{"id":834,"date":"2024-10-29T14:43:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T14:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=834"},"modified":"2024-10-29T14:43:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T14:43:13","slug":"book-review-late-checkout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=834","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Late Checkout"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Late Checkout<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Alan Orloff<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Mystery, Thriller & Suspense \/ Crime<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9781685127428<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 278 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Level Best Books<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reviewed by S.A. Evans<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>How much does family loyalty mean to you?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Late Checkout<\/em> introduces us to Benjamin \u201cMess\u201d Hopkins, a motel owner whose monotonous life takes a turn when his long lost (and thought to be dead) cousin Finn returns to town. <\/p>\n

You would think this is amazing news. And it would be, if he weren\u2019t on the run from people who want him dead. Now Mess must team up with his girlfriend reporter, Lia Katsaros, and his best friend, D\u2019 Marvellus \u201cVell\u201d Jackson, to help Finn get out of the situation alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said you could pick your friends, but you can\u2019t pick your family. I don\u2019t know who they were, but\u2014sadly\u2014they had a point.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mess is the type of person who is more interested in helping people in rough situations by providing them a place to stay than turning a profit for the motel, so he often forgoes business tactics and helps people instead. This makes Mess loyal to a fault when it comes to Finn who went missing six years prior and claims to be back to get his life on the right track. But this is hard to do when two men want Finn dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The story picks up when Lia tells Mess and Vell of the murder of local politician Webster Claypool. Putting two and two together, the gang learns that the two men who are after Finn killed Claypool. After much dodging from Finn, both verbally and physically, the team become detectives to keep Finn safe while also trying to solve the crime of who the two men are, why they killed Claypool, and how Finn is related to the crime.<\/p>\n

This novel comes with some excellent cliffhangers\u2014important for any mystery novel. It\u2019s easy to get invested in what will happen next thanks to its short, punchy chapters. The writing itself, like its use of metaphor and simile, are fresh and fun. <\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to piece everything together logically, but it was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle using a very fuzzy picture as a guide.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And about an informant discussing a potential suspect: \u201c\u2026it looked like a canary was about to come bursting out of his mouth\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And how can I forget, \u201cslick as a real estate brochure.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

One thing that is highlighted over and over is the importance of loyalty\u2014particularly to family\u2014whether they deserve it or not. Character motivations can feel odd at times, but it\u2019s always clear why the people do what they do. <\/p>\n

For example, Mess tries repeatedly to get information out of Finn, but every time Mess tries to probe Finn for useful information that would keep Finn alive, he\u2019s evasive and skittish. Under normal circumstances, a person would give up trying to help someone who doesn\u2019t want to help themself, but Mess keeps coming back trying to help Finn. He forgoes running the motel much of the time and plays detective with Lia and Vell to solve the crime. It\u2019s even mentioned that Mess would loan his car out to invited motel guests if they needed it. Incredibly trusting or incredibly foolish and na\u00efve? The big thing this book does well is illustrating the lengths Mess will go to help people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the character motivation is clear and consistent, it doesn\u2019t make it much easier to connect with his dedication to that which doesn\u2019t directly involve him. There are also some instances of stiff narration and dialogue, but overall I enjoyed the Late Checkout<\/em> reading experience. I won\u2019t be the only one invested in figuring out how this mystery will be solved and who\u2019s involved in it. And lucky for us, the ending provides plenty of satisfaction. Late Checkout<\/em> is a lighthearted mystery with plenty to enjoy.<\/p>\n

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<\/span>Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

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<\/span>Buy from Bookshop<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thank you for reading S.A. Evans\u2019s book review of Late Checkout <\/em>by Alan Orloff! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: Late Checkout<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late Checkout by Alan Orloff Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense \/ Crime ISBN: 9781685127428 Print Length: 278 pages Publisher: Level Best Books Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by S.A. Evans How much does family loyalty mean to you? Late Checkout introduces us to Benjamin \u201cMess\u201d Hopkins, a motel owner whose monotonous life takes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}