Book Review: A Reason to Live

by: Matthew Iden

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: (Goodreads)
In the late nineties, a bad cop killed a good woman and DC Homicide detective Marty Singer got to watch as the murderer walked out of the courtroom a free man.

Twelve years later, the victim's daughter comes to Marty begging for help: the killer is stalking her now.

There's just one problem: Marty's retired...and he's retired because he's battling cancer. But with a second shot at the killer--and a first chance at redemption--Marty's just found A REASON TO LIVE.

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The story is classic detective mystery book. Iden's writing has a natural ease to it, and his characters are deep and well rounded. Just look at Marty, a retired homicide detective. Kind of cliche until you see that he's battling cancer.

I don't think Marty likes being retired either. He's a lonely man who is forced to look death in the face. This was a brilliant move because here is a guy who has dealt with the ugly side of death his entire career, now he has to deal with the possibility of his own.

Amanda, the daughter of one of his unsolved cases, showed up at the perfect time. He needed a project, to be needed. She needed help, and the police weren't an option. She knew the murderer was back, but it wasn't anything concrete and basically the police failed her the first time around.

This is a great book. If you like Michael Connelly or Jonathan Kellerman, you will love this.