Wicked Break: A Noah Braddock Mystery

Jeff Shelby has done it again with this next installment of the Noah Braddock mystery series. If you liked Killer Swell, you will love Wicked Break!

I'm starting Killer Swell after reading Wicked Break--so I can say that Wicked Break was good enough to make me want to read another Noah Braddock mystery. For years I lived in San Diego, and Shelby has the ambience down just right, and he doesn't over- or under-do it. The characters make a good ensemble to work with the main character for a good series of novels. Braddock is conflicted enough to make him human, but not so much to make the reader neurotic. The story carries the reader along, but near the end it seems a bit contrived and ends on a somewhat disappointing note. However, it's not disappointing enough to keep me from reading more of these novels. I'd really like to see an OTL tournament novel with the main characters.

I just finished reading Jeff Shelby's "Wicked Break" and enjoyed it immensely. It was thoroughly entertaining and I loved all the humor and give and go between Noah and his side-kick Carter. With each new book of Shelby's, we are getting acquainted with his characters a little bit at a time and that certainly keeps us coming back for more! I live in San Diego and love that this series takes place there. With each turn of the page I am picturing just where Braddock is and am breathlessly awaiting his next new adventure. Again, cudos to the author...Job Well Done!!!

Jeff Shelby is the author of two novels, the first, Killer Swell, worked on all levels. This one is no less assured and should be a big seller and keep the author with more on the way in this fresh new series. Noah Braddock is the typical detective who doesn't want to be a detective, but is set apart by the storyline of the author as well as the delving into his personal story. The novel opens with Noah being asked to look into the disappearance of Peter Pluto's brother, Linc, a suspected Aryan. He begrudingly accepts the job and soon is surrounded by death and mayhem. Bailed out again at times by his sometime sidekick Carter, Noah stumbles along with bodies and trouble from the law providing occasional roadblocks. Twists and turns make this novel a revelation and set it apart from other mysteries in the genre. When you think you have it figured out, something new will pop up, and when you really think you have it down, it goes in another direction. Shelby has a winner in Noah Braddock and I for one can't wait until we see where Noah goes in the future. The reluctant detective must have more in store. Keep them coming.