Godfall

Started promising, then it got boring and predictable. DNF

I have a lot of thoughts about this book – overall it was enjoyable and I liked it. Definitely more murder mystery vs sci-fi than I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it.

The good:

• I liked David Blunt, the sheriff and MC of the story. He was accurately depicted as how you would expect a man brought up in a small farm town in a red state. Moral compass, small town manners, stubborn, drinker, and hints of racism and misogyny without being outright horrible.
• Charlotte was an interesting twist/character, I won’t spoil anything but I really enjoyed the angle she played in the book.
• The murder mystery was enjoyable. I was captivated and intrigued, and I liked the angle of the murder being obsessed with the alien/giant.
• The dialogue between the characters was really great – each person had their own mannerisms and voice and I enjoyed that.

The meh:

• It was a little confusing reading about the town itself. Is it a big city/town now? is it still a small town with an adjoining big town? Is one side of the town dubbed ‘old town’ and secluded from the rest? I don’t know, it was very confusing.
• If it was a big town, I find it highly doubtful they would not have reorganized the structural elements of the town. 2 police is not enough, and a volunteer fire department? Even tiny towns have a fire chief.
• The twist/ who the killer was. I was a little disappointed by how this panned out. It was a good story but I felt like it was set up early on and instead of a shocking twist, it was actually who I thought it was early on. It ties in really well with everything, I just was hoping for more of a shock factor – I kinda knew who it was already.
• The lack of sci-fi elements. There was a giant dead alien and a top secret government base and we didn’t really focus on that? what? tell me more!!

Truly I did enjoy this read, it was good! I just felt like things either weren’t wrapped up (the dogs barking/dementia thing??) OR there is going to be a sequel. Personally I would definitely read a sequel if it dove deeper into the alien and the government facility and the things they are hiding there. That would be very interesting.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Godfall by Van Jensen was an intriguing look into a small town community whose world was impacted in more ways than one. I would recommend it to those who enjoy a murder mystery and who also like small town problems.

*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review*