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A review by krisrid
Bloodline by F. Paul Wilson
2.0
While there were some good things about this book, overall I was disappointed.
I have not read the Repairman Jack series in order, and I accept that I have probably missed out on things as a result.
First, the good - I like the character of Jack. He is an outside the "regular" world and because of that, he can do things and act in ways that normal detectives couldn't and it is believeable. Although Jack is very flawed and broken there is nevertheless an honourableness about him. He tries hard to do the right thing as he understands it in the very bizarre situations he finds himself involved in. I like the way an unorthodox character lives in a mostly orthodox world.
The actual plot of this story was also clever interesting, exciting and enjoyable to me. The problem was that the author seemed determined to drag it out, and pad it up with what felt - at least to me - like interminably detailed and drawn out descriptions of everything that is going on. A plot point activity that should have taken a page or even a paragraph instead took pages and pages. I don't need the book to feel like it's in slow motion. I want to know what happened and I'd like to know that sometime today. I found the extended everything to be very annoying particularly by the end. I was thinking "For cripes sake! Just tell me what happens already!!" Normally, I would just skim through what I don't care about, but unfortunately I listened to this on audiobook, and I wasn't able to fast forward.
I also found the violence in this book to be excessive. I understand that the world Jack lives in is a violent one, and I have no problem with violence when it fits into the story in a natural and believeable way. What bugged me here was that, again, the detail and the extending of scenes where violence happened seemed to go on forevery with inordinant amounts of specifics. I found it fairly gory and disturbing and it distracted me from the overall story rather than feeling just like a natural part of the plot. Anything that feels forced takes me out of the story and is always a negative for me.
This book also committed what is - to me anyway - a cardinal sin of a book - it didn't actually END! I know this is a series, and I understand that with a series the author is going to leave you wanting more and create some unresolved aspects so you read the next book. However, I believe the best authors can manage to end the current book, at least partly while still keeping you wanting more. A flat out cliff-hanger where the reader gets no resolution on the current story and has no idea how the characters end up is frustrating and disappointing to me and that is exactly how this book left me feeling after it ended.
I've realized this is not the series for me. I won't be reading any other Repairman Jack books unfortunately.
I have not read the Repairman Jack series in order, and I accept that I have probably missed out on things as a result.
First, the good - I like the character of Jack. He is an outside the "regular" world and because of that, he can do things and act in ways that normal detectives couldn't and it is believeable. Although Jack is very flawed and broken there is nevertheless an honourableness about him. He tries hard to do the right thing as he understands it in the very bizarre situations he finds himself involved in. I like the way an unorthodox character lives in a mostly orthodox world.
The actual plot of this story was also clever interesting, exciting and enjoyable to me. The problem was that the author seemed determined to drag it out, and pad it up with what felt - at least to me - like interminably detailed and drawn out descriptions of everything that is going on. A plot point activity that should have taken a page or even a paragraph instead took pages and pages. I don't need the book to feel like it's in slow motion. I want to know what happened and I'd like to know that sometime today. I found the extended everything to be very annoying particularly by the end. I was thinking "For cripes sake! Just tell me what happens already!!" Normally, I would just skim through what I don't care about, but unfortunately I listened to this on audiobook, and I wasn't able to fast forward.
I also found the violence in this book to be excessive. I understand that the world Jack lives in is a violent one, and I have no problem with violence when it fits into the story in a natural and believeable way. What bugged me here was that, again, the detail and the extending of scenes where violence happened seemed to go on forevery with inordinant amounts of specifics. I found it fairly gory and disturbing and it distracted me from the overall story rather than feeling just like a natural part of the plot. Anything that feels forced takes me out of the story and is always a negative for me.
This book also committed what is - to me anyway - a cardinal sin of a book - it didn't actually END! I know this is a series, and I understand that with a series the author is going to leave you wanting more and create some unresolved aspects so you read the next book. However, I believe the best authors can manage to end the current book, at least partly while still keeping you wanting more. A flat out cliff-hanger where the reader gets no resolution on the current story and has no idea how the characters end up is frustrating and disappointing to me and that is exactly how this book left me feeling after it ended.
I've realized this is not the series for me. I won't be reading any other Repairman Jack books unfortunately.