Pike Island by Tony Wirt

Pike Island by Tony Wirt

This is my first novel by Tony Wirt, which I chose as a pre release from Amazon because I was feeling a little dangerous and wanted to be a little bit scared. That was back in November and I'm just now getting around to reading it - and although I'm not in the same frame of mind, I'm always down for a thriller that scares me just a little bit. This book deals with addiction, death, drug use, bullying, mental illness, gun violence, blood, kidnapping, fire, murder, alcohol, and injury detail.

Krista Walsh tied her wagon to Andrew Harrison Leonard when he was first getting involved in politics - she knows how to pick a winner. She has led him from City Councilmember to becoming the youngest representative in Congress, she was the one that convinced him to go by "Harry" to make him more approachable. Now all of their hard work is about to pay off, Harry has been making waves in all the right pools and has been getting noticed. He's right where he needs to be to make a bid for the presidency in a few years. But then he gets a postcard addressed to "Andy", then he gets another. Then a message gets sent to a journalist and Krista realizes that she needs to get ahead of whatever, whoever, is out there. As she investigates, she discovers a story that is nearly unbelievable and would wreck Harry's career if it gets out. The man she's working for isn't who she thought he was at all. But what is she going to do about it?

This book had so much potential. It really hooked me at the beginning and was very easy to get absorbed by. At just under three hundred pages, it was pretty quick to get through, but it was no longer as exciting. Derivative of a lot of other political stories, a politician needs to own up or cover up the "mistakes" they made as a teenager. Unfortunately, there was nothing new here. Dirty law enforcement, dirty politicians. We've read it before. The characters didn't have much personality, it was very plot heavy and unfortunately the plot just wasn't that exciting. The writing was good though, and I liked that we learn about the past through a different point of view than Harry's. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good.

I'm giving Pike Island by Tony Wirt 3.25 stars out of 5. If I'm going to read a thriller or a political suspense book, there are better options out there.

For more from Tony Wirt, check out his website at https://www.tonywirt.com/

Pairs well with an old fashioned and a weekend trip to the lake.