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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A lot of this review is going to make it look like I didn't like this book. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Criticism is so much easier than praise. The truth is that I absolutely loved this book. I'm looking forward to reading a sequel if it exists.
The following is my criticism for the book. I kept updating this review as I read it and I don't really feel like rewriting it to make it sound like I wrote it after completing the book.
So far, I've made it to page 64. It's a good book with an interesting plot, but there are a few things that are bugging me about Sigler's writing style. First is his constant attempt to make you guess at what or who he is talking about. And it isn't in an interesting way, like with a mystery novel, whodunnit type of thing. No, at the beginning of almost every chapter he gives you two paragraphs about what is happening, but he doesn't tell you who or where it is until halfway down the page. It wouldn't be as bad if he did it once in a while, in an interesting situation to add suspense, but he does it at every opportunity. And if it isn't an opportune spot, he makes it into one.
(after further reading in the book, I realized that this isn't a common thing throughout. It's just at the beginning of the book, and he gets better about it as the story moves along.)
My second complaint at this point is his obsessive product placement. What, did he think his novel was so bad that he tried to add as many brand name products in hopes of getting advertisement revenue?
An example: in chapter 15, when it is describing Perry getting home from work, I had a hard time paying attention to what was happening because of the avalanche of companies mentioned. In one chapter (6 pages) he mentions Newcastle beer, the NFL, ESPN, Ford, Walgreens, Macintosh, Panasonic, Sports Illustrated, NFL, Walgreens, and Band-Aid. And that's just one chapter.
UPDATE:
I've made it another 50 pages into this book, and have a new complaint. This book follows the story of three separate parties which most likely will converge into one by the end of the book. I don't have a problem with that, in fact I think it's better to have more than one flat storyline in a book. But the way Sigler does it bugs me. He literally jumps from one party to another every chapter. Each chapter starts with a different party, and usually picks up exactly where they left off in the last chapter. Is it really that hard to compile a few of the chapters into one, or at least have a couple chapters of the same story in a row?
Also, I'd just like to point out a minor error with the character Perry Dawsey. At the beginning of the book he is wearing a San Fransisco 49ers sweatshirt and gets pissed off when they lose to the Packers. Much later in the book, it mentions that he grabs an Oakland Raiders sweatshirt. Anyone who knows anything about NFL rivalries would know that this is a HUGE no-no.
After finishing this book, I feel that I should just erase everything negative written in this review and replace it with positives, but that's just too much work. I will, however, say that the positives outweigh the negatives by truckloads, and that this book was great. As long as you aren't one of those snobby readers that thinks everything should be perfect, or that a book should be rated based on writing style rather than the actual story, then you will love this book.
The following is my criticism for the book. I kept updating this review as I read it and I don't really feel like rewriting it to make it sound like I wrote it after completing the book.
So far, I've made it to page 64. It's a good book with an interesting plot, but there are a few things that are bugging me about Sigler's writing style. First is his constant attempt to make you guess at what or who he is talking about. And it isn't in an interesting way, like with a mystery novel, whodunnit type of thing. No, at the beginning of almost every chapter he gives you two paragraphs about what is happening, but he doesn't tell you who or where it is until halfway down the page. It wouldn't be as bad if he did it once in a while, in an interesting situation to add suspense, but he does it at every opportunity. And if it isn't an opportune spot, he makes it into one.
(after further reading in the book, I realized that this isn't a common thing throughout. It's just at the beginning of the book, and he gets better about it as the story moves along.)
My second complaint at this point is his obsessive product placement. What, did he think his novel was so bad that he tried to add as many brand name products in hopes of getting advertisement revenue?
An example: in chapter 15, when it is describing Perry getting home from work, I had a hard time paying attention to what was happening because of the avalanche of companies mentioned. In one chapter (6 pages) he mentions Newcastle beer, the NFL, ESPN, Ford, Walgreens, Macintosh, Panasonic, Sports Illustrated, NFL, Walgreens, and Band-Aid. And that's just one chapter.
