(3.5) This was very enjoyable to read. Joe, a young college student, is assigned for homework in his English class to interview someone and write a short biography of that person's life. He ends up interviewing Carl, an elderly convicted murderer at the end of his life. I enjoyed the relationships between Joe, his autistic brother, and his girlfriend Lila, and Joe's friendship with Carl (although I wanted a little more of Carl and Joe). I also enjoyed the 1st and the 2nd twist in the story even though I guessed early on everything to the very end (even when the evidence showed something different). 

Nevertheless, the storyline and writing had some glaring weaknesses. 

Storyline: At times, it was difficult to suspend my disbelief because of the youth and inexperience of the main character(s). However, I haven't read contemporary mystery or crime type of novels, so that could be a "me" problem and not a story problem. Not sure, how people who read many of these type of novels would feel.

Writing: The similes were a few too many for me and some feel forced or out of place and unessesary; for example, the sky's colors "[...] as if the policeman brought his own aurora borealis with him" (something like that was the sentence). 

In general, I found this to be enjoyable, fast reading, with good twists. Also, it has a couple very dark scenes of rape and murder, so be aware of that too; it's only graphic on a specific part of the book, not everywhere.