Day One
June 1st, 2010 § 19 Comments
Born and raised in southern Oregon farm country, Ellie Spaneker flees her home and abusive husband, her trail dogged by a brutal ex-cop in the hire of her vengeful father-in-law. In Portland, retired homicide detective Skin Kadash fills his idle days drinking coffee and searching for Eager Gillepsie, a teen runaway of special interest as the only witness in a troublesome and long unsolved murder. Eager, meanwhile, is on his own, drifting and working the angles in the homeless under-ground, oblivious to the unfolding events which will force him to face the consequences of a crime, and a longing, which has haunted him for years.
I won this promotional copy of Day One from a contest on the blog Criminal Minds that Bill contributes for every other Thursday. I have a confession to make: I’ve never read anything in the crime/mystery genre. If someone asked me what kind of books I read, I’d say, “Oh, I read anything.” In actuality, I read literary, YA, and science fiction/fantasy. If someone recommended a book outside of these genres, I’d absolutely read it. A good story is a good story and good writing is good writing. People, Bill Cameron’s Day One is GREAT story-telling and SUPERB writing (I thought those words warranted a caps lock).
Lost Dog, Chasing Smoke and Day One are part of a series following Skin Kadash and those around him. I’d heard Bill Cameron describe them as stand-alones, so I read Day One right after I got it in the mail. I was not confused with the plot and immediately drawn in. His characters were complex, interesting, tragic, and sympathetic. I felt like I knew who Skin was right away despite not having read the first two books.
Day One slipped in and out of scenes that took place in the past and present. These shifts in time read effortlessly. With each chapter, I’d become so engrossed in that piece of back story or present day dialogue, I was almost grieved when the section ended.
For me, this was a great introduction to the crime/mystery genre and you’d better believe I’ll be reading more of it.
On a side note, I’d like to point out how much of a social networking win this is. I probably would not know who Bill Cameron was or about his books if he were not on twitter. I would not have followed Bill on twitter had he not been interesting and entertaining. Other authors should absolutely take note of what Bill has done to engage those who follow him.
To celebrate the release of Day One, Bill filmed a question and answer series on youtube. He was kind enough to entertain my ridiculous questions found here (for the record, my spider-bite scar is pretty awesome):
Isn’t he gracious? You can order your copy of Day One here, or you may win my SIGNED copy (I know, I know, I am too generous). All you have to do to enter is tweet/facebook/batsign in the sky this contest and tell me how you advertised it in the comments section. You have until midnight June 7th to enter. I will pick the winner randomly. I will not be swayed by love letters, sonnets, chocolates, flowers, or iPhones (okay, maybe an iPhone). You will want to enter this contest. Do it.
Tweeted about it. ^_^ I love crime/mystery books, and this one looks really good! Also posted it in the NOTICES on the side bar of my blog.
http://twitter.com/AshelynnS/status/15221351602
http://asliceofbookheaven.blogspot.com/
And I RTd her! Ha! Thanks for the tweet Ashelynn. Thanks for the contest Harley May!
http://twitter.com/CrystalPosey/status/15221696864
You serious? You won’t be swayed by sonnets? Well, crap. I’ll just have to enter the old-fashioned way, then.
I, um, liked it on FB, and I’m off to tweet now.
(But if I wrote a sonnet about how I liked this post on FB and tweeted about it, would THAT seal the deal?)
DAY ONE is a powerful book. I might have cried in parts. I might have cursed Bill, while shaking, in parts. I might have picked it back up and finished it cause I couldn’t help it. I might not be sorry that I did. I might have been like – “! – ? – ! – ? – !!!!!” in one particular part near the end.
But I will never forgive Bill for What He Did To Eager (TM).
And Elisabeth Black will be writing all my book reviews from now on.
I re-tweeted and I will go press Like on FB right now, Miss Harley.
I tweeted! And will tweet AGAIN.
I’ve read Lost Dog and have Chasing Smoke on my TBR shelf – I need Day One to add to it! Lost Dog blew my socks off and, like you, I’d never read much crime fiction before landing in a quagmire of crime fiction writers on Twitter. I’m oh-so-glad I have.
Tweeted and FB’d your giveaway. I WANTS TO WIN.
XOXO
I retweeted your contest. DAY ONE sounds fantastic. I’m also telling all my friends.
I tweeted your contest!
You’d better believe I’m tweeting this bitch. I just started reading LOST DOG (Bill’s first book) and am dying to read more.
Thanks for sharing!
Tawna
Tweeted, Madame. Please oh please, let it be me! (That wasn’t begging, that was a prayer.)
I wanna curse and shake and cry like Elizabeth Black did! And I tweeted even more than Tawna did! And I’m shouting it out my front door right now: CONTEST AT HARLEY MAY’S!!! Will continue to tweet into the night and bring chocolates and Shakespeare…
I’ve tweeted it and now off to Facebook. Great idea and contest Harley!
Is this Day One of your contest…hahahehe. I couldn’t resist.
EEEK! Gotta have it! Don’t give it to Tawna! I RT’d your tweet even before I read your review — you and @bcmystery are great twitter buds, and I must, must read this book!
Only, it releases in June, along The Kiddo’s b-day and Father’s Day and then comes July, anniversary and The Sister’s b-day and then there’s August, with back to school supplies, and then, dadgum it, Christmas is a-comin’ …
Why, yes. I am whining. If I don’t win this book, I’ll buy it for my own birthday present. So there.
great video and review
All the interest and enthusiasm is both thrilling and humbling!
tweeted!
http://twitter.com/littlefluffycat/statuses/16221512374
[...] A review by the witty and hilarious Harley May! [...]