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A review by fleurette
Houseboat on the Nile by Tinnean
3.0
***Don’t read the blurb for this book. It reveals the only plot twist in this story.***
I enjoyed reading this book, but now that I've finished it, I'm able to admit it's not that good. This is a slightly missed opportunity. I'm a bit disappointed.
I don't even know where to start. I really want to start with the character and plotline, but I think I will start with what catches the eye from the very beginning and what probably bothers everyone most. From the strange and probably not entirely thought out construction of this book.
We have two main characters here - Mark and Quinton. The story is told alternately from the perspective of both. What's the problem? Typically, in this case, the Quinton chapter should begin where Mark's chapter ended. But this is not the case here. The Quinton chapter from the beginning tells everything that happened in Mark's chapter, only from the perspective of Quinton this time. As a result, we read about the same events twice. We read the same dialogues twice. We watch everything twice. It's completely useless. Of course, this allows us to get to know the main characters very well, but it's so annoying. I am not sure if this is true (and I admit I did not check it), but it seems to me that this book was created on some online platform for fanfiction on which you can publish chapters of the book on a free access basis. It feels like a serialized novel. This format didn’t work for me at all. And I think that it was also the basis for my second and probably the biggest problem with this book.
Namely, the lack of a plot. How come having two such interesting heroes this book has no plot? Don't get me wrong, I like the game between Mark and Quinton. But I was waiting all the time for them to work together or something. And in vain. By God, Mark and Quinton are two excellent special agents, but they don't handle a single interesting case that we can read about in this book! You would expect it to be different. Blurb suggested that Mark's life may be threatened and I had high hopes for it, but again in vain. Not only the villain is obvious from the very beginning, but he also accidentally kills himself rather quickly. Can you imagine?! This book doesn't need two such good agents as Mark and Quinton. There is nothing here but an unfinished love thread.
Reading this book was not an unpleasant experience. I honestly like Mark and Quinton, and that was the only thing that saved this book. That's why I decided to give it three stars. But I don't care whether I read the next book or not.
I enjoyed reading this book, but now that I've finished it, I'm able to admit it's not that good. This is a slightly missed opportunity. I'm a bit disappointed.
I don't even know where to start. I really want to start with the character and plotline, but I think I will start with what catches the eye from the very beginning and what probably bothers everyone most. From the strange and probably not entirely thought out construction of this book.
We have two main characters here - Mark and Quinton. The story is told alternately from the perspective of both. What's the problem? Typically, in this case, the Quinton chapter should begin where Mark's chapter ended. But this is not the case here. The Quinton chapter from the beginning tells everything that happened in Mark's chapter, only from the perspective of Quinton this time. As a result, we read about the same events twice. We read the same dialogues twice. We watch everything twice. It's completely useless. Of course, this allows us to get to know the main characters very well, but it's so annoying. I am not sure if this is true (and I admit I did not check it), but it seems to me that this book was created on some online platform for fanfiction on which you can publish chapters of the book on a free access basis. It feels like a serialized novel. This format didn’t work for me at all. And I think that it was also the basis for my second and probably the biggest problem with this book.
Namely, the lack of a plot. How come having two such interesting heroes this book has no plot? Don't get me wrong, I like the game between Mark and Quinton. But I was waiting all the time for them to work together or something. And in vain. By God, Mark and Quinton are two excellent special agents, but they don't handle a single interesting case that we can read about in this book! You would expect it to be different. Blurb suggested that Mark's life may be threatened and I had high hopes for it, but again in vain. Not only the villain is obvious from the very beginning, but he also accidentally kills himself rather quickly. Can you imagine?! This book doesn't need two such good agents as Mark and Quinton. There is nothing here but an unfinished love thread.
Reading this book was not an unpleasant experience. I honestly like Mark and Quinton, and that was the only thing that saved this book. That's why I decided to give it three stars. But I don't care whether I read the next book or not.