Book Review: "The Big Exit" by David Carnoy

I read a lot of mysteries/thrillers, and while I don't always figure everything out every time, I love books that have enough plot twists to keep me guessing without throwing out red herrings all over the place. David Carnoy's The Big Exit didn't let up the entire time, and although I saw a few things coming, I still thought this was a pretty great read.

It seemed like Richie Forman had it all—a successful career in marketing, a beautiful fiancée, and a terrific singing voice. Driving home with his best friend, Mark, following an impromptu bachelor party, they were involved in a terrible car crash that killed a young woman. Richie swore he wasn't driving; in fact, he remembered falling asleep in the passenger's seat, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, including his friend's testimony. His engagement ended when he was sent to prison, where he encountered some unspeakable incidents, and his former fiancé married his old best friend.

When Richie got out of prison, he started looking for a job to supplement the income he earned as a Frank Sinatra impersonator. Then Mark is murdered, and Richie is the prime suspect, although the police also suspect Mark's wife, Beth. As Richie tries to clear his name, the evidence mounts, as does his suspicion that Beth was trying to set him up. The more digging he and the police do into the case, the more the twists keep coming, until no one is quite sure just what happened the day Mark was murdered.

David Carnoy is a terrific storyteller, juxtaposing creative plot development with some really fascinating twists, as well as complex characters. Thanks to some serious insomnia, I read the entire book in a day, and it definitely is a fast and satisfying read.

Richie is a fascinating character, and as the action unfolded, I was surprised quite a bit when something different than what I expected happened. I did keep forgetting how old the characters were; they all seemed much older than they truly were, so I had to keep adjusting the pictures in my head. Richie is a fascinating character, and as the action unfolded, I was surprised quite a bit when something different than what I expected happened. I did keep forgetting how old the characters were; they all seemed much older than they truly were, so I had to keep adjusting the pictures in my head.

I'm not sure if this was the case with the print version of the book, but the e-book version of this book was one of the most poorly edited things I've ever read. Spelling and grammatical errors were plentiful, as were mistakes in characters' names and other facts, so I found it a bit distracting. But other than that, I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it to fans of suspense novels.