Tune Up: The Secrets of Mylin - Book I (Detective Qigiq)

There was not much I really like about this story and only sturboness kept me reading to the painful end. The characters were artificial, contrived and vapid. The San Francisco detective team of an Alaskan native male and androgynous female use high tech resources to help chase down a convoluted bunch of crimes involving, murder, prostitution, kidnapping and drugs. The author keeps motorcycles in the story, although they really add little. The oral fixation of the female detective has her continuously packing chewing gum or mints into her mouth or gulping coffee, water or juice--- which became very annoying. A secondary story deals with an itinerant photographer who accidentally becomes involved with an Asian musician who is a captive of her father's prostitution ring. The story drones on for too many pages and eventually concludes at "the Burning Man" festival for a super contrived climax. The book contained way to much in the way of mind numbing minutia, trivial and banal passages, Seems like the author had a germ of an idea for story, embellished it with many superfluous twists and turns and ended up with a hackneyed hodgepodge.

I've read all of Joe's books, there's not one better than the other, they are all great, if you like a mystery that you can get into at a point where you don't want to put it down, then you owe it to yourself to read Joe Klingler's work. I'll be happy when he comes up with another one or two, or more.J. Grate

Goodness, this is a small thing, but it totally distracted me as I was reading. That thing is the name of the Alaskan detective: Qigiq. We are told once how to pronounce this, but at every sentence with that name in it, I felt somehow compelled to pause and say the name "correctly". In so doing I really lost the thread of the story. Can't imagine why an author would do this to his readers. Wind-up characters, totally unbelievable. I stopped reading the book about a third of the way through it. What a relief.

IntriguingThis stand-alone is easy to follow and difficult to put down. Some violence, no drag-you-down drama. The author shares beneficial information worth researching.The storyline moves between two detectives and a couple on the run. Descriptive writing that draws the reader into each scene. Alaska, Chinese culture and Burning Man are eloquently brought together. Believable characters with distinct personalities. Thought-provoking, informative and occasionally snarky dialogue.“Saw a bus wrapped with a giant furry creature a couple of weeks ago. I’ve only seen monsters in movies.”"Never been married, huh?” she asked, huffing.The headline of the Wikipedia reference in Qigiq’s browser read, SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger. She scanned the entry. “This thing sends its GPS location directly to a satellite?”"Correct. I carried one on a solo bike trip into the Chugach National Forest.”I may re-read this story and look forward to other works by this author.

A fast paced thriller, the second in a series ( i hadn't read the first). An apparent hit and run accident exposes a drug and prostitution ring. The motorcycle lore seems authentic. The characters are distinct and have their own voices. I'm usually not thrilled when viewpoints and person change from chapter to chapter, but it was handled well and added suspense to the way the threads of the story drew together. Notched down a bit for some obscure action in the climax. Despite the "Book 1" designation, there is a complete story here.

I downloaded this book that a friend had suggested a while ago & finally got around to reading it. What a pleasant surprise - wish I had done that sooner. Klinger weaves together an interesting cast of characters and an intriguing plot; revealing facts piece by piece from the different perspectives of the key players. Caught my attention early and I had trouble putting it down. Holds up on it’s own, but I can’t wait to read the next installment.

Unbelievable contrived plots coupled with ridiculous police detective behavior unless compared to the early Eddie Murphy movies. Plus at times an incomprehensible writing style that frequently had walking away from the story and trying to cool off. And even if you like motorcycles many of the descriptions didn't make sense and I'm not going to get started on the gun inaccuracies...yet I finished the book because I wanted to find out what happened to that girl who in the end I realized I didn't really like after all.

"Tune Up," first book in a trilogy, was a thrilling and entertaining read with descriptive, exciting and suspenseful happenings in varied locations that excite the imagination. From what first appears to be a hit and run accident, to a missing person, and a beautiful violist, this author grips the reader with fast-paced active narration of characters and intrigue The interaction between a homicide team, male and female, whom the reader can enjoy connecting with, brings humor, interest and continuity with each page. This page-turner was a thrilling adventure throughout and a compelling read. "Burn Up," second in the trilogy, is positively my next read!

Another good read

I couldn't put this down. I was totally taken in by the first book and immediately bought the next one so Could continue with these characters and this case. Now I find there is a third one coming soon....I think it's pretty obvious I will be first "inline/online" for that.