BLOG TOUR & REVIEW: The Man on the Roof by Michael Stephenson @filmbooksbball #TheManOnTheRoof #TMOTR
The Man on the Roof
by Michael Stephenson
Thank you to the author for this advanced copy!
Self-published
Publish Date: June 22, 2018
Kindle Edition
Standalone
Genre: Thriller
“There was a man on your roof,” claims curmudgeonly lane-hermit Herbert McKinney. Then, he initiates an unprovoked fight with a local punk. Drama escalates when that punk's dead body is found hanging at mid-street one August morning—a boastful killer messaging their next prey. All fingers point to Herbert as the culprit. Soon, the five couples he calls neighbors come under suspicion, too. When detectives divine blackmail as the motive, eyes cross to find who hides the most shameful secret. Husband versus wife, friend versus friend, the shiny suburban veneer of innocence has been forever tarnished. As hidden deviousness boils from their pores, there lurks a thief, a pill addict and a sadist—secrets worth killing for.
Now, as the man on the roof helps guide justice and watches devious neighbors slip in and out of sleepy houses, confusion and questions persist. Who dies next? What have they learned? Who is becoming a monster? Who already is one? And just how many secrets can a small group of multi-ethnic Ohioans have? Only one cemented truth exists: the killer will kill again.
A taut domestic mystery-suspense thriller, The Man On The Roof propels the reader through a tangled, volatile and suspenseful thicket of deception, murder and friends, inviting the reader to discover the murderer and who hides which lie. First there was Gone Girl. Then there was The Girl on the Train. Now, there's The Man On The Roof.
My Review:
Let me start by saying to never EVER put comparisons to your book to the likes of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. One, I'm tired as hell at seeing these comparisons and two, it very RARELY is the case. Stop using these to try and force sales. Please.
I was excited to go back to my Ohioan days and read about a mystery back in suburbia. Of course, I forgot I was going back to those tiny things that point in the direction of subtle racism. For instance, one description of a character's eyes stated that "on a bad day, she could be mistaken for half Asian". Well, as a half Asian woman myself, I'd say that's a damn GOOD day... but I could be biased. However, I did almost dislocate an eyeball reading that as it clearly comes from the author's POV and not one of another character or the character herself. I found this to come through in any type of non-American culture type descriptive. Quite honestly, it soured me towards the rest of the book. I've read a ton of books that could offend me in a zillion ways, but they were true to the CHARACTERS and necessary for the plot of the book. Here, there's just basic miss of research or that slight back handed compliment that I was oh so used to hearing when living in that area.
There are a LOT of characters to familiarize yourself with which could cause some confusion. I'm not sure if the transition is in the fact of the kindle version and may be different in a printed version? Just a minor transitional issue. The book was a tad bit longer than necessary. I think with a few more rounds of editing a lot of these small issues could be set aside and we would get an even better piece of work from the author.
Overall I did find the plot to be pretty decent. It really wasn't easy to guess who the culprit was, which is always a plus for me! It was fun to be back in Ohio and seeing families taking off to Cedar Point and that neighborhood family feel - set with a cranky old neighbor you think is strange and yet still look out for.
There are a LOT of characters to familiarize yourself with which could cause some confusion. I'm not sure if the transition is in the fact of the kindle version and may be different in a printed version? Just a minor transitional issue. The book was a tad bit longer than necessary. I think with a few more rounds of editing a lot of these small issues could be set aside and we would get an even better piece of work from the author.
Overall I did find the plot to be pretty decent. It really wasn't easy to guess who the culprit was, which is always a plus for me! It was fun to be back in Ohio and seeing families taking off to Cedar Point and that neighborhood family feel - set with a cranky old neighbor you think is strange and yet still look out for.
**no rating as I skimmed through a lot, DNF
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