Thomas Kies: Random Road

In his debut novel Thomas Kies introduces readers to crime reporter Geneva Chase:

Geneva Chase is a veteran crime reporter who knows how to find answers, cultivate sources while trying to hide her alcoholism so she is not forced to leave another job. Chase catches a break when she lands a homicide of 6 in a wealthy  neighbourhood. The headline is eventually picked up by major news outlets and Chase knows this is her time. Chase want to know everything about these rich and entitled citizens. But the more she digs, the further she puts herself in danger and her inability to get sober threatens to undo everything she has worked so hard for.
 

This is one of my favourite reads this past year. I really enjoyed the plot and characters that Keis created for this book. This book is very much a character driver more than plot but Keis is able to keep you engaged in the story. He achieves this by having Chase, an investigative reporter, investigate more than one crime. I mean there is the main event with the murder of 6 people, but as Chase is not a police officers so she doesn’t have access to all the crime scene information, she has to use different forms of digging in order to get information. I appreacite Chase's ability to think outside of the box to get the information that she needs, as well as cultivating sources.

Well to say that the main character has flaws is an understatement, as Chase is an alcoholic, hides the fact that she is one, lies about always needing a drink and for the most part she does not apologize about this side of her. She is fine, even happy to see the world through shades of vodka. Maybe disaster may be a better description of her.

I like flawed characters, they seem more like real people than the perfect ones that some authors write. I like Chase’s tenacity in her life and work and you can tell that she has heart as well. I will questions some of her decisions she makes especially with Kevin, the love interest in this book, but I’m sure people would do the exact same thing that Chase and Kevin do in those circumstances. Chase may be flawed but aren’t we all. And as this is very much a character driven book, I appreciate the complexity of Chase’s character and though she is flawed you cannot help but like her.

I will say I was able to figure out the main Murder, but this did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the book as I liked following Chase around while she investigated this and did reports on her other stories.

I look forward to reading another book in this series to see where Kies takes his characters and to see what case catches Chase's eye next.

Enjoy!!!

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