| Title | : | Bite Me (Dev Haskell Mystery, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 355 |
| Publication | : | First published May 29, 2012 |
This is the third book in the Dev Haskell series, they can be read in any order.
Bite Me (Dev Haskell Mystery, #3) Reviews
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I see that this was rated fairly high by other readers which puzzles me. I do not consider this a well-written crime book by any stretch of the imagination. Since I have not read the first two books of the series, I'm cutting it some slack -but not much. Spoilers below!
Readability: the book was easy to read in the regard that ample description was given for the scenery and characters. Although this is the third book in the series, I felt that the author took his time and properly set the story up. My main problem was it lost momentum and hit it's rate of diminishing returns rather quickly as we shall see below. All in all, I enjoyed the author's writing style, if not his writing. His style is witty, concise and not given to dramatic fluffery. Yes I just used fluffery and I just totally made it up.
Character development: this part of the book was inconsistent. I made allowances for I-started-with-the-third-book situation. My biggest problem was the character development for one of the main characters, Kiki, who is the antagonist. I think she was supposed to be a stark raving genius? I'm not sure. Because the one thing the book insists is that she is certifiable but that she might also be a criminal mastermind. Things are pretty loose and carefree on that point. More on that below in my section about the actual story.
Story: ok. (Please imagine me rubbing my hands together in a gleeful fashion). Let's get down to business. Dev, the protagonist, is a private investigator (PI). He likes alcohol and "likes" his women. He is kind of a perv and misogynistic. So, my point is that Dev might be normal to most men and I think he is disgusting. He has a "relationship" with the aforementioned crazy Kiki. Relationship in quotes because they do not actually do anything but drink and have sex. Thankfully none of the sex is descriptive. Things run downhill from here. Kiki's brother hires Dev to guard the radio station he works out. Dev is so obtuse. I would never hire him as my PI. He does not immediately recognize that the station is probably not legit, except for one other guy there. Their supposed death threats are faked by Kiki and her "brother". To what end, it was never revealed. But basically the third guy used the station as an outlet to rage against the man/government/. Down the road, Kiki drugs Dev and sets him up for rape charges against her and murder charges on the third wheel at the station. Why? It was never explained. Maybe he was convenient. Regardless, so much time was spent on creating this intrigue. Why would Kiki drug Dev? Why would she set him up for the murder of the only legit guy at the radio station? Why would she create fake murder threats against the station? Why would she then murder her brother who turns out to be her husband and set up Dev for that? Why would the author throw an entire chapter about a friend Dev gets out of rehab for a day and Kiki basically drugs the guy? Nothing else was said about it. Kiki is not so very smart. She drugs him one night with huge amounts roofies (or floories for you Hangover fans) and ecstasy and accuses him of raping her. Um, duh. His lab tests will show he was clearly too drugged to do anything but babble to himself in the corner. She presses on and is mysteriously able to get Dev's public attorney fired and replaced with a lady who hates Dev and gives him weird legal advice (with a blurb in the book about she will later be called on the carpet for but does not). After Dev gets himself out of the situation and the charges dropped, Kiki shows up at his house and drugs him for the fun of it. Although she knows she's a wanted women because now the bumbling police have figured things out. And her showing up at his house is a complete Arrested Development "take a look at these" moment. If you watch the show you will know what I am talking about. So. Much. Story. Yet so little told because the books ends pretty much there. Dev is innocent and everyone knows Kiki did it, but why? Book four I suppose.
Bottom line: don't read this book. It's pretty bad. I gave it two stars as apposed to one because I genuinely liked his actual style. But he needs some serious work on putting together a decent crime story. -
3 1/2 stars
Not going to win awards for best detective novel ever, but very enjoyable and entertaining. Dev Haskell has everything a PI needs. A crummy office and apartment,no business,old car and a drinking problem! What more does he need? -
The titles in this series have a connection to a running theme in the book; you might say they're a running gag. BITE ME fits this one to a T. As in the first couple of books, Dev finds himself in trouble, only in BITE ME trouble doesn't begin to describe it.
Devlin Haskell drinks… a lot! Yet, he doesn't seem to be an alcoholic. His ability to turn down a drink, even go cold turkey for a period of time is remarkable. (Don't think of this as a spoiler, but as an observation.)
