Title of Book: The Dead Zone
Author: Stephen King
Pages: 402
Grade: C+
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned, but gave away in a book drive
Review: Ahhh another book for pop lit down, another day. The thing about Stephen King books, and many of the same genre, is they fail to really challenge the reader other than to try and retain certain clues and hints as to what might happen in the future of the plot. Why are we being introduced to a lightning rod salesman? Why do we see a blue and yellow filter in a vision? What is the significance of the main character's interest in meeting politicians?
Well for the most part, the big hints were pretty easy to pick up on in this wide-sprawling tale of a man who has a 'gift' for predicting the future when he touches someone. The gift remains dormant for most of his life until a near-fatal car crash puts him into a coma for four and a half years. When he wakes up he finds most of his old life - and his old self - has wasted away, except for this newfound gift that continually astounds people, but more importantly freaks them out.
I guess my beef with the book was how much of it felt like filler and fluff. Even the more exciting parts of the book didn't reallllly contribute to the so-called climax of the story. I guess in reflection the story is a lot about checks and balances - ironic since a good deal of it deals with politics. An eye for an eye and all that..the big twist kind of falls in line with other elements of the plot but I can't say it was a BIG twist like say, in Secret Window. The characters fell flat, the descriptions were tideous to get through (and were often skipped), and good portions of the book failed to ignite tension, while others forced it.
I know this is classic Stephen King and I'm sure for the time it was quite a remarkable, exciting book...but other pop lit books I have read, like Peyton place or Valley of the dolls, have really inspired me as a writer and a reader...but King's book just didn't. It felt flat and pulpy. Sorry dude.
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Book #15 The Line Painter
Title: The Line Painter
Author: Claire Cameron
Pages: About 220
Final Grade: C+
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned (freebie) but since given away to charity
Review: Hmm well I just wrote my Harper Collins review for this (another freebie yes) and I had mixed feelings that mostly slanted towards negative on this book. I didn't hate it, so a C+ feels like a bad grade, but it wasn't a particularly good book, it had no WOW factor for me. Basically it's a short book, with short tense chapters to try and build suspense in what I felt was a rather unsuspensful novel.
The main character is named Carrie and she is reeling from the fairly recent death of her boyfriend - or perhaps moreso the guilt she feels at their last exchanges prior to his accidental death. She jets off on a road trip and her car breaks down when a mysterious stranger offers to help her out on an all-night excursion to the nearest town, made slower by the man's job of painting the lines on the highways. What happens from there is a comedy of errors I suppose - Carrie finds the town she ends up in totally bizarre, as are the people and has encounters with bears, police officers, hotel clerks, and the man that drove her to town in the first place. It's only when she finally finds an escape from town does she realize what she's been escaping grief-wise, and what she's been missing that's right in front of her face.
I guess all throughout the book I was like okay...where the hell is the suspense part of the suspense novel? Seriously. After the first 20 (very short - some a few paragraphs long) chapters I was kind of like, okay it's misrepresented, she's obviously in good hands. While I can't say that is true, and therefore the book kept me guessing as to whether or not any drama *would* show up (and it does, but it's kind of ho hum). If anything I was more interested in the grief sub-plot than what was happening in the present day thrill-seeking events of Carrie's road trip.
I can't say I recommend this book, but it was a fun reading experience. I actually finished this book over the weekend in about two days because it was quite well-paced and speedy to get through. Just not my cup of tea because it lacked that something extra.
Author: Claire Cameron
Pages: About 220
Final Grade: C+
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned (freebie) but since given away to charity
Review: Hmm well I just wrote my Harper Collins review for this (another freebie yes) and I had mixed feelings that mostly slanted towards negative on this book. I didn't hate it, so a C+ feels like a bad grade, but it wasn't a particularly good book, it had no WOW factor for me. Basically it's a short book, with short tense chapters to try and build suspense in what I felt was a rather unsuspensful novel.
The main character is named Carrie and she is reeling from the fairly recent death of her boyfriend - or perhaps moreso the guilt she feels at their last exchanges prior to his accidental death. She jets off on a road trip and her car breaks down when a mysterious stranger offers to help her out on an all-night excursion to the nearest town, made slower by the man's job of painting the lines on the highways. What happens from there is a comedy of errors I suppose - Carrie finds the town she ends up in totally bizarre, as are the people and has encounters with bears, police officers, hotel clerks, and the man that drove her to town in the first place. It's only when she finally finds an escape from town does she realize what she's been escaping grief-wise, and what she's been missing that's right in front of her face.
