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A King of Infinite Space
| Our Price |
$ 11.66
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| Retail Value |
$ 14.95 |
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| You Save |
$ 3.29 (22%) |
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| Item Number |
2795774 |
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Item Description...
Overview
Homicide detective Danny Beckett investigates the brutal murder of high school teacher Elizabeth Williams, an investigation that brings up past memories for Beckett that leads him on a quest for redemption. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 265
Dimensions: Length: 0.75" Width: 5.5" Height: 8.25"
Weight: 0.74 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Jun 29, 2010
ISBN 1935597094
EAN 9781935597094
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Availability 4 units.
Availability accurate as of May 27, 2012 10:14.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Momence, IL.
Orders shipping to an address other than a confirmed Credit Card / Paypal Billing address may incur and additional processing delay.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Cop Fiction at it's Finest Oct 7, 2009 |
| I'm still slightly bitter for not having guessed the doer sooner, but then again I don't read detective novels on a regular basis. "A King of Infinite Space" is definitely a solid read from beginning to end. The characters were all realistically portrayed and easy to relate to. The plot was fairly straight forward cop drama complete with a unique MO and lengthy list of suspects. I think the writing and description is what really makes it a great book. The feeling of being with the detectives and wanting the case solved is strong throughout the novel and kept me reading. The only things I was disappointed about were a few interviews and confrontations that I really wanted to see, as I thought they could have been powerful moments in the book, but instead they were summarized as inner monologue or dialogue between the two partners. That being said, I hope this isn't the last we see of Beckett and Tanaka as they make a great set of detectives. | | | | Great Reading...especially if you are a Long Beach, CA resident Sep 17, 2009 |
| A great book, even if you are not from my home town! If you are from Long Beach, CA...you will really enjoy all the mentions of landmarks, schools, restaurants, and commercial business in Long Beach in a fictional story. A must read for anyone who enjoys crime fiction, but this one is set in southern california's own back yard. | | |  | Mystery That Does the LBC Proud Sep 16, 2009 |
This is one of the best books that takes place in the LBC. Okay, it's one of the few books that take place in the LBC. Novel writers seem to prefer Long Beach's two neighbors, Los Angeles and the OC to set stories in, so to be able to read a story that takes place in Long Beach - well, that just excites the heck out of me. And that's part of the reason I'm not giving it 5 stars. Not only do I live in Long Beach, but I live in the area where much of the story takes place (Long Beach is a city of 500,000 that covers a lot of area, so of course, the book only focuses on a few neighborhoods of the city). Yes, I'm punishing Mr. Dilts for doing something that I thought was the absolute best part of the book - the use of local knowledge, the streets, the neighborhoods, the hangouts. So, I am a biased reviewer, I just can't measure how much the locality affected my enjoyment.
Lets say I didn't live in Long Beach. Is this still a good book? Heck Yeah. I budgeted three to four days to read the book, but I stayed up late and finished it in two. The plot itself is standard: murder, investigation, suspects, skeletons in closets, resolution. What Dilts does well is present the suspects, and he is outright in having his characters tell the reader whether they are strong or weak suspects, thus eliminating the need to contrive some red herring for most. He also foreshadows, both in the development of the mystery, but also development of the main character, Danny Beckett. Yes, you can guess who the murderer is, but you'll read the novel to the end to see if you were right. And if you don't guess, you'll still read the novel to the end because you'll want to know who did it.
As far as his writing, the book is in first person, but instead of having the feeling of being told to by the character, it feels more like I'm tagging along behind the character,to the meetings, to the interviews, etc., which I enjoyed as a reader. Add to that, some social commentary about the inner city and how a bureaucracy makes decisions, it's a nice well rounded novel.
| | |  | In a nutshell Aug 8, 2009 |
You would think after reading these other reviews that the author of "A King of Infinite Space" was also the author of "Hamlet" from which the title is taken. So now that you've heard from Mr. Dilts's family, friends, and students, perhaps an objective view:
Mr. Dilts relies heavily on all of the traditional police procedural tropes, the most obvious being the detective himself, Danny Beckett, who is dealing with relationship, drinking, and anger issues, and it's no surprise that the solution to the murder is, in part, a solution to his own problem.
For Beckett's character, Mr. Dilts seems to draw heavily for inspiration on the character of Jimmy McNulty in "The Wire" just as Danny's partner, Jennifer Tanaka, seems a version of Kima Greggs of the same series. The familiar tough-talking, hard-drinking, donut-eating, cynical crew of cops is here along with the compromised politician and the geeky computer wiz. You'll find the usual suspects as well, all of whom, naturally, will have a motive and an alibi, and most readers will likely identify the "perp" before Danny manages it.
Mr. Dilts's writing, however, is generally crisp and clear, and he does know how to move a story along and keep the reader engaged. If Danny's voice is a familiar one, he still seems alive, and Mr. Dilts gives him some very snappy lines. At times though, Danny's character seems a little inconsistent, one minute trying to convince us that he is intellectually unsophisticated--you know, like a tough cop--and the next minute he's listening to "Teri [sic] Gross" on NPR interview "an author about his new book that traced the history of the first English translation of the Bible"--you know, like an English professor at Long Beach State, which, of course, Mr. Dilts happens to be if I'm to believe the cover of the book.
You would think, however, that an English professor would be able to distinguish between the objective and subjective forms of pronouns ("Ruiz changed his mind and reassigned Jen and I ..." p. 253, and "He nodded at Jen and I..." p. 267). You might argue that this is the fictional narrator making the mistake, but actually Danny is generally observant of the rules of the language. Moreover, if you visit Mr. Dilts's blog you'll discover that he makes even worse mistakes in his gushy, shamelessly self-promoting entries ("me and Dave...were walking...").
In spite of my reservations, I still found the book quite readable and, ultimately, satisfying within the limitations of the genre. These are old notes, but Mr. Dilts plays them pretty well. The pay-off at the end is surprisingly moving. As I am from Long Beach myself, I also got a cheap kick recognizing all the local landmarks and haunts. | | | | Great Read Jul 26, 2009 |
| This was my "vacation book", and I was pleasantly surprised! It read quick and kept me wanting to keep reading at every chapter. Tyler's attention to detail was perfect....extremely accurate without having to oversell it. I am looking forward to his next book and I am hoping he continues with these characters. | | | Write your own review about A King of Infinite Space
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