Don’t Get Close
By Matt Miska
This is not your typical FBI thriller. Newly graduated FSI Special Agent Vera Taggert led the efforts to determine whether a dormant doomsday cult is reemerging and planning another mass casualty event. She became obsessed with a psychiatrist claiming that he could help patients tap into their past lives, and she volunteered to be hypnotized herself. The rest of the book explored reality vs imagination as the plot progressed. A mysterious capstone appeared throughout the story and was captivating. While the premise was fascinating and the plot was delightfully twisty, the execution failed to deliver the punch.
There’s too much exposition. Each vision session went on far too long and in such minute detail that the overall plot became lost. I skimmed over many of the visions because of the length and repetition.
I struggled to follow some plot holes. The author would bring up a previous conversation between two characters, but it sounded new to me. He suggested that Tag was in closer contact with her FBI team, but those interactions weren’t more prominent in the plot.
I also had problems with some of the characterizations of the male FBI agents on the case. Their dialogue was over the top and full of cliches. They’re reduced to crude pigs with their traces of competence hidden behind crass words and actions. I get it – they’re jerks – but they spend so much time dumping crass references to genitalia that I ignored the characters.
One strength was the resolution of the capstone. It had been referenced throughout the novel as a great treasure, and that could have led to a big letdown once its nature was revealed. It ended up being a well-defined solution that explained why it had been so valuable to so many people.
Another strength was that it kept me guessing until the last page. What was real? What was contrived? Was justice served? These questions were answered in a way that kept me thinking through them well after I had finished the novel. I had been tempted to put it aside, but the end was a satisfying reader payoff.
I wish the novel had been tighter, with shorter vision sequences and better characterizations. While I enjoyed the resolution, I questioned whether it had been worth it to stick around to the end.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a review copy.