I guess all throughout the book I was like okay...where the hell is the suspense part of the suspense novel? Seriously. After the first 20 (very short - some a few paragraphs long) chapters I was kind of like, okay it's misrepresented, she's obviously in good hands. While I can't say that is true, and therefore the book kept me guessing as to whether or not any drama *would* show up (and it does, but it's kind of ho hum). If anything I was more interested in the grief sub-plot than what was happening in the present day thrill-seeking events of Carrie's road trip.
I can't say I recommend this book, but it was a fun reading experience. I actually finished this book over the weekend in about two days because it was quite well-paced and speedy to get through. Just not my cup of tea because it lacked that something extra.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Book #12: Two For The Dough
Book Title: Two for the Dough
Author: Janet Evanovich
Pages: About 320
Grade: B-
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned (bought)
Summary: After reading a fair bit of high-brow and chick lit lately I decided to finally read the second book in the quite popular (By my records) Stephanie Plum series. I surprisingly liked the first one, about a New Jersey thirty-something turned bounty hunter who is dealing with a flirty cop/childhood menace Joe Morelli, a crazy traditional family, and a bucket full of weird cases. Anyway this led me to pick up the second book and I was appalled by how awful a lot of the writing was! That being said, I'm still a fan of the series - they are fast-paced and interesting, just the kind of junk novel that passes by in a few hours.
I think the reason why I didn't like this book quite as much as the first was well for one, you have a better idea of what'll happen and when...the first book I'm like "bounty hunter eh?" and had no idea what was happening. This one I had a better idea of how to pick up clues and so on, but even then the story was kind of broken up and jarring, and there was a ridiculous amount of grossness in this book given a big portion of it revolved around a funeral home. Still the story was interesting, the relationship between Morelli and Stephanie was very well written, and the ending was exciting. All the good makings of a fluffy read for spring (and soon summer) days! Will I buy another one? Hmm only if I can find them for super cheap. Otherwise it's library time for me.
Author: Janet Evanovich
Pages: About 320
Grade: B-
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned (bought)
Summary: After reading a fair bit of high-brow and chick lit lately I decided to finally read the second book in the quite popular (By my records) Stephanie Plum series. I surprisingly liked the first one, about a New Jersey thirty-something turned bounty hunter who is dealing with a flirty cop/childhood menace Joe Morelli, a crazy traditional family, and a bucket full of weird cases. Anyway this led me to pick up the second book and I was appalled by how awful a lot of the writing was! That being said, I'm still a fan of the series - they are fast-paced and interesting, just the kind of junk novel that passes by in a few hours.
I think the reason why I didn't like this book quite as much as the first was well for one, you have a better idea of what'll happen and when...the first book I'm like "bounty hunter eh?" and had no idea what was happening. This one I had a better idea of how to pick up clues and so on, but even then the story was kind of broken up and jarring, and there was a ridiculous amount of grossness in this book given a big portion of it revolved around a funeral home. Still the story was interesting, the relationship between Morelli and Stephanie was very well written, and the ending was exciting. All the good makings of a fluffy read for spring (and soon summer) days! Will I buy another one? Hmm only if I can find them for super cheap. Otherwise it's library time for me.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Book #10: The Book of Air & Shadows
Book #10
Title: The Book Of Air & Shadows
Author: Michael Gruber
Pages: 464
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well at first glance, at least by the book's description, you might think, as I did, that this book is a Da Vinci code rip-off with a literary focus. And yes it's in the same wave - an intricately woven novel of suspense, mystery, and history mixing up a lost Shakespearean play with the stories of two men trying to get their lives on track. But Gruber refuses to fall into the that trap by creating fully realized, dynamic characters, using a lot less user friendly but more literary prose, and designing a book that doesn't read like a movie, but like a book.
The story alternates between the first-person perspective of Jake Mishkin, a sexaholic corporate lawyer whose background is in copyright law, and the third-person perspective of Al Crosetti, a late-twenties slacker who is stuck in a basement cataloguing antique books while he dreams of moving out of his parents house and going to film school. The two men's lives become intertwined upon the discovery of a set of letters from the 1600's that unlock some secrets to William Shakespeare's life - including the potential whereabouts of a hand-written Shakespeare play that was never produced. The twist? Well everyone and their mom (including Crosetti's mom) appears to want to grab a hold of the letters and subsequently the play - including the Russian mafia, the Jewish mafia, a number of professors including one who is tortured to death, librarians, historians, cryptographers and many many more!