UPDATE:
I've made it another 50 pages into this book, and have a new complaint. This book follows the story of three separate parties which most likely will converge into one by the end of the book. I don't have a problem with that, in fact I think it's better to have more than one flat storyline in a book. But the way Sigler does it bugs me. He literally jumps from one party to another every chapter. Each chapter starts with a different party, and usually picks up exactly where they left off in the last chapter. Is it really that hard to compile a few of the chapters into one, or at least have a couple chapters of the same story in a row?
Also, I'd just like to point out a minor error with the character Perry Dawsey. At the beginning of the book he is wearing a San Fransisco 49ers sweatshirt and gets pissed off when they lose to the Packers. Much later in the book, it mentions that he grabs an Oakland Raiders sweatshirt. Anyone who knows anything about NFL rivalries would know that this is a HUGE no-no.
After finishing this book, I feel that I should just erase everything negative written in this review and replace it with positives, but that's just too much work. I will, however, say that the positives outweigh the negatives by truckloads, and that this book was great. As long as you aren't one of those snobby readers that thinks everything should be perfect, or that a book should be rated based on writing style rather than the actual story, then you will love this book.
An interesting beginning that doesn't quite hold up through the whole book. Some of the book seems just devoted to being as gross as possible--which isn't in and of itself terrible but doesn't really seem to do much more than fill pages. Ultimately it is not as scary as it should be and the science doesn't feel that real.
Started out creepy and unsettling with a lot of promise, then degenerated to gory and disgusting, and petered out to an unsatisfying end.
dark
tense
I think I may have enjoyed this a bit more if I read it but I listened to it on CD and the guy kind of sucked who was the reader. He isnt good with voices and the ones he picked really didnt appeal to me the way you would match the voice with the description and not just with some which happens but with all. I felt the story itself was a bit neat that there were several scenes playing out at once and you got a piece of each as you went along however this also made it a bit boring and slow moving as well. I do not recommend this book to other people who enjoy zombie/dooms day type books but the science part of this book was pretty good and on point.
This was a truly riveting, heart-thumping sci fi book!
Well-plotted enough, I suppose, but most definitely NOT my kind of read. Incessant foul language, manic violence, graphic gore, and grating characters. Ending wasn't what I'd expected (not a compliment), and I weary of obvious sequel set-ups.
audiobook note: Authors rarely do a good job reading their own works, and Sigler even acknowledges that he can't do female voices. He's right.
audiobook note: Authors rarely do a good job reading their own works, and Sigler even acknowledges that he can't do female voices. He's right.
Man people were not kidding when they said that this was going to be quite a graphic read. I was not turned off by the level of gore that was in the book though I can see how 2004 me would have enjoyed the hell out of this book. 2017 me kind of feels that some of the moments were a bit over the top but it wasn't ridiculous that I rolled my eyes whenever I encountered such a scene.
There were also some paragraphs which were nice expositions on certain things that people might be not be familiar with but I mostly skipped those since I understood the terminology/process.
It was also the first book where I did a mixture of text and then audio. Audio was from the free podcasts that the author did for the book and it was an interesting experience on some of the choices he made for character voices and such. I preferred reading the text especially since there were a couple of chapters that had extra writing in the podcast compared to the chapters of the book.
Overall it was an enjoyable read. I'll more than likely continue on with the next book.
There were also some paragraphs which were nice expositions on certain things that people might be not be familiar with but I mostly skipped those since I understood the terminology/process.
It was also the first book where I did a mixture of text and then audio. Audio was from the free podcasts that the author did for the book and it was an interesting experience on some of the choices he made for character voices and such. I preferred reading the text especially since there were a couple of chapters that had extra writing in the podcast compared to the chapters of the book.
Overall it was an enjoyable read. I'll more than likely continue on with the next book.