Will never purchase one of his books again

Leaving aside the fact the story was slow and boring.This man has an incredible hatred of anyone who is overweight. I cannot tolerate how abusive and offensive he was. I removed this book from my library and will never buy another. I would leave no stars if I could.

7 people found this helpful

4 hours in, and nothing has happened.

I got this because there were all kinds of reviews out there comparing this to The Dresden Files. I guess the fact that they are both books makes this true. But that is the extent of the similarity. I managed to get through the first four hours, and all he had done is wander sedately through small English villages, musing on the evils of white starches, his dogs, and random other topics that have nothing to do with the story. He doesn't like fat women, and seems to have very little regard for women in general, as every one he has run into is either a stereotype of a bumbling old woman, somebody he finds incredibly unattractive, or a police officer that he refers to as PC Hotstuff.

His writing style is not bad. But the plot stubbornly refuses to move on. In four hours, there have been about 5 minutes of plot, and little else. Just an endless wandering through his boring days, and him deciding what to buy at the grocery store for dinner. If you are suffering from insomnia, this may be the book for you. If you are hoping for something like Jim Butcher's books, look elsewhere.

6 people found this helpful

Laziest writer I ever wasted a credit on

Higgs never met a stereotype he didn't like. The characters have absolutely no emotional depth. a couple of cute dogs can't save a bad book. I looked to see if I could return it and get my credit back when I realized that I would not be able to keep listening to his descriptions of women. Seriously, these books are horrid.
Lazy and BORING writing from a shallow, entitled, male point of view.

3 people found this helpful

Double Fun

This 2-book "starter set" was packed the action and the mundane of a great main protagonist who doesn't take himself too seriously, yet is very proficient at what he does. He is surrounded by his mates (characters all), a bevy of beautiful lasses and his 2 dogs (of whom he anthropomorphizes to a comical extent). Together they solve multiple "paranormal" mysteries with teamwork, humor and a bit of luck. Fun stuff, well narrated.

3 people found this helpful

Don't judge by this, give it a shot

I have tried books 4 and 13 already and want to stick with the series in the hopes of enjoying the rest as I did those two.

This set of two books has a different narrator from the ones I've already tried. He is really bad. Slow.and.plod.ding. Kinda like the guy in the eye drop commercials.

Book 1 has Tempest being over-the-top judgmental (people are fat, butt ugly, poor and on the dole because they're lazy, etc) and Big Ben's dialogue is uncomfortably focused on detailed sex acts (despite the bit on the Amazon pages that states "The Blue Moon Investigation series features male and female leads, no graphic sex and very little cussing").

I have not gotten to book 2 yet. I wanted to make this review while I had my thoughts in mind.

BUT I suggest you stick with the series because by book 4 at least, possibly sooner, the series picks up and is much better. And book 13 is terrific.

2 people found this helpful

Where to begin

I have never stopped listening to an audiobook or left a book unread, even when I wasn't particularly enjoying the story. I got about two hours in and I'm done. There is just so much wrong.

Let's start with this man's obsession with weight and food, he can't even look at food without going into how diet and exercise are important to him, and the evils of sugar and carbs. Nothing wrong with healthy eating, but we get it, you're terrified of being fat. This fear of course leads to his absolute loathing of overweight people, which so far in the book there have been two, both women.

Speaking of women, there are only two types so far: obese ones and ones he wants to f**k. He goes into great detail about both. It's at best boring and at worst, offensive. (I'm not counting the two female victims in this, as they weren't really characters, just stereotypes he kills off quickly). Even more fun is sitting there listening to his mates talk about their sex lives in great, misogynistic detail.

The main character here is neither interesting or charming, and I can't imagine why anyone who read and loved the Dresden files would enjoy these. Yeah, he has a couple of cute dogs but they're props, and not really an integral (or interesting) part of the story the way Harry's pets are.

Oh, and the narration is awful. Beyond just the dull lifeless droning, I can hear where he pauses and licks or smacks his lips. There are occasionally background noises, as well. Poor quality recording with an inexperienced voice actor.

I'm thoroughly miffed that I wasted a credit on this.

1 person found this helpful

Sad, I rarely give poor reviews.........

Author spends too much time on people’s weight and looks, do not find shaming funny. Weight is not always from over or under eating or lack of trying. That overshadowed the basic story which was passable and not as well written as it could be. More work on the story line would have been better.
It would have been good to hear more about the investigations.

1 person found this helpful

Two books of paranormal events

Tempest Michaels opens a private investigation agency, but the newspaper ad is miss-written as paranormal detective agency. In Paranormal Nonsense, Tempest investigates several cases but the biggest is a Vampire Club. He meets Amanda, a police officer.
In The Phantom of Barker Mill, Tempest deals with glowing spectral dogs and a phantom wreaking havoc in a steel mill. Amanda wants to work as an investigator with Tempest, and she puts her notice in at work. Tempest is really attracted to Amanda, but she gets involved with the Barker Mill heir.
The author is English and uses British English in writing. There is quite a bit of conversation involving sexual topics and encounters.
I found the stories interesting. It might be nice if the main characters weren't so caught up in thinking and talking about sex. It doesn't add anything to the story for me.
I received an audiobook code from the author.

1 person found this helpful

The Side Characters Make These Books!

The story lines were good, the character work was fantastic and the books had a fairly smooth flow to them. While I enjoyed the books there were several issues that I had with the book. Most if not all of my negative comments are directed toward the main male character:

* The main male character comes across as immature, condescending, superficial, and a deliberately obtuse person. He seems to hate overweight women. It doesn’t matter how often the author repeats that he doesn't hate overweight women it comes across as if he does.

* The average reader doesn’t care about all the excessive information on why the main male character works out, what he eats and why it is healthy. It doesn't add anything to the story. Stop repeating the same information.

* While using military time is fine for some situations it is not appropriate to use in an everyday setting...most people don’t speak in military time, even though they may understand it.

* The male main character speaks in condescending tones to the other character, insulting in dismissing their beliefs and concerns. He has too much conceit, but he loves his dogs, almost to the point of obsessiveness.

* I absolutely adored his friends and his mother; father is not a good character, he has many of the same characteristics as the main male character.

* The narrator did a good job. I did feel that there were too many LONG pauses sometimes between paragraphs, sometimes between chapters. There were a couple of times that I could hear sirens in the background for a brief second.

I received the audio book from the author and am voluntarily leaving my review.

1 person found this helpful

There are references to sex

I am returning this set and the other set, due to references to sexual activity. Had I known this, I wouldn’t have purchased. If I could have, I would give it no stars!