It takes a skilled writer to create havoc around the central theme of a guy who thinks about only three things… babes, booze and, well, the third one varies, but usually ends up being bodies… yet keep it interesting and new book after book. Mike Faricy does just that. Last time I checked, there are now 17 books in this series, and I plan on reading them all. -
[SPOILER ALERT] This book was ok. Not as good as the first two in the series, mainly because early in the book, Dev kept being sucked in by Kiki even though, from the first, she had shown herself to be bad news. You would think he would have stayed away from her, but, if he had, there wouldn't have been a story here.
The ending wasn't great either. The only thing resolved was the charges against Dev suddenly being dropped. What about Kiki? I guess we find out in the next book...? Regardless, it seemed like the story was moving along and then, out of nowhere, The End. -
Review 7*******
I was gifted an ARC copy of this book by the author, and I am so pleased that I was one of the few lucky people to receive it! I absolutely LOVED it!
Dev Haskell is what I would call a lucky P.I. He seems to fly by the seat of his pants (and I mean that literally), as he seems to get caught in the most bizarre cases. Trouble seems to find him on a regular basis. But, he's only got himself to blame some of the time. He see's himself as a bit of a ladies man, and he is certainly charming. However, his propensity for the ladies, and drink, is his downfall!
I kept shaking my head as I read this book and thinking to myself, "What are you doing that for? You know you're heading for trouble, and you still do it!". Mind you, if he didn't do those stupid things, there wouldn't be a fantastic book to read!
Mike Faricy has written another fantastic novel, with the most colourful of characters. I loved all the characters, but I've got to say that a couple stood out. One was the Court appointed defence attorney, Louie, and the other was Kiki, Dev's latest girlfriend. I think Louie is a great guy, but he needs to stop drinking so much. And Kiki is one seriously messed up lady!
I am certainly looking forward to reading more of Dev's adventures (or is that misadventures?) as a womanising P.I. I highly recommend this book if you love a detective story with a difference. -
I’m new to Mike Faricy’s books, and reading the premise for “Bite Me” I was a little skeptical that it might not be a book I would enjoy. But on the recommendation of a good friend with similar tastes in books as what I have, I took a leap of faith and gave it a go. I was not disappointed!
What an enjoyable and wonderfully humorous read it was. Dev Haskell is a one-of-a-kind character - you either love him or hate him. I found him very entertaining and the calamitous situations he got himself into had me devouring one chapter after the other.
The only downsides were a few unnecessary grammar errors, and a rather abrupt ending, but I nonetheless enjoyed the book tremendously and had a hard time putting it down.
Great story, a few twists, realistic characters, superb dialogue, and a lot of laughs made this a fantastic read! I’ll definitely be reading the other Dev Haskell novels as well, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the next book, “Bombshell”, being released in September 2012. “Bite Me” is more than deserving of its 5 star rating! -
Bite Me was a really good crime book. I have never read anything by Mike Faricy so when I was given the opportunity to read this book I decided to give it a shot, since crime books are right up my alley. I truly enjoyed reading this book, and seeing what was going to happen next. Though I do believe I need to read the books before this one that has the P.I. Dev Haskell in it, since when talking with all the females in this story there seemed to be a background with each one that I was missing.
Bite me is about a Private Investigator named Dev Haskell who often finds his self in trouble with the ladies. A one night meet with a female named Kiki has it's consequences. Within one day of meeting Kiki, Dev has a whole lot of charges against him and he does not remember any of it. Dev finds his self in a crazy situation that he tries to find a way out of. With all the bad things coming his way this book had me laughing at times. -
This is the third in a series. Dev is on a case again but this time he is acting as protection for 2 guys in radio. Once again Dev's attraction to a beautiful woman gets him in trouble with the police. This time he is accused of all sorts of things rape, kidnapping, murder to name a few. With the help of a few friends Dev tries to clear his name once again. Yes there are times I want to reach in the book and slap him along side the head and tell him to wake up. There are also times I think how stupid can one guy be. But I really like this series and will continue to read it all. There are laugh out loud moments in these books. They are quick easy reads.
