Dooley Ashe is a former Seattle police detective who has taken early retirement. His nickname is “the kiddie catcher,” because he once talked a confession out of a little boy who had committed a cruel murder. Now he’s gotten a call from the police in the town of Bartlett, where another murder involving children has taken place. A vicious bully has been killed with a baseball bat, and the fingerprints of six children – all of them victims of his harassment – were found on bat. The kids aren’t talking. Can Dooley come and look into it?

In Bartlett, Dooley meets Mary Austin, the students’ teacher. She’s the kind of teacher every parent wants for their child – someone who loves children deeply and is capable of inspiring underachievers to focus and discover their gifts. She’s also very attractive, and Dooley is drawn to her, knowing he shouldn’t be.

All the elements of a very good thriller are here in All For One, and yet… it doesn’t quite work. Author Ryne Douglas Pearson states in his introduction that this was a book he wrote early in his career and set aside, and he offers it now without a re-write.

He should have done the re-write. He’s a successful thriller and motion picture writer now, and I’m sure he could have turned this story into an effective narrative. But as it is, it’s just… too much. Too many characters, too much information about them. He takes us into the stream of consciousness of almost every important character, and that just slows the story down. There are other ways to provide insight into characters – word choices, telling gestures and habitual movements, things said and not said. All For One is just too much book for the amount of story here. Too much soap opera passion, and a contrived climax. Also, I figured out whodunit about half way through.

Not top notch, but I got it free for Kindle, and I did finish it. Cautions for the usual stuff.