Book Review: "Take No More" by Seb Kirby
For me, the bigger disappointment was with the craft itself. This is a slim book for such a meaty plot, it felt more dashed off than carefully crafted, and the frequency of errors grew as we approached the somewhat predictable and non-confrontational ending. The author "told" me many things, but he didn't allow me to experience them through the character. Considering the locales, the descriptions should be rich tapestries and not another, "it was beautiful, wonderful" description. Also, authorial intrusions occurred where the protagonist thinks about the past of places he's not been to - the Italian police station comes to mind - or people he doesn't know. Controlled head-hopping is an art form not done well here. Some typos I can forgive, and we should be past the American/English word choices complaining, but there were several confusing tense changes and way too many awkward sentences that a good editor would not have allowed to pass on to the unsuspecting reader.
The missed opportunity to extend the mystery of the painting until the climax. So much more could have been done here. Tamping down my heightened expectations, I can give this novel a take it or leave it "3".
2 comments:
I bet "they" were the same folks who kept killing Kenny in Southpark. Thanks for the warning, Rick. Sounds like your three stars are rather generous.
You mean: "You bastards."
It got what it deserved in my opinion. It would take a near total disregard of writing guidelines and/or a serious attempt at a stupid story (cat helps moose prevent killer whale from eating pregnant penguin) for me to give a book a "2" or lower. The story (even with some of its flaws) was just better than the writer's treatment of it. And that is the writer's responsibility.
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