“Mild mannered” is an understatement! The guy is a total wimp! He lets life just roll around him and does little to help himself out of a bad situation. He lets his wife leave him without saying a word in his defense. His daughter runs out and he doesn’t say a word. Sheesh!

Where is the action? Maybe this introspective, touchy-feely stuff plays in Harvard, but not in fly-over country.

The guy is in newspapers. Doesn’t he have sources? Doesn’t he have some snitches that he met while covering the crime beat?

The premise is good and would have made an interesting novel. Heck, I could see this being a series with Branford being the central figure, but who cares about the “hero”? Not me.

I could go on and on, and I hate to give this only one star, but it needs a lot of work, IMHO. The author can email me if he wants more specifics…

BTW, there is at least one instance of “of/or” and “as/if” being interchanged.