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A review by billymac1962
The Current by Tim Johnston
4.0
After loving Descent, and having such anticipation for The Current (I held off until my vacation started), it pains me to rate his work less than five stars.
Firstly, because he is a very good writer, and secondly, having exchanged a couple of tweets with him, he was very gracious of my gushing over Descent, and seems to be a really nice guy.
I enjoyed The Current overall, but I did find the first two hundred pages a lot to get through at times. The writing seemed more 'literary' in style than Descent was, and a lot of time was spent reading things that were trodden over a bit much. Thankfully, things picked up in a big way for the second half of the book.
What I loved about Descent was his attention to his characters. It's done here as well, but there were considerably more characters this time around, and I think that attention to detail suffered a bit. I really think this guy's strength lies with a smaller cast.
Having said that, though, there were some characters that were really well developed.
I was okay with how the story ended. I know this irked a lot of readers, but my joy in a novel is in the journey, not necessarily the destination.
I only finished this a little while ago, and this is a rushed review because my wife is waiting for me to start up the BBQ and there's a really cold Mill St. Organic Lager waiting for me, so I am ending the review here with the intent of 4.5 stars.
Don't be surprised if later on, you see I've changed my mind to 5 stars despite not liking it as much as Descent.
As is often the case, I find if a book continues to stay under my skin over time, I'll bump it up.
Regardless if this stays four stars or not, I really like this guy and I'll be excited to read what he puts out next.
Firstly, because he is a very good writer, and secondly, having exchanged a couple of tweets with him, he was very gracious of my gushing over Descent, and seems to be a really nice guy.
I enjoyed The Current overall, but I did find the first two hundred pages a lot to get through at times. The writing seemed more 'literary' in style than Descent was, and a lot of time was spent reading things that were trodden over a bit much. Thankfully, things picked up in a big way for the second half of the book.
What I loved about Descent was his attention to his characters. It's done here as well, but there were considerably more characters this time around, and I think that attention to detail suffered a bit. I really think this guy's strength lies with a smaller cast.
Having said that, though, there were some characters that were really well developed.
I was okay with how the story ended. I know this irked a lot of readers, but my joy in a novel is in the journey, not necessarily the destination.
I only finished this a little while ago, and this is a rushed review because my wife is waiting for me to start up the BBQ and there's a really cold Mill St. Organic Lager waiting for me, so I am ending the review here with the intent of 4.5 stars.
Don't be surprised if later on, you see I've changed my mind to 5 stars despite not liking it as much as Descent.
As is often the case, I find if a book continues to stay under my skin over time, I'll bump it up.
Regardless if this stays four stars or not, I really like this guy and I'll be excited to read what he puts out next.