Hotshoe

Jerry Smith does a wonderful job of conveying the dirt track experience; I found myself grinning widely at his description of the main character's first dirt track, and at various other passages as well. The mystery plot is interesting, and kept me turning pages well after bedtime, oftentimes grinning or chuckling out loud at a particularly well-crafted passage. Smith's got an easy-going, laid-back sense of humor that waits quietly until the right moment, and then either speaks up softly for good chuckles, or bursts forth and brings the house down. I really enjoy Smith's writing voice - it suits him well, and I can sometimes catch a glimpse of his grinning face in the background of the pages. His writing is honest, straight-forward, no-BS, somtimes gritty real life [stuff], and that's partially why it works for me.As an avid motorcyclist myself, I always enjoy reading about bikes, and it was great to have two of my favorite genres, murder mystery & motorcycle adventure, put together. Smith's characters are well-written, and have their own shortcomings (which of course endears them to us and makes them much more real.)I plan to pick up Smith's _Dead Man's Throttle_ soon, to continue enjoying his work, and really recommend this book to anyone who's thought "hey, this might be good/fun/interesting," because it surely won't disappoint.