate a popular category to which this multi-plotted novel refuses to conform. The basics may be there: a serial killer killing, a police detective detecting, an imminent disaster waiting in the bushes. Simply identifying these basics, however, will limit your expectations about how these killings happen, who else happens to be detecting, and how futuristically and globally that imminent disaster looms. And if you limit your expectations, believing this will be your typical street-savvy re-telling of crimes and misadventure, your credibility will suffer. This book does not fit a box. Its serial killer has abnormal, almost supernatural abilities; its detectives operate openly, clandestinely, and conspiratorially; and the imminent disaster goes way beyond any super-human hypnosis that internally melts its victims.
Diane May has taken on quite a challenge by including so many incredible – incredulity producing – plot elements in her high-energy, fast-moving crime thriller with a twist. But the author manages these elements well. Her writing is compact and suitable to the genre – relating her intriguing matrix of events with a straightforward, assertive, and down-to-earth style most comfortable for fans familiar with the genre. In addition, Ms. May inserts many minor but realistic details to add further credibility, as well as highly human subplots (mostly of a romantic nature) to temper her courageous flights of fancy. In the end, EVO comes together well, and after enjoying a rather wild literary ride, the reader remains convinced the author stretched the limits of his expectations but did not disappoint them.
EVO
Joel R. Dennstedt – Top Reviewer for Readers’ Favorite
