Wrong Place Wrong Time by David P. Perlmutter

This is a true story and it’s a shocking story. That much credit I’ll give it. As for theme, no justice, not really vengeance, and I hope redemption, but we don’t see beyond the immediate story so not sure. It could fall into the crime story category, as the main character, David, does commit some crimes and is pursued by the police.

Anyway, it’s the story of David’s fall from a good life and the nightmare he goes through in Marbella, Spain. I kept reading because I wanted to find out how it turned out. Other than that, the story wasn’t that compelling for me. David doesn’t make the best decisions, so he was hard to get behind and root for.

The first three chapters of the book could be dropped. There’s a literary term called in media res – means in the middle – and good stories often start in the middle. The story could have started in Marbella, setting a more favorable scene before the proverbial hammer fell. It would have been more compelling, in my mind, if the first part in London had been backstory worked in as appropriate. The full-length book could be a better novella-length piece as there is a lot of tightening that can be done without much impact to the overall story.

One technique David used that wore thin on me was constantly ending chapters by writing that something was going to happen that would change his life. Chapter five – no care in the world, or at least he thought he didn’t. Chapter eight – little did I know that the events which were to follow would change my life forever. Chapter nine – so it would turn out to be a move that was undoubtedly the biggest mistake of my life. Chapter ten – the scenes that follow will live with me forever. And finally, chapter eleven, stuff happens. Seems like overcompensation for uncompelling narration. A way to keep the reader reading.

It is a tragic and interesting story, but like I mentioned before, the things that happen, David brought onto himself. I found the throwing in of intensified praying interesting, but there wasn’t any real acknowledgement of relying on God.

As for content, way too much profanity. I can buy it in dialog in a story like this, but I don’t see the need for it in narration. Also, on page sex that added nothing to the story other than the shock factor. Another cheap trick, in my mind, to keep readers reading wondering if there’d be more sex scenes.

I’m going to rank this one with the novels, not the non-fiction, as it’s more a story. And with that, I’ll place it at number five, below Fireplay. It’s better written than the two below it, though I did notice a number of typos. Minor, though. It’s worth the $0.99 to buy, if you want to read a harrowing story about bad life choices.

1. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
2. Several Deaths Later by Ed Gorman
3. Citadel (Palladium Wars Book 3) by Marko Kloos
4. Fireplay by Steve P. Vincent
5. Wrong Place Wrong Time by David P. Perlmutter
6. Nowhere Safe by Kate Bold
7. Run for Your Life by C.M. Sutter

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