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Another Dev Haskell tale, they can be read in any order you wish. Wise cracking, back slapping, wrong thinking PI Dev Haskell has just landed his dream job, providing security for people who don’t need it in the first place, until someone shoots at them in broad daylight. Things quickly fly out of control and Dev suddenly finds himself under the police microscope, literally tied up in a relationship and dodging a growing pile of bodies that all seem to be linked to him. Another in the entertaining Dev Haskell series from Minnesota’s Master of the Bizarre, Mike Faricy
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What the heck was that???? Spoiler Alert:
This is what you call an ending????? I had to literally search the web to make sure I didn't get faulty e-book. If it was a paperback I'd have sworn that someone had ripped of the last few pages!!
Talk about wasting my time reading it and then not getting ANY answers in the end. The author just decided he had enough writing this book and turned off the computer!
Easily the worst book I've read this year. I might give the next one in the series a chance cuz of the first 2 books but this quite possible the worst end I've ever read in my life. -
An easy, fun read. There is no great plot, there is no great writing and there no great anything but there is enough of everything for you to continue reading. I liked the Mike Faricy's idea of writing these easy to read, entertaining novels.
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Most of this book is run-on sentences. Sometimes three or four sentences without punctuation. There are many apostrophe and grammar errors. This book needs an editor!
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I love me my Devlin Haskell: Smart-alecky, mystery-solving, alcoholic, all-around charming PI. This time, Dev gets involved with a woman who likes to signal a night of (consensual) sex is over by throwing knives at her 'guest'. And then recommending his sleuthing services to her brother-one of the team of two who run an an alt-right radio station that's on only 4-times a day. And *then* the weirdness begins.
Like all the others in the series, this book is a fast read that's a bit hard to put down and even though you'd probably find Dev frustrating as a friend-reading about him is pretty fun. -
Having read the first two books in this series in April, and not enjoying either one, I thought a few months away would prepare me for the third book. No such luck. Dev Haskell is as much of a loser as he was previously. The plot to this tale is convoluted, and the characters, including our "hero" Dev, are all difficult to embrace as real persons. Third strike, Dev's out. I just removed the other four books in the boxed set from my To Be Read list. There is much better crime fiction to spend my time with.
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I was very disappointed with this book. The are a number of story lines that don't seem to go anywhere or are left dangling. The ending doesn't make any sense - at least not to me.
Although I have abandoned a few books that I felt weren't of interest to me, I read this one to the end to we how things finished up. Unfortunately, most didn't.
I have this book a rating of 2 rather than 1 because Dev is still an interesting character. I plan on reading the next book in the series only because I have a boxed set of 7 books. -
3.5 Stars.
Kept me turning the pages, some of the things that Dev gets himself into is really hilarious.
His depiction of women is a bit...
They are either hot, or horrible. (And Kiki is just plain crazy).
Last point, it did not feel like a proper end. I was expecting another chapter or two to wrap things up, but no.
A bit like the protagonists, he can come off as blunt.
Still, was a quick read. -
Devlin Haskel is a sort of PI who doesn't have impulse control and who is obsessed with sex, but who also has no respect for the objects of his lust. Why did I think he would be interesting to read? The guy's a jerkwad. OTOH, this book is so much better written than the p.o.s. by [redacted] that I read just before it.
It might be better than a 2* book, perhaps 2*+, but definitely not so good ad 3*-. I'm done with Devlin Haskel. -
Not as good as the first two books.
I didn’t think this was as good a read as the first two books.
The plot was a bit grim and seemed to meander. Not much investigating was done until almost the very end. I feel this was definitely the weaker book so far.
I will see how the next book goes though. -
Though I like his writing this was not one of the authors best. It was a bit slower paced and the main character made some pretty stupid decisions but not every book can perfect and so far of all the rest of the series I have read so far this is the only one I had anything negative to say. So I will continue on with the series and hopes the next book is back on track.
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A fun, entertaining read. This is the book where Dev meets his lawyer pal Louie. Not going to win any literary awards, but a great light change of pace.
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As good as the first books!
I like the author's sense of humor, matches my own! Very well worth the time! Really enjoyed reading these books and definitely a fan! -
Dev Haskell must look like the perfect dupe. This isn't the first time he gets set up to take the fall for things after falling into bed with some woman he picked up in a bar. Maybe he'll stop drinking for a while after Kiki sets him up as fall guy for several murders. Guess we'll see.
