Month: December 2011

Six Sentence Saturday: Unfinshed Books

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Guys Read
ed. by Jon Scieszca
ages: 10+

It was a good idea to get together a bunch of talented writers and compile a collection of thriller stories. The problem was, in my humble opinion, that none of the stories (that I read; I bailed, I have to admit) were even remotely thriller-y. Perhaps if I were a 10-year-old boy, these would have some appeal. (Maybe it’s just that my humor is more along the lines of a 10-year-olds, that I liked Funny Business better?) Or maybe I just don’t go in for thriller stories anyway. Whatever the reason, this fell flat.


The Power of One
by Bryce Courtenay
ages: adult

This was a case of me just not being interested in the book. I tried; I got about 100 pages in, but this boy’s story just wasn’t to my interest. And the writing wasn’t holding me. And I have a huge pile of other books to read. So, I abandoned it. Who knows, though: maybe someday I’ll come back to it.

City of Orphans
by Avi
ages: 10+

Heaven knows, I enjoy an Avi book. The detail, the characterizations, the plots: all top-notch. But, this one didn’t grab me. The language, while authentic, was off-putting, and the plot was just so dang slow. I gave it 75 pages, and then realized that my time is much more precious than to slog through a book I have no interest in.

Heat Rises

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by Richard Castle
ages: adult
First sentence: “The thing about New York City is you never know what’s behind a door.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Nikki Heat is investigating the murder of a local parish priest, found at an S&M studio (is that what they’re called?). The investigation takes her in all sorts of directions, but then she’s called off the investigation, on the orders of her precinct captain. It’s nothing, he assures her. Which only makes her — and her lover, companion, sometimes partner, Jameson Rook — more suspicious. And since Nikki Heat doesn’t give up, she ends up digging into things she really shouldn’t have.

I’m realizing that the books really do follow not only the plots from the season (yes, this one has elements from Castle season 3 episodes), but also the mood. Which means, this book wasn’t as fun as either Heat Wave or
Naked Heat. Not to say that there wasn’t fun moments (like the passing Firefly reference? Cracked me up.) in the book. There were. It just wasn’t as fun as the previous two. (Also: not as sexy or foul; they really pulled back on the language and the sex was entirely off-screen.) It’s still good brain candy, and it was gratifying to see Nikki do so much entirely on her own. She really does rock.

Oh, and if you’ve seen the entire season 3, there’s a nice twist on the ending in the book. Which means, of course, that there will be a fourth. And yes, I will read it. (Hopefully, considering the way season 4 is going, the next book will be more fun to read overall.)