Review: A King of Infinite Space

So I found this book on sale the other day for the Kindle. I also picked up Mercury Falls and Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch, but I doubt either of those will be quite as good. While the latter two are comedies or more light-hearted, A King of Infinite Space is a tense detective tale. It's a bit noir, but completely compelling and hard to put down.

Tyler Dilts writes the story of detective Danny Beckett and his partner Jen Tanaka. Beckett is a hardened homicide detective who is still struggling with the loss of his wife a couple of years earlier. They are part of a team investigating the brutal murder of a beloved young high school English teacher.

This is one of the first mysteries I've read in ages. At least it's one of the first that I've really enjoyed. Maybe as far back as the Boxcar Kids books. But what Dilts does in this book is create a world of stunning detail without being annoying. It's a bit of a procedural crime drama, but not in a bad way.

We're launched into the world of Beckett and Tanaka with the murder of the teacher, and from there we get to follow the full investigation. But as interesting as the murder plot-line is, what's even more fascinating is watching Beckett struggle with the investigation. It turns out he knows the victim, and dealing with the entire process brings up remembrances of his wife and her untimely death. There's drama on every page, but none is better than that in Beckett's mind.

It's really a fast read, and there's no reason not to get it. If you have a Kindle, it's dirt-cheap, and if you don't it's still less than $10.

As a side note, the book is part of the AmazonEncore program. It's a great idea of Amazon's; they find books that haven't sold very well but which get outstanding ratings on their site. Then, they agree to publish those books again and lead a marketing campaign for them. The first two books in the program that I've read (Mercury Falls and this one) were both great, and the third (Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch) is looking good as well. Be sure to check out their page, as you might find something great.