Exuberant Reader Review

The Moth continues to scuffle up readers who get the book. I particularly liked this review -- Ryan put a lot of work into it.

What if Don Quixote was a Pawn Broker in East L.A.?

Ryon C, Reviewer

... It's not often that I'll rate a book this highly. But when it's this good, credit has to be given. The author here has delivered a book that is tight, very well paced, doesn't mince hard details sometimes, and is an utterly terrific read. The Moth didn't start out as a pawnbroker. But that's what he is today, and over the first few chapters we see his progression from childhood to adult, see what has shaped him, what has made him into the man he is today. While the supporting cast of minor characters is varied and numerous, there are never too many characters at any one point and it's easy to follow the flow of the narrative. Speaking of narrative, this isn't exactly a standard novel where everything flows neatly into one another. Rather, it reads like a series of vignettes into Moth's life, in relatively chronological order. Each vignette could possibly be taken on its own as a short story, but the overall arc is what ties everything together. That appealed to me. Even though I read this book in one sitting pretty much, it would be easy to stop at the end of a chapter and pick things up at a later time. There aren't a lot of lengthy scene descriptions in this one, just enough to let the reader know the setting. However, to me this book just exudes atmosphere. Atmosphere around Moth, his dealings, successes and failures, attempts to live by his own moral boundaries, and the neighborhood he lives in.This book is all too relatable for some reason. Not that I am like Moth, but I genuinely could get into his shoes, his thoughts, his actions. Among numerous individuals and organizations, as it were, he finds a way to somehow just manage to come out with almost Pyrrhic victories.It's not an action-packed book, although there are many scenes of action in it. It's just the overall tone that gripped me and had me devouring page after page. Make no doubt, this is a book filled with emotion of all sorts.One or two very minor typos, but nothing that takes away from the story. I highly recommend this book for any reader of general crime fiction.