Spy Hunt in Dixie by Max Connelly

I was looking forward to reading this book but was very disappointed. The beginning was terrific and I was hooked. Then out of the blue it started reading like another author took over. That is when I lost interest. However, when I am asked to review a book by an author, I have an open mind and was dedicated to finish the book hoping for a return to the beginning hook. I'm sorry to say it never happened.

 

I started reading the book on my flight to visit my mother. I was so confused 35% of the way into the story, that I thought I would reread it from the beginning to my mother. She is an avid reader and loves history. I said nothing to her about my thoughts, just telling her it's a book I said I would read and review.

 

We thought we were either stupid or going crazy with how the book was written. Like I mentioned before, the difference in writing styles were integrated into the story and it was extremely confusing. We weren't sure who was doing what or what was going on much of the time. There were so many points of view, but I don't think Max Connelly has mastered how to write whose point of view the reader is supposed to be reading.

 

There were also many times I thought I knew what a word or phrase meant, but it was used incorrectly, therefore continuing to make the story more confusing.

 

By the time we were 73% into the book, we were both counting the pages to be finished. The end of the book being the most confusing, we had no idea what was going on with which characters. There were so many characters and so many name changes, it was just absurd.

 

Avoiding naming certain political characters in the very end I'm figuring was a bias on Max Connelly's part, but once again, not really sure.

 

Most of the book felt like I was reading what I would read from a political reporter. This was supposed to be historical fiction. I felt like I could tell when Max was writing (which I actually enjoyed) and when this phantom writer took over.

 

I am sorry to say I cannot recommend this book for anyone in particular because of the writing, point of view confusion, and too many characters without enough depth to make the story enjoyable and not confusing.