Although I was at first overwhelmed by certain elements of the book - Mishkin's overbearing persona, the olde englysh (ha) of the Bracegirdle letters which mark the end of each chapter and the rather complicated act of encrypting the text - I eventually just got drawn in. The lengths of the chapters are appropriately spaced so reading one feels like a good bout of information, you can take a break, mull it over, and then come back. It was rare that I wanted to stop a chapter midway, and rare that I was able to consume more than 2 at a time.
I liked the massive number of questions that popped up as well - the book was not solely about the hunt for this manuscript, but a million other things as well. The payoff, as such, as not just about whether or not they found the manuscript and whether or not it was authentic either. The characters all had their own intriguing storylines and sub-plots that compelled me to read along - minor or major. I also liked the fact the book took style cues from a variety of genres - such as old mystery novels with last names, action books like The Da Vinci Code, literary fiction and so on...
My only warnings would be to be prepared to involve yourself a lot more heavily than you would have to with something written by Dan Brown. This is not exactly a book of light reading, but one of rewarding and enjoyable reading. The story manages to flow lightly and feeds you clues to the puzzle throughout making for an enchanting story that I quite literally could not put down last night just to finish it! My only other complaint would be the last three or four chapters seemed a bit rushed. There was so much slow boiling to the climax that it felt cramped with action of the movie variety.
All in all a great book and I look forward to seeing the response it receives from the reading community - Gruber is one to watch, that's for certain.
Title: The Book Of Air & Shadows
Author: Michael Gruber
Pages: 464
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well at first glance, at least by the book's description, you might think, as I did, that this book is a Da Vinci code rip-off with a literary focus. And yes it's in the same wave - an intricately woven novel of suspense, mystery, and history mixing up a lost Shakespearean play with the stories of two men trying to get their lives on track. But Gruber refuses to fall into the that trap by creating fully realized, dynamic characters, using a lot less user friendly but more literary prose, and designing a book that doesn't read like a movie, but like a book.
The story alternates between the first-person perspective of Jake Mishkin, a sexaholic corporate lawyer whose background is in copyright law, and the third-person perspective of Al Crosetti, a late-twenties slacker who is stuck in a basement cataloguing antique books while he dreams of moving out of his parents house and going to film school. The two men's lives become intertwined upon the discovery of a set of letters from the 1600's that unlock some secrets to William Shakespeare's life - including the potential whereabouts of a hand-written Shakespeare play that was never produced. The twist? Well everyone and their mom (including Crosetti's mom) appears to want to grab a hold of the letters and subsequently the play - including the Russian mafia, the Jewish mafia, a number of professors including one who is tortured to death, librarians, historians, cryptographers and many many more!
Although I was at first overwhelmed by certain elements of the book - Mishkin's overbearing persona, the olde englysh (ha) of the Bracegirdle letters which mark the end of each chapter and the rather complicated act of encrypting the text - I eventually just got drawn in. The lengths of the chapters are appropriately spaced so reading one feels like a good bout of information, you can take a break, mull it over, and then come back. It was rare that I wanted to stop a chapter midway, and rare that I was able to consume more than 2 at a time.
I liked the massive number of questions that popped up as well - the book was not solely about the hunt for this manuscript, but a million other things as well. The payoff, as such, as not just about whether or not they found the manuscript and whether or not it was authentic either. The characters all had their own intriguing storylines and sub-plots that compelled me to read along - minor or major. I also liked the fact the book took style cues from a variety of genres - such as old mystery novels with last names, action books like The Da Vinci Code, literary fiction and so on...
My only warnings would be to be prepared to involve yourself a lot more heavily than you would have to with something written by Dan Brown. This is not exactly a book of light reading, but one of rewarding and enjoyable reading. The story manages to flow lightly and feeds you clues to the puzzle throughout making for an enchanting story that I quite literally could not put down last night just to finish it! My only other complaint would be the last three or four chapters seemed a bit rushed. There was so much slow boiling to the climax that it felt cramped with action of the movie variety.
All in all a great book and I look forward to seeing the response it receives from the reading community - Gruber is one to watch, that's for certain.
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