Review for Borrowed Time by Tracy Clark

I like this private detective's attitude, how she speaks her mind, and how she never gives up. Her case, her client, her friends mean everything to her. She finds ways around obstacles and makes her case. It's just up to everyone else to catch up with her.

That’s what I wrote for my Goodreads review. Simple, to the point, but without the little snippets of insight and language I tagged as I was reading.

Here are the passages I tagged:

“I got a partial plate,” I said, eyeing Ben. “And a quick look at a decal.” P. 162

“The car is registered to a company called Fleet Transports, so it could have been anybody inside.” P. 164

It was the wide smile, though, that leapt off the screen and grabbed m by the throat and held on. It was just a little too eager, too bright, too much wattage, like a used car salesman’s whose very life depended on unloading a lemon he knew full well had questionable provenance. P. 184

She was an investment analyst I knew, one I called whenever I had to unravel high finance issues that made my head hurt and my eyes glaze over. I needed the facts on this whole policy-selling thing, not Spada’s high-voltage hard sell, and Lucy was the one to ask. P.190

“Tomorrow morning. Ten AM. Her home.” P.196 [smaller font for AM]

He shot me a confused look, cocked his head. P.225

“I should take you in for obstruction.”

“That’d be a bonehead move, and you know it.” P. 233

I didn’t care how Spada got put into a cell, only that he got there. P. 298

I squeezed my eyes shut, giving it a minute for the memories to settle. When I opened them again, I was fine, or at least fine-ish. I squared my shoulders, centered myself, and then jogged back to the car. P. 317

Why was Spada being so cavalier, so reckless? I sniffed, froze. “Do you smell smoke?”

Whip sniffed, too. “Yeah.”

We wheeled around, sniffing harder, trying to get a bead on the source of the smell. “There.” I pointed at the front door, at the black smoke beginning to billow in underneath.

“Well, that ain’t good,” Whip said. P. 329

I found all of these refreshing and reminiscent of my protagonist. A great find. Yet another reason for authors to keep up with their reading.

Now, if I could only cultivate the higher level of character description as demonstrated here, and by other authors I admire….