View source for They Call Me... Montey Greene by A R Yoba

{{infobox1
|title=They Call Me... Montey Greene
|author=A R Yoba
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Very enjoyable crime caper crossing Italy and France and ending back in the US. Great central character and plenty of twists and turns. It's marginally let down by poor editing. A R Yoba popped into Bookbag Towers to [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To A R Yoba|chat to us]].
|rating=3
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=414
|publisher=Ghettosuburbia Entertainment
|website=http://www.arahmanyoba.com/
|date=July 2012
|isbn=0985440813
|cover=0985440813
|aznuk=0985440813
|aznus=0985440813
}}

''He didn't believe in coincidences but he did believe in conspiracies.''

Little does Montey Greene know how well this motto will serve him. Aside from a brief hold-up at customs, Montey is thoroughly enjoying his holiday in Milan. Recently separated from his wife, he's enjoying eyeing up all the lovely Italian women, meeting up with friends, and just generally pleasing himself.

But everything changes when he comes to the aid of a beautiful shop assistant, saving her from an attack by three men. Montey ends up with four bullets in his back and hovers between life and death for days before waking in a luxury lakeside villa. Alejandra's wealthy industrialist father is ''very'' grateful - Montey risked his own life to save her. And he has a job in mind for this streetwise guy from New York. Faced with an offer he can't refuse, Montey agrees to chaperone Alejandra to a fashion show in Paris.

And, as this is the world of action crime thrillers, you can imagine the job proves to be a dangerous one...

''They Call Me... Montey Greene'' is the first in a series of thrillers by A R Yoba. And it's a very promising start. It's easy to read with a smart pace that generates real tension. And the plot has more twists and turns than you could shake a stick at. It's great fun, it really is.

My only real problem comes in the editing. Generally speaking, there's a little too much telling when showing would be much better. A determined red pen would remove some of the unnecessary ramble and would result in a shorter, more focused novel. And it would increase tension levels too, an important issue for thrillers such as this. The book also desperately needs a thorough proofread. There are too many rogue apostrophes. And to add insult to injury, they often sit next to words with missing apostrophes. Hyphens appear where they shouldn't, brands are incorrectly spelled, we have ''loose'' for ''lose'' and ''sort'' for ''sought'' and other common spelling mistakes, and quite a few sentences are missing words. It's a shame because all these errors are easily corrected but they very much prevent the reader from becoming truly absorbed in the narrative.

Editing aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Montey Greene's first outing. Montey may have a colourful past, but he's not a spy or a detective, he's just an ordinary guy, and so he makes a very refreshing central character. He's far from perfect but he's enjoyably streetwise and his immediate impulse is always to be generous, chivalrous and all-round nice guy. So you're happy to forgive him his sins.  I loved the depictions of Milan, Paris and Miami. All three locations provided a truly vivid backdrop for the story and really made it come alive. The plot is full of twists and turns and Yoba leaves great clues. I picked up the clues just fine, but I genuinely didn't see the final twist coming. It was great! You're going to love it!

There's a taster of book two in this series at the end, and I think it looks great.

Overall, I give a cautious recommendation to ''Montey Greene'' - it's a fun and pacy read with lots to like. I'd just like to see the rough edges smoothed away in any later editions.

You might also enjoy something in the hardboiled line. What about [[Until the Darkness Comes by Kevin Brooks]]?  For a gentler, albeit still thrilling read, try [[The Lost Swimmer by Ann Turner]].

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[[Category:Crime]]