Time's Up

Kensington Books

Time's Up
Janey Mack
2015

The Summary
"The police academy gave her the boot--and she knows how to use it.

"All her life, Maisie McGrane dreamed of following in her father and older brother's footsteps and joining the force.  But when she's expelled from the police academy, she's reduced to taking a job as a meter maid.  Now, instead of chasing down perps, she's booting people's cars and taking abuse from every lowlife who can't scrape together enough change to feed the meter.

"McGranes weren't put on this earth to quit, however.  When Maisie stumbles across the body of a City Hall staffer with two bullets in his chest, her badge-wielding brothers try to warn her off the case.  But with the help of her secret crush, shadowy ex-Army Ranger Hank Bannon, Maisie's determined to follow the trail of conspiracy no matter where it leads.  And that could put her in the crosshairs of a killer--and all she's packing is a ticket gun."

The Good
If you like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, you'll undoubtedly enjoy Janey Mack's series starring Maisie McGrane.

Headstrong and undeniably tough, Maisie is an intelligent and incredibly talented.  She was an ace at the police academy and she's completely overqualified for being a meter maid, but she takes on the job to prove a point to herself, her family, and the police academy that kicked her out.  She's smart, she's sassy--what's not to like?

The Bad
Time's Up just isn't my cup of tea.  I like tough, strong and intelligent female leads, but I struggled a bit with Maisie.  Part of it might have just been the treatment she faced (it bothered me how much people were willing to crap all over her, just because she was doing her job); part of it just might have been the style of writing; part of it might have been the romantic triangle.

Either way, it's just not for me.

The Ugly
Maisie cannot catch a break.  I mean, she's constantly enduring grief from her brothers and she's working as a meter maid, one of the most hated jobs in Chicago.  She's demeaned, she's bullied, she's abused, she's despised--and that's not even the worst of it.  She's constantly out maneuvered by one person or another, and she's consistently embarrassed by or shoved aside as just an accessory by other characters.

I realize that all the things that happen to her are supposed to show her toughness, her mental acuity, her physical strength, yet I couldn't help thinking it was just one disaster after another.  I like adventure and I like quirky, sassy heroines; however, I don't like seeing a character I'm supposed to like just suffering.

That's what it felt like:  suffering.

Sometimes, life is going to be crappy.  It's going to be tough, it's going to be a learning experience, but Maisie doesn't ever catch a break.  It's one long procession of crappy situations, and it's like there is no end in sight.  I mean, it feels like Maisie has no good days.  There's no light at the end of the tunnel, there's no hope for something better.

Personally, it makes me feel bitter and frustrated--and I'm not even the one dealing with it.  More to the point, I don't know how she can stand her family.  Her family loves her, don't get me wrong, but I feel like they make her life more difficult.

Take her brothers, for instance.  They're very protective of her, but it doesn't feel like there's any affection.  Maybe it's just the way the family is supposed to be portrayed (as in, they're not very good at expressing affection); maybe it's just the way they were written (as in, I'm not 100 percent sure the author did a great job of writing them).  I don't know, I just know I didn't like they way they treated their little sister.