Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by restlessreason17
Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter
- Strong character development? No
2.0
So... This book was a big old disappointment.
I adored the first two books in this series. For the prior books, I found myself puzzling over the mystery alongside the team. In this book? I simply couldn't care. Something about this novel was off. I'm inclined to agree with everyone saying that the humor -- and therefore the charm -- is gone. The plot is also. Not plotting.
To keep things brief (since I simply don't feel like writing an entire essay), the pacing was incredibly off. The best example of this was the entire chapter dedicated to Lydia Lee. With all the emphasis put onto her character, you would've thought that she would be some sort of major character -- maybe someone who had a big clue or a supernatural being. What really happened? Lydia Lee told them to go to a shop several chapters after they met and then parted ways. She never showed up again. Ritter literally just included her to show his stance on LGBT+. To be clear, I don't have an issue with the inclusion of a trans character. I just wish it had been done more gracefully. Lydia Lee could've been the wife or friend of one of the scientists. Maybe she knew one of them from ten years ago. Something to just give her more relevance -- and then we could've shown and not told a lot about her character. I feel like this would've aided the pacing in the book.
Jenny's murder 'mystery' was also dissatisfying. I still could not tell you why she was killed. Let me lay out the facts.First, Jenny only knew about the machine her fiance was building. She had a bad feeling about the project and kept trying to get Howard to leave. Second, she was not the only person murdered in that manner. Third, she died before Howard, and Howard was threatened to build the machine or Jenny would be killed. Fourth, the machine in question would brainwash the entire city.
So let's ask ourselves this: why did they murder Jenny?
Frankly, it makes absolutely zero sense.You're only drawing attention to these 'loose ends' when you murder them! And since you're repeating this cycle, you're only drawing attention to the project! Do you want it to fail?? How was Jenny even a loose end in the first place? Would she contact the police? Are we forgetting that you literally had the mayor in your pocket? Who else in the government or in the police force was there at the time? That's not even considering the fact that her murder sounded so singular before. Now she's just a 'loose end'. It was only business. It was SUCH a flat reveal.
Was not a fan of the whole Underworld bit. It just felt bizarrely off.
Alright. Let's talk about the loose ends. There have been hints this entire series leading up to a reveal in book 3. It's a reveal I dislike.It's simply more charming for this to be a story focused on solving crimes around the city, and the shift from that to the entire world is very, very jarring. I did some poking around in the reviews in the later books because I wasn't satisfied with this one, and after knowing what happens in The Dire King, I'm more than satisfied to drop the series while I'm ahead.
So long, Jackaby. You were fun while it lasted!
I adored the first two books in this series. For the prior books, I found myself puzzling over the mystery alongside the team. In this book? I simply couldn't care. Something about this novel was off. I'm inclined to agree with everyone saying that the humor -- and therefore the charm -- is gone. The plot is also. Not plotting.
To keep things brief (since I simply don't feel like writing an entire essay), the pacing was incredibly off. The best example of this was the entire chapter dedicated to Lydia Lee. With all the emphasis put onto her character, you would've thought that she would be some sort of major character -- maybe someone who had a big clue or a supernatural being. What really happened? Lydia Lee told them to go to a shop several chapters after they met and then parted ways. She never showed up again. Ritter literally just included her to show his stance on LGBT+. To be clear, I don't have an issue with the inclusion of a trans character. I just wish it had been done more gracefully. Lydia Lee could've been the wife or friend of one of the scientists. Maybe she knew one of them from ten years ago. Something to just give her more relevance -- and then we could've shown and not told a lot about her character. I feel like this would've aided the pacing in the book.
Jenny's murder 'mystery' was also dissatisfying. I still could not tell you why she was killed. Let me lay out the facts.
So let's ask ourselves this: why did they murder Jenny?
Frankly, it makes absolutely zero sense.
Was not a fan of the whole Underworld bit. It just felt bizarrely off.
Alright. Let's talk about the loose ends. There have been hints this entire series leading up to a reveal in book 3. It's a reveal I dislike.
So long, Jackaby. You were fun while it lasted!