Friday, August 21, 2009

Book review -> "Sail" - James Patterson, Howard Roughan

I thought seeing as I've been waxing lyrical (or not) about the books I've been reading on LivingSocial's facebook app I may as well re-cycle my words for anyone who finds my blog ;o)

"Sail" - James Patterson, Howard Roughan

"I was a little troubled even before I started to read this, by two things. Firstly a second author tucked away in fainter type under the bestselling main draw, and secondly the size of the print in my edition could be read by a passing satellite. Why did this trouble me? A second author often feels like one or other had half an idea, and they thought they'd 'bash' it together with a mate in an attempt for mutual gain. The edition screamed trashy pulp fiction before I even broke chapter one. Trival as you might find this, it turned out to be a telling premonition.

The story is 'b' movie, I think that's where I suspect they hoped to take this. The characters where left so empty as to be played by near enough any actor, making a directors job nice and easy. Plot twists are painful, and there are numerous clumsy drop ins of pop culture that are meant to connect the reader to this fiction - Apple's hardware range, car magazines, and the good restaurant guide appeared to pass as research / cultural 'touchstones'.

Yes this book is pacey, yes it is a decent enough light read (each chapter lasting an average of 2.5 pages), but no I won't be looking up other of this authors works in the near future."

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