Anguished by George Encizo

Release: June 30th 2021
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
Source: RABT Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, Kobo

Murder and mayhem close to home for Sheriff JD Pickens. Someone viciously attacked his father from behind, and shot his best friend, Leroy Jones, in the back and left for dead. Several other attacks forced Pickens to seek outside help, not only for solving the crimes but for his peace of mind. Never before had Pickens and his deputies had to deal with so many harsh realities of life.

About the Author:

George Encizo is the author of several award-winning novels. He published his first novel, Blocker’s Bluff, in 2013. Since then he has published seven more. A retired banker and an accomplished watercolorist, Encizo took to writing because of arthritic fingers and could no longer hold and control a brush. In need of a creative outlet, he turned to writing and has been writing over a decade.

Also, his second novel, The Farber Legacy, won a gold medal in the 2015 with Florida Authors and Publishers President’s Book Awards. Since then, his other novels have also won awards.

His latest novel, Anguished is the fourth in a series of JD Pickens Mysteries. He is currently working on more in the series.

When not writing, he is either in the gym or working in the garden with his wife. He gets inspiration from everyday life and ideas come to him from out of nowhere. He and his wife live in Florida.

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Anguished Review:

This book is the fourth one in the JD Pickens mystery. However this is the first one for me. One can read it as a standalone which was very nice.

The highlight of the story was JD Pickens. I liked how the author focused on Picken’s family life in the tale more than the crime element. I enjoyed the various emotions he goes through when he finds out what happened to Russell, along with his family. The scenes he shares with Dr. Smathers and Marge are some of the highlights of the tale. Similarly, the story gets interesting when there is an attack on Pickens’s friend Leroy . As such, Leroy and Pickens share a nice friendship . Also I was curious to see how everything was connected.

In terms of the crime aspect, the story was pretty good. As there are many assaults taking place in the tale, you never really know who is behind. There are multiple suspects, which makes the story intriguing. I liked how Amy and Billy investigate the case and study the suspects. Another exciting part that I liked was Pickens’s conflicting views with Burgess. The scenes where they both argue about how to handle the case were entertaining. However, the case in itself was predictable. It would have been nice if the author had a few more twists and turns. Moreover, the reasons provided in the end for the attacks were not as interesting as I had hoped.

Overall, “Anguished” is an intriguing crime fiction mystery novel to pick up, especially if you are a fan of the series.