Eric Jerome Dickey is back with his newest release Finding Gideon, which came out on April 18th, published by Dutton.  I’m sure if you’re a fan of  Eric Jerome Dickey’s Gideon series you’ll be happy about this new release focusing on Gideon.  Having not read any of the Gideon series I was afraid that I would be a little lost trying to follow the story of Finding Gideon.  However, the publisher assured me that it wasn’t necessary to have read the other books in the series to be able to get into this book and said that it wasn’t a sequel.  I can confirm that this is true.  It wasn’t hard to follow the story, even though there are some references made to previous books.  In essence, Finding Gideon focuses on Gideon’s archenemy Medianoche (Midnight) who has targeted Gideon and wants him dead at all costs.  “Sam I am. Green eggs and ham.” Gideon is a smooth talking, ruthless, and sexy hitman who won’t stop until his job is done.  Remorseless and formidable, he still has some scruples.

The book contains all the right amounts of action and sex to keep the reader interested.  Nevertheless, the first 70-80 pages of the book are the least interesting to read .  The pacing is a bit slow and some readers may be convinced to quit.  I suggest hanging in there to really see what this story is about.  It’s best to read the book in very few sittings. That will help to keep your interest.  More interesting aspects are all the different cities that Finding Gideon takes us to – London, Buenos Aires, Miami, and Antigua.   That’s when the story gets better.  He even manages to wedge in a mention of Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg, located in Webster, Massachusetts.  It’s the longest place-name in the United States.

Spanish is also a big part of the novel, so be prepared to accept the Spanish even when you don’t understand it or look it up on a translating site if you must know what everything means.  I just let it fly and tried to use my instincts.  I also enjoyed the dialogue which made me crack up sometimes.  “Foxy Brown and Hercules wore identical suits; both wore paisley ties, green the dominant color.  They looked like Gladys Knight and a Pip who would never Pip again.” (Finding Gideon, p. 241) Eric Jerome Dickey has a way with writing women characters.  Loved Hawks! She’s a badass with a smart mouth.  She’s very intelligent and isn’t prepared to be used by anyone, Gideon included.  Some of the best dialogues are between Hawks and Gideon.  He doesn’t hold anything back.  Gideon could be considered fairly stereotypical in his actions and reactions but in spite of that he makes the reader want to root for him.  In any case, Gideon is searching for answers and trying to find out who he really is and what is true about his past.

The thing I hated most about this book was the ending and a scene which is literally repeated and doesn’t give any extra useful information. Wow!  Unfortunately, the reader is left hanging clear off the cliff by a shoestring because there are many questions left unanswered and that is unfortunate; especially since these questions are alluded to during 50% of the book.  I was expecting something to be answered by the end.  I suspect that means that there will surely be another Gideon book on the way.  I feel slightly manipulated by that.

So would I recommend finding Gideon? Yes if you’re looking for an easy to read thriller which contains some violence and erotica.  If this isn’t the kind of genre you usually read I’d say give it a miss.

My copy:  Finding Gideon, 367 pages

Big thanks to Dutton for providing me with this beautiful hardcover in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:  3 stars

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