{"id":18564,"date":"2023-08-08T20:00:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=18564"},"modified":"2023-08-08T20:00:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T00:00:21","slug":"cant-depend-on-murder-by-jay-heavner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=18564","title":{"rendered":"‘Can’t Depend On Murder,’ by Jay Heavner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I feel a little guilty<\/strong> reviewing Jay Heavner\u2019s Can\u2019t Depend On Murder<\/a><\/em>. My impression is that the author is a good guy with the best intentions for telling an inspiring story. A Christian story. But like so many other Christian writers, he hasn\u2019t figured out how to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the thing is, the book is set in Brevard County, Florida in 1988. As it happens, I was living in Brevard County in 1988, and the little town where I was living even gets a mention here. So I read the thing. And now, because I need to post something tonight, I pretty much have to review the poor book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roger Pyles is a semi-hermit living in an old house trailer. He is apparently part of the police department in his little town in North Brevard County, but they pay him next to nothing and he doesn\u2019t generally have any duties. He was once a college professor, but suffered a tragedy and fled to Florida. He lives with his dog and a stray donkey he rescued, but an ex-girlfriend and the son she bore him live nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then an old Indian called Shaman shows up to deliver a cryptic message about approaching danger. A tree accordingly falls on Roger\u2019s trailer, just the start of a series of catastrophes. There\u2019s some talk of Roger consulting on a serial killer investigation, but that gets solved before he has to move a muscle. Various dangers to himself and his loved ones are hinted at, but everything blows over in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that sounds like not much of a story, well, that\u2019s what we\u2019re dealing with here. Mysteries and perils are hinted at, but never come to anything. Instead there is dialogue \u2013 lots and lots of dialogue. Now I like good dialogue. It brings characters alive. But it\u2019s got to be good <\/em>dialogue. One element of good dialogue is efficiency. You don\u2019t waste the reader\u2019s time with every hello and goodbye. You know when to end a joke, and you don\u2019t have to tell the reader that people laughed at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of all, you don\u2019t preach. (I confess I\u2019m hesitant to raise this point, since I fear I sin in this regard in my own books, but I\u2019m the reviewer here, so it must be said.) The author incorporates repeated conversations, sometimes with an actual preacher character and often improbably motivated, about God and the meaning of life and the problem of evil. Our hero Roger is portrayed as a respectful agnostic, but the Christians score all the debating points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I agree entirely with the points, but I don\u2019t think they were very effectively dramatized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you finish the book you realize there\u2019s a larger context \u2013 greater powers than Roger and his friends are manipulating the world around them. That might have been an effective plot device in a better-written book. But it\u2019s not effective here. It just left me scratching my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, Roger has a cell phone. How many people had cell phones in rural Florida in ’88?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, the character of the Shaman is just silly. He talks like Tonto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can’t recommend Can\u2019t Depend On Murder<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I feel a little guilty reviewing Jay Heavner\u2019s Can\u2019t Depend On Murder. My impression is that the author is a good guy with the best intentions for telling an inspiring story. A Christian story. But like so many other Christian writers, he hasn\u2019t figured out how to do that. However, the thing is, the book … Continue reading ‘Can’t Depend On Murder,’ by Jay Heavner<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,15],"tags":[4833,4832],"class_list":["post-18564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-reviews","tag-cant-depend-on-murder","tag-jay-heavner"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18566,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18564\/revisions\/18566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}