BOOK REVIEW: THE LONG GAME

I have a confession: I want to be a writer. I mean, everybody who writes blogs or fanfic or articles like this aspires to put something out into the world, but I have put serious thought into actually going through the whole process of writing a novel and seeking to be published. I’ve written sample comic scripts and entered short story competitions, but in the end, I just never had the determination and patience to follow through and do the thing.

Well, D.W. Howard did the thing.

In his debut novel, Howard introduces us to a grizzled Detective Michael Domenicalli in NYC who is still plagued by the recent Clockwork Killer case where several people were murdered and a suspect has been place behind bars. He and his two fellow investigators Sgt. Renee Murdoch and Det. Delia Sanchez now find themselves in the middle of a tragedy at a Women’s Health Center where several people were injured and two young women are found dead, one of whom was pregnant. The story is heavily rooted in the Catholic community affected by this incident and builds on the mystery of who may have caused this and what evil lurks in the shadows.

I first became acquainted with David’s work through this site and via podcasts on Undercover Capes. It was there that we bonded over a mutual desire to write and he presented an opportunity to develop a short story anthology on terraforming the moon, whatever form that might take. That did not come to fruition because, like I said, I am terrible at deadlines and commitments. Blame the ADHD. However, to help an old friend, I came out of my review-tirement to give some honest feedback. Also, as a bonus, I had my wife read this as well since she loves a good crime story. The review reflects both of our impressions of the novel.

So, first things first, the book is about 250 pages long and offers a decent pacing and flow so you can finish it in a day or two. Chapters are short, which I appreciate, and the chapter headers have a nice Gothic font to really sell the Catholic vibe. Reminded me of Dan Brown’s approach to crime novels, but less history and more Law & Order. He even includes a quote from various works of literature or historical figures that somewhat pertains to the content of the chapter. Some work better than others, but I appreciate the author’s choice to establish theme at the front-end of each chapter.

In terms of character and story, much of this felt very cliche. This is not inherently a bad thing, especially for genre fiction, but you see it and immediately recognize it. Even though it is a murder mystery at its core, the underlying theme is abortion and the Catholic church. That being said, our cigar-smoking head detective is flanked by two women who can add a relevant perspective to reproductive rights, and his brother is a literal priest who he turns to in lieu of going to therapy, which he honestly really needs. There are corrupt politicians and shady staff at an all-girls Catholic school and a broody underbelly of sex and drugs. You know, normal New York stuff.

On top of that, DW Howard mixes in some supernatural elements in the form of dream-walking. At first, there are a couple of abrupt page breaks that detail some weird dreams by Detective Domenicalli . As the book progresses, some of the secondary characters start experiencing them as well and they all begin sharing their dreamscapes by the end. Clearly, there is something more than a serial killer or a big pro-life conspiracy happening in Queens, but it doesn’t come to a head until the very last chapter. It is well done and ties up a lot of dangling threads, but it has such little time to sink in that by the time you are actually interested in knowing more, the book is over! I think the reader would have heavily benefitted from an additional chapter or two at the end, or maybe an epilogue to flesh out the whys and where-are-they-nows.

There are also some other critiques of a technical nature that my wife wanted to point out, but rather than go into those I will just say that this novel would have benefitted from the added perspective of scientists and law enforcement to iron out some of the details that left us questioning the realism of the story (not that this is entirely non-fiction, but you know what I mean). The religion goes in HARD as a theme, so this felt overwhelming at times when we wanted more drama and less dogma. Regardless of my over-analyzing gripes, I’d say this novel is better than much of the self-published works I’ve come across. With a professional editor and publisher, I could see this on a paperback shelf with other modern pulp fiction.

As I said before, I see myself as a writer, despite very rarely putting fingers to the keyboard. The difference between D.W. Howard and myself is the ability to follow-through and make it a reality. I have a hundred excuses as to why I can’t, but this book gives me hope that it can be done. He worked on his craft and took The Long Game from an idea to a full-length novel. If he can do it, it means that with enough dedication and commitment, maybe I could too.

Good job David and I look forward to the next one.