A review by cathepsut
Exit Black by Joe Pitkin

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I had high hopes, based on <i>“Die Hard meets The Martian—with a dash of Knives Out“</i>. That would have been fast-paced fun with snark, action and a dash of oddball characters. 

Sadly, this wasn‘t it. It lacked suspense. There was no narrative tension. It felt slow, didn‘t flow smoothly and lacked emotion. It was bland, almost like reading a lab report, not like a thriller in space involving criminals and a mass kidnapping.

The characters were without depth or emotions and felt like caricatures. I did not care for any of them.

Yes, about halfway into the book we finally got more direct action. Still, people dying in the off and getting shot without any graphic details—those events didn’t make for a thrilling experience.

A lot of the story felt like a list. She did this. She did that. She did the other. No emotions, no reflection, the events of the story had no discernible impact on the characters.

Mostly telling, not a lot of showing.

The character development consisted of rare, short and oddly disjointed looks into someone‘s past. Unrelated short snippets that left me confused rather than giving me character insights.

Do people really still use Skype? And mobiles work on space stations? Skyping home? Sounds strange.

The plot idea is nice enough, the execution  just wasn’t very good.

Soundtrack:

Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review. Sorry, this wasn‘t for me.

I do not recommend this. I would not buy it for others.