I was intrigued when I heard that Mormonism would feature prominently in the third (but first?) Martin Hench book. Mormonism is hard to get right in fiction, and I wondered how Doctorow would do. The answer: Some things were off, but overall, he got things right. It nagged at me some, but overall, I appreciated his take.

That’s not the most important part of my review, but it’s representative of everything I want to say about this book. It’s a fun listen in most of the ways that count, there’s a clear love for 1980s San Francisco that comes through, and I can believe it as Marty Hench telling the story of how he got started in his career.

There are plenty of things that felt off, though. It doesn’t quite feel like the other entries in the series: Red Team Blues is pretty tight, and where The Bezzle gets a little more windy, it’s also vicious in its commentary. This book doesn’t quite feel like either. The plot sometimes felt contrived: You could have taken out the mobsters plotline and the book probably would have been just as interesting, with less a sense of manufactured drama.

I enjoyed the listen, and I’m going to give it a pass for that (and for liking the first two books in the series), but it’s still a bit disappointing.

• Picks & Shovels
• Cory Doctorow
• Wil Wheaton
• Mormonism