Deeply Psychological, Thrilling!
Oh. My. God.
You know, I nearly abandoned this book based purely on the first couple of pages of the book because I disliked the court transcript formatting for those pages. I thought it was difficult to follow and lacked depth (which ought to be obvious). If I'd not pressed on, I'd have missed one of the most entertaining reads I've enjoyed in some time.
Ironically, these first couple of pages, and the way they tie the entire story together and wrap it up in a tidy bow, are precisely the reason this book made it onto my coveted list of five star books. (Alright, alright. Maybe not COVETED. I'm a nobody, after all.)
I realize I'm fangirling, but this book is BRILLIANT. It's not just the way the author ties one end of the book to the other so skillfully. It's not just the brilliant pacing which rarely ("never" is too strong a word for me) drags. It's not just the fact that every move the author made throughout this novel was so deliberately planned (and, no doubt, well-revised). Amazingly, it's not what this book made me feel.
Oh no. It's what this book DIDN'T make me feel.
Truly and astonishingly perhaps the MOST psychological book I've ever read, brilliantly executed, and outstanding in its construction.
Oh yes. I loved this book.
But that's not what you REALLY want to know. You want to know if YOU will love this book.
I like to give my readers information about the book -- a warning label, if you will, of things about the book which may not appeal to some readers. When I first started writing, I couldn't think of a single thing I'd want you to know before you invest your time (and potentially your money) in this novel. Fortunately, the more I wrote, the more cognizant I became of some of the flaws in this novel.
So here's what you need to know before you purchase, or borrow this book.
First, Landay writes in huge blocks of text.
See how short my paragraphs are here on my blog? I try to keep them a length which is easily readable for most people. We tolerance is lower, of course, than print tolerance, but I try to keep my paragraphs at a length readers can easily scan without losing any significant amount of information. A paragraph is generally about five sentences long, often four lines long in text. This paragraph is five sentences long.
Landay's paragraphs sometimes span the length of AN ENTIRE PAGE of text. This makes it more difficult for the reader to scan the paragraph for relevant information, slows down speed readers, and can make even a standard reader (one reading every word at a normal pace) frustrated because its point seems interminable. I consider myself a "standard reader" and Landay's paragraphs slowed me down considerably.
This is never more relevant than at the end of the novel.
Because following the climax, Landay continues with the story.
Now if you're like me, you like something after the climax. You're probably not looking for much more story, just something to conclude what you've been reading and to wrap up the book. Some books are terrible about ending immediately after the climax -- what we'd call a "cliffhanger," sometimes without any intention of continuing as a series. So I appreciate the effort. Really, I do.
The problem is the massive paragraphs. They initially felt superfluous, as though they intended only to tell the reader the general sense of what happened after the climactic moment. I asked myself several times, while reading page-long paragraphs, why the author had included this information. (I'm glad I kept reading, because the story actually continued, but suffice it to say this was frustrating, and somewhat tedious.)
I know what you're probably thinking: "Well good! There's something to wrap the story up!" And if you are a die hard for post-climax conclusions, this will definitely be helpful for you.
But this post-climax storyline goes on for several chapters. I'll be the first to admit it's important, and it seems the author had it in mind the entire time, but it's poorly paced. A quick-moving story takes a turn for slow and drawn out. And maybe -- just MAYBE -- this was information I didn't WANT to have.
Not that it destroys the story, because it doesn't. But I'd have been fine with a bit more left to the imagination. (Intriguingly, one of the one-star reviews on Amazon argues that the entire story leaves TOO MUCH to the imagination!)
In another note about the ending, it's similar to the ending of another book I've read. Not that it's predictable, because HOLY MOLY I DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING! But the resemblance struck me as odd and jarring. I didn't like the ending of THAT book, but in this case I felt like it worked. (No, I'm not going to tell you which book, in case you've read it and can then compare notes.)
Finally, I want you to know before committing to read this book that the characters aren't likable.
I always find myself wondering at the fact this is such a BIG deal for so many reviewers. "I didn't like the characters." Really? Do you like EVERYBODY you come into contact with on a day to day basis? Now granted, even the worst monsters in history have had FRIENDS who loved them in spite of their flaws, but that's beside the point.
Some people just aren't likable, and Andy, Laurie, and Jacob Barber are on the list of unlikable people in the world. (So, as it happens, are Derek Yoo, and Paul Duffy. You're going to despise Ben Rifkin and Neal Loguidice by the time it's done as well (though that is less veiled than the aforementioned characters).
There's good in each of them. Well, MOST of them, anyway. But I don't think you're supposed to like them. No, not even Andy, the narrative character, Jacob's father. Not even sweet, sympathetic Laurie. While not caricatures, I do believe these characters were made intentionally exactly the way they are. So if you're reading this book, and you pause to think to yourself "something seems to be missing from this characterization," try to consider some people have something missing from their personality and that's just the way the author intended it to be.
Oh yes, I loved this book. LOVED this book. It was amazing! I'm not finding many negative reviews I don't feel missed the point of the novel. I think you'll enjoy it too, if you can live with the aforementioned flaws.
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