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A review by eleri_j
Play Dead by Harlan Coben
2.0
Any book that begins with a disclaimer from the author telling you not to read it because it's horrific is probably going to be a bad choice.
It was definitely bad - although not as bad as I initially thought. I may have even given an extra star if it wasn't for the disclaimer - I just don't think anybody should ever slag off their own work like that.
There were a lot of problems with it but I kept reading and actually found myself enjoying it quite a bit towards the end despite its flaws. For me the writing was a bit more of a problem than the very limp and fantastical plot. So many cringey cliches and moments where I thought "did he really just write that?"
You could tell the author was really trying to shock the reader and create as many twists and surprises as possible - but despite the ridiculous plot and the far fetched twists that made no sense, it was all still very predictable and not shocking.
I haven't read any other Coben but this hasn't put me off just because I've been told that this is the dud and everything from here just gets better and better. I'm willing to give chances but I may be leaving it a little while.
It was definitely bad - although not as bad as I initially thought. I may have even given an extra star if it wasn't for the disclaimer - I just don't think anybody should ever slag off their own work like that.
There were a lot of problems with it but I kept reading and actually found myself enjoying it quite a bit towards the end despite its flaws. For me the writing was a bit more of a problem than the very limp and fantastical plot. So many cringey cliches and moments where I thought "did he really just write that?"
You could tell the author was really trying to shock the reader and create as many twists and surprises as possible - but despite the ridiculous plot and the far fetched twists that made no sense, it was all still very predictable and not shocking.
I haven't read any other Coben but this hasn't put me off just because I've been told that this is the dud and everything from here just gets better and better. I'm willing to give chances but I may be leaving it a little while.