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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Rarely do I not finish a book I start, but I put this one down and most likely won't pick it back up. There were days it felt like a chore to pick it up to read.
I got through the first 5 chapters and threw in the towel. The writing felt hysteric and amateur and the internal monologue was painful to witness with the never ending exclamation marks.
I skimmed through and the plot seemed interesting enough but it wasn’t worth putting myself through the pain of actually reading the whole thing
I skimmed through and the plot seemed interesting enough but it wasn’t worth putting myself through the pain of actually reading the whole thing
2.5 stars - not enough to get me to read the second book :/
Overall, Wicked Game wasn't a bad book. The story was interesting, the plot wasn't predictable for the most part, and by the end I didn't feel like I'd wasted my time.
However, I didn't really feel like I'd gotten full value, either. Most of the problems with this book seem to be purely technical -- the author was far too wordy, the characters were kind of bland, and there were some parts that were just ridiculously unrealistic.
Example 1: "He had a fondness for Armani suits paid for by his wealthy wife's substantial trust fund."
Since everyone on the planet has at least heard of Armani and knows the type of prices attached, we can already infer the guy has access to some kind of great wealth. However, he is a civil servant, so a quick explanation is due. But it doesn't need to go so far as "wealthy wife's substantial trust fund." A trust fund itself ensures some sort of wealth on the part of the recipient, and if the guy can afford several Armani suits, we know it's not on the tiny side. Something along the lines of "He was quite fond of Armani suits, paid for by the trust fund his wife had inherited from her parents" would suffice.
This is just one example, however; there were many places where the author repeated essentially the same phrase/idea two or three times all at once. It looked like an attempt to sound sophisticated and emotive, but I really just wanted to grab my red pen and go mano-a-mano with it.
Example 2: Where are our character nuances? Everyone is some sort of cliche here. The nosy, bossy, man-eating female journalist, the ruggedly handsome cowboy boyfriend, the slick and skeezy businessman, the good-for-nothing cheater ex-husband, the wild and hypersexual teen runaway...
Example 3: Speaking of hypersexual -- dear God, who does the deed that often? Even when you're young and energetic, three times a night every night seems excessive. Especially when you're under excessive stress (dead body found, twin sister dying, unplanned pregnancy, homicidal maniac on your porch, etc.), it doesn't make sense and it kinda made me want to barf. Plus, it didn't allow for any sort of real relationship to develop -- okay, so quite obviously Hudson and Becca are attracted to each other, but what happens afterwards? Can they have a conversation together? Do they have a shared hobby or passion? What's there besides the crazy urge to have sex every time they get an hour alone? Sure, it's fun but endless humping like bunnies is for college kids, not adults who have confessed they want to settle down.
Despite that, my overall impression is "Ehn, it wasn't terrible." There's a sequel that I'll have to read sometime, but I'm not dying to pick it up. I'm not really going to recommend it, but I'm not going to tell you not to read it.
However, I didn't really feel like I'd gotten full value, either. Most of the problems with this book seem to be purely technical -- the author was far too wordy, the characters were kind of bland, and there were some parts that were just ridiculously unrealistic.
Example 1: "He had a fondness for Armani suits paid for by his wealthy wife's substantial trust fund."
Since everyone on the planet has at least heard of Armani and knows the type of prices attached, we can already infer the guy has access to some kind of great wealth. However, he is a civil servant, so a quick explanation is due. But it doesn't need to go so far as "wealthy wife's substantial trust fund." A trust fund itself ensures some sort of wealth on the part of the recipient, and if the guy can afford several Armani suits, we know it's not on the tiny side. Something along the lines of "He was quite fond of Armani suits, paid for by the trust fund his wife had inherited from her parents" would suffice.
This is just one example, however; there were many places where the author repeated essentially the same phrase/idea two or three times all at once. It looked like an attempt to sound sophisticated and emotive, but I really just wanted to grab my red pen and go mano-a-mano with it.
Example 2: Where are our character nuances? Everyone is some sort of cliche here. The nosy, bossy, man-eating female journalist, the ruggedly handsome cowboy boyfriend, the slick and skeezy businessman, the good-for-nothing cheater ex-husband, the wild and hypersexual teen runaway...
Example 3: Speaking of hypersexual -- dear God, who does the deed that often? Even when you're young and energetic, three times a night every night seems excessive. Especially when you're under excessive stress (dead body found, twin sister dying, unplanned pregnancy, homicidal maniac on your porch, etc.), it doesn't make sense and it kinda made me want to barf. Plus, it didn't allow for any sort of real relationship to develop -- okay, so quite obviously Hudson and Becca are attracted to each other, but what happens afterwards? Can they have a conversation together? Do they have a shared hobby or passion? What's there besides the crazy urge to have sex every time they get an hour alone? Sure, it's fun but endless humping like bunnies is for college kids, not adults who have confessed they want to settle down.
Despite that, my overall impression is "Ehn, it wasn't terrible." There's a sequel that I'll have to read sometime, but I'm not dying to pick it up. I'm not really going to recommend it, but I'm not going to tell you not to read it.
I usually enjoy Lisa Jackson books for their grabbing action and fast plot. Wicked Game was my first book in this series and I generally enjoyed it.
The suspense part was exciting. It kept me guessing till the end. Still, the ending was a bit too hasty, I wish there were some investigation or that someone (Mac or Becca and Hudson) discover the identity of the killer. However, I believe that this part is developed in the other books in the series.
The other thing that wasn't properly developed is the romance part. In fact, Becca and Hudson start their relationship in the same place they ended it sixteen years earlier. Usually, I don't like it, but this time I somehow felt it was all right. I could still find some feelings between them.
There were also some stupid things.Like when Becca is trying to convince herself that she isn't pregnant but admits they weren't using any contraception. Why did they do something so stupid?! And Hudson haven't asked her about it even once! What were they thinking about?!
It was a nice read. I would give it 3.5 star.
The suspense part was exciting. It kept me guessing till the end. Still, the ending was a bit too hasty, I wish there were some investigation or that someone (Mac or Becca and Hudson) discover the identity of the killer. However, I believe that this part is developed in the other books in the series.
The other thing that wasn't properly developed is the romance part. In fact, Becca and Hudson start their relationship in the same place they ended it sixteen years earlier. Usually, I don't like it, but this time I somehow felt it was all right. I could still find some feelings between them.
There were also some stupid things.
It was a nice read. I would give it 3.5 star.
This one started off very promising. It had the feel of a cold case mystery, a who done it and a little paranormal romance element as well. But about half way through the plot drifted way off course. People cropped up that had nothing whatsoever to do with anything going on in the first half, and while a slight mystery was wrapped up involving the first half characters, the last half didn't satisfy. We never got a clear picture of what was going on there and it seems like the authors got into a hurry to wrap things up and left a lot of questions unanswered. There was closure for some people and the romance appeared to have a happy ending. It didn't stink but it wasn't the best romantic suspense I have ever read. It kind of falls somewhere in the middle, I guess.
This book is definitely forgettable. Half the book is about high school friends reuniting to rehash whether their friend Jessie left town or whether she really did die. Another 40% of the book is spent with a series of pointless deaths. The remaining pages of the book attempt to tie the story together but fails miserably. It kind of tells a story of incest and some man who is trying to kill two women who he thinks are the devil spawn but it doesn't really go into too much detail. The book is written by two authors and you can definitely tell when one person is dominating the writing more than the other person. I really disliked this book but felt the need to finish it. I would rate it at most a one out of five.
I really like Lisa Jackson's books. I thought Wicked Game had a great plot and a few twists I didn't see coming.