• Home
  • About Me
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Me
No Result
View All Result
Rachel Poli - Official Author Website
No Result
View All Result

Who Killed Christopher Goodman? by Allan Wolf

12 April 2023

Title: Who Killed Christopher Goodman?
Author: Allan Wolf
Published: 
March 2017 by Candlewick Press
Genre: Young adult mystery
How I got the book: I bought it

Summary:

Everybody likes Chris Goodman.

Sure, he’s kind of weird. He wears those crazy bell-bottoms and he really likes the word ennui and he shakes your hand when he meets you, but he’s the kind of guy who’s always up for a good time, always happy to lend a hand. Everybody likes Chris Goodman, which is why it’s so shocking when he’s murdered.

How could a thing like this happen?

My Review:

I bought this before I even thought to read it for Mystery Month. The title caught my eye and when I read the summary, I was sold.

This book follows multiple first-person points of view of a group of six high school kids. We see how they interact with each other (who’s friends with who) and how they all meet Christopher Goodman. We don’t see through the eye of Christopher, but one of the points-of-view we see is the killer.

Upon reading the title and then reading the summary, I thought this book was going to more so about finding who killed Christopher Goodman, hence what the title suggests. Needless to say, it was pretty misleading.

The story is mainly about the shock of how someone can be there one minute and the next, they’re gone; whether it’s murder or freak accidents. The majority of the book took place before the murder happened so that we would get to know Christopher Goodman and the other characters. However, it focused more so on the other characters’ problems.

And while Christopher Goodman touched each of their lives in a certain way, they were all connected somehow, there was no mystery to this. We’re not on an investigation to find his killer, but we’re on a journey to see why Christopher Goodman was the victim.

Not a bad plot, especially since it’s based off a true story, but the title and summary definitely threw me off.

I enjoyed all the characters. There’s Doc, Hazel, Mildred, Squib, Hunger, Leonard, and of course, Christopher Goodman. Some are friends, some are acquaintances who become friends, but they all seem connected to one another. They’re stories intertwine, which I found to be clever and well done.

They each had their own unique personality and quirk or hobby (such as stamp collecting or sleepwalking) and they all fit in and got along fairly well with one another. While I found them enjoyable to follow, I’ll admit that I didn’t get close to any of the characters.

I didn’t feel as though I could relate to any of them and that included Christopher Goodman. So, while his death was shocking, I didn’t feel for him as much as I probably should have.

I think Allan Wolf’s writing style was my favorite part of this book. Each chapter switched POVs, but the heading at the top said which character we were following. Also, each character had a different writing style. Some were written as a narrative, some as poetry, some as block text. When two or more characters were having a conversation, it was written like a script.

It sounds confusing, but the varied writing styles made the book flow smoothly with each character change. I ended up reading this book (about 269 pages) in one sitting. It took me about two hours because it was so easy to read and the different styles kept me engaged.

This book was a good read with quirky characters and an interesting storyline. However, I do wish there was more mystery to it and I wish there was a little more tension. It was a good calming read as I felt like the characters could be sitting in a coffee shop together relaying the story. Still, I wished the title and summary wasn’t so misleading. It made it feel anti-clamactic in a way.

It’s still a good book to pick up, if you’re interested. And, if you do read it, I recommend reading the author’s note at the end. He explains what’s fiction and what the true crime was in real life that this book is based off of. It’s interesting.

Who Killed Christopher Goodman? by Allan Wolf gets…
4 out of 5 stars

Favorite Quote:

“If you want me to do it as a friend, all you have to do is ask. I’d at least consider it.” –Allan Wolf, Who Killed Christopher Goodman?

Buy the book:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Play Mystery Bingo with me! This book was read in part of Mystery Month’s Book Bingo as the “Question Title” square. Feel free to play along with me!

Twitter | Bookstagram | Pinterest | GoodReads | Double Jump

*This post contains affiliate links.

Share120Tweet75
admin

admin

Related Posts

Uncategorised

Sunday Morning

12 April 2023

An abandoned house. A heist. A new puppy. Lost Love. From unbelievable to true-to-life, this flash fiction collection will take you to many places and get to know various characters. With no two stories alike each is thought-provoking, emotional,...

Uncategorised

Time To Write: Set The Scene 2

12 April 2023

Set the scene using this prompt. Why are your characters at the police station? Are they inside the station or outside of it? Do they work there? Happy Writing! Twitter | Bookstagram | Pinterest | GoodReads | Double Jump

Uncategorised

The Aqueous Transmission by Mike Eye

12 April 2023

Title: The Aqueous Transmission Author: Mike Eye Published: December 2016 by Fastpencil Publishing Genre: Science-fiction (visionary and metaphysical fiction) How I got the book: I received a free digital copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Summary:...

Uncategorised

Editing Goals

12 April 2023

I’ve been editing my novel, George Florence, since the beginning of January. I’ve been doing really well keeping up with my routine. I’ve been editing every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. Saturdays I’m able to edit more and I go...

Categories

  • Blogging (11)
  • Book Review (31)
  • Creative Writing (83)
  • Mental Health (15)
  • Mystery Month (10)
  • NONFICTION (8)
  • Podcast (42)
  • READING (28)
  • SCIENCE FICTION (5)
  • Short Story Sunday (34)
  • SOCIAL MEDIA (8)
  • SUPERHEROES (7)
  • Uncategorised (2,027)

Popular

  • large_6c600ad41acdc0fb7a419a8fce11c9116993d73a

    Behind the Scenes by Joseph J. Allen [Book Review]

    302 shares
    Share 121 Tweet 76
  • Which Social Media Platform is the Best for Writers?

    302 shares
    Share 121 Tweet 76
  • February 2021 Check-In [Mental Health Monday]

    302 shares
    Share 121 Tweet 76
  • Short Story Sunday: “Fork” [327]

    301 shares
    Share 120 Tweet 75
  • Jesus and Magdalene by João Cerqueira

    301 shares
    Share 120 Tweet 75

AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER

 

This blog contains affiliate links. This means should you purchase anything from these links, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me keep the website up and running. I will never link to something I haven’t personally used or disliked. Thank you for your support!

All content on this website is copyrighted to Rachel Poli. All rights reserved. No part of this website including images and text may be copied or reproduced anywhere without the written content of the owner/creator, Rachel Poli.

© Copyright 2023 - Rachel Poli

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Me