Book Review: The White Mountain

I'm not sure how The White Mountain ended up on my Kindle. I was downloading a mystery when this one popped-up like a parasite. So I read it. I don't know why, but it felt like it took forever to finish this short novel, and when I got to the end, I must admit, it didn't satisfy completely. The ending felt like a lead in to the author's next novel without fully wrapping up this one. The two main characters were well drawn (kudos), but I never understand how Randall ended up with Alice, and some of the timelines didn't seem to jive. It was twisty, but with only one really big surprise moment in the middle. The main plot line took some hard swallows to accept, and I did guess way early on, who the "third" one was, even before I knew there was a third one. Perhaps I read too much? With all the preparation, cloak and dagger surprises, and organizational advantages, I was under-awed by the climatic situation the bad guys put the good guys into to satisfy their 'what?'.

This is one of the few self-pubs that has minimal grammatical issues (kudos). Occasionally I read a book, and think, "This would be better as a movie." This is such a book (kudos). I know this is odd, but many good action sequences seemed to slow down the novel. I liked the details and explanations, but they seemed too much at times while reading but would translate better on the screen. The author missed opportunities to give the characters more dimension with the unexpected. When Mein Kampf picks up the cactus to throw at Randall, I was ready for something more than continued unrelenting fighting. I wanted Randall to stop the action: ["No that's Alice's favorite," Randall pleaded. Mein Kampf shrugged, put the potted Christmas cactus down, and picked up a bowling trophy to hurl at Randall.] The bad guys were just too much from central casting.

If you are into adventure thrillers, super killers, or spy vs. spy vs. spy stories, this is for you. Go forth and read, you will enjoy it. Though there were places for improvement, this was, overall, a decent book. It keeps moving, has some nice chapter endings to keep us hooked, and as mentioned, plenty of lies and twists, all essential for a thriller. It's better than average, but it's not great. It's a "4".