I generally don't complain about bad books, but, well, I guess this time I will. I saw this book in the 7-day section at the library and checked it out. I'm currently trying to find an agent for a thriller and I remembered seeing that this author was represented by somebody at WMA. So I wanted to see what it was like.
It started with a prologue. This is okay. I always read prologues. I shouldn't have read this one. The first two sentences featured adverbs and both sentences would have been better off without them. The fourth sentence was, "He heard the sound of metal, scraping against stone." What's with that comma? The book continues on with an adverb every other sentence. The writing is also awkward. The main character is acting under an assumed name and the author can't decide what to call him, so we get something different with almost every sentence. On page three we get a flashback. A flashback in a prologue. Really! The flashback is about three hundred words. I start skipping ahead and find that the prologue has chapters. I give up on the prologue and start with chapter one only to find it is another prologue, only in disguise (the action in chapter one is set in 2003 and the main action is set in 2008). And the writing still sucks!
At this point I put the book down (gently, since it was a library book). I thought I had recovered from this trauma when I was shopping at the Neighborhood Wal-Mart and saw that it is already out in paperback.
Well, it felt good to get that off my chest.
It started with a prologue. This is okay. I always read prologues. I shouldn't have read this one. The first two sentences featured adverbs and both sentences would have been better off without them. The fourth sentence was, "He heard the sound of metal, scraping against stone." What's with that comma? The book continues on with an adverb every other sentence. The writing is also awkward. The main character is acting under an assumed name and the author can't decide what to call him, so we get something different with almost every sentence. On page three we get a flashback. A flashback in a prologue. Really! The flashback is about three hundred words. I start skipping ahead and find that the prologue has chapters. I give up on the prologue and start with chapter one only to find it is another prologue, only in disguise (the action in chapter one is set in 2003 and the main action is set in 2008). And the writing still sucks!
At this point I put the book down (gently, since it was a library book). I thought I had recovered from this trauma when I was shopping at the Neighborhood Wal-Mart and saw that it is already out in paperback.
Well, it felt good to get that off my chest.