pagesofjulia

Caveat: I read (part of) an uncorrected advance proof.

I quit on page 59. Supposedly a suspenseful thriller, but I walked away quite contentedly, so you can judge the success of the suspense elements as you will. In only 59 pages, I saw formulaic elements. One example: woman reacts instantly with disdain for man with Bad Reputation, but is uncontrollably drawn to him, as she notes that actually he’s never been anything but sweet to her. Will they end up together? Come on. If I can guess at sub-plot endings before page 59, you’ve lost your audience.

The writing is terrible. “Lucy brewed herself some strong tea, swallowed two aspirin, a good way to prevent a hangover for her, and walked to the study…” The dialogue is slightly better than the third-person narration, but still feels stilted and forced; real people don’t talk like this. Events don’t flow together; the action is choppy. (Yes, uncorrected advance proof. But if a sparkling gem of a thriller comes out of this I’ll eat my pants. And then I’ll criticize the publisher for disservice to the author in releasing a rather awful ARC of a great book.)

Coulter has a huge fan base, and this book will sell, no doubt. I can’t speak to her earlier work – and really I can’t speak to this one as a finished and complete novel, but the first 59 pages of the ARC are uninspiring. Proceed at your own risk.

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: DNF, thriller |