It's always tricky for an author to write a continuing series. One reason I enjoy the J.D. Robb books is that they're well crafted procedurals, the book version of a Law and Order episode. But I find myself somewhat unsatisfied by the "same old same old" in this case...
Creation in Death by J.D. Robb
(2007, Futuristic Mystery) 11/24/07
Grade: 4
Eve is caught up in an old case - a serial killer is back, a killer that she and Feeney weren’t able to catch nine years earlier, when Eve was a rookie. As time runs out for the women he abducted and tortured, Eve and Roarke work the case and run down clues, trying to find the killer before he kills his last victim.
Another smooth entry in the J.D. Robb series. This one is pure procedural, with very little time for personal developments. It was well crafted, and easy to read as always, but didn’t have the spark of some of the other books. I enjoyed Roarke’s immersion in Eve’s world (and his annoyance at the tedium of police work), and the interesting hints about the Urban Wars, and it was certainly an enjoyable read, but nothing really special.
I think I need to stop buying these books in hardback. When I know I'm paying $15 or more for a book, I expect more from it - if I'd gotten this book from the library, or even bought it in paperback, I think my expectations would have been more easily fulfilled.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
An Affair Before Christmas
I've actually never read Eloisa James before, although I met her at a previous CR conference, and I have several of her books in my TBR pile. I thought I'd be up-to-date for once, and read a newly released book!
An Affair Before Christmas by Eloisa James
(2007, Georgian) 11/10/07
Grade: 3.5
Although the marriage between Lady Perdita (Poppy) and the Duke of Fletcher started out as a love match, four years it’s turned into frosty coldness. Fletch decides to have an affair, which leads Poppy to discover who she is, other than a wife and daughter. And this leads their friends and acquaintances to reconsider their own relationships.
Eloisa James has a particular style - her main characters often take the back seat to numerous secondary characters. I found this style a bit frustrating at times, since the author jumps from one character to another (sometimes in the middle of a scene!) and sometimes the main story got short shrift. (The heroine’s sexual problems are resolved in one quick scene, and I thought they needed more space.) However, the Georgian world James has created is fascinating, and James does a good job in created well-rounded, sympathetic characters, even when the characters are doing things that aren’t that “likeable”. I read this book in a single sitting, so she was doing something right. I’m curious to see what happens next.
Series books that are closely related are hard for me. I'm someone who reads a book and loves it in the moment, but mostly forgets it once I'm done. Right now, the characters in this book are fresh in my mind, but once I've read a few more books, I'll have a hard time remembering them. The problem is, if the next book in this series comes out in six months or a year, I won't remember all the character development and plotting that the author worked so hard on in this book - to my forgetful mind, it will be like I've never read the author before. That makes it hard to really appreciate a multi-book series where the books are closely inter-related, unless I wait until all the books have been published and then read them back-to-back. That's a big committment.
So, will I buy the next book in this series? Unsure.
An Affair Before Christmas by Eloisa James
(2007, Georgian) 11/10/07
Grade: 3.5
Although the marriage between Lady Perdita (Poppy) and the Duke of Fletcher started out as a love match, four years it’s turned into frosty coldness. Fletch decides to have an affair, which leads Poppy to discover who she is, other than a wife and daughter. And this leads their friends and acquaintances to reconsider their own relationships.
Eloisa James has a particular style - her main characters often take the back seat to numerous secondary characters. I found this style a bit frustrating at times, since the author jumps from one character to another (sometimes in the middle of a scene!) and sometimes the main story got short shrift. (The heroine’s sexual problems are resolved in one quick scene, and I thought they needed more space.) However, the Georgian world James has created is fascinating, and James does a good job in created well-rounded, sympathetic characters, even when the characters are doing things that aren’t that “likeable”. I read this book in a single sitting, so she was doing something right. I’m curious to see what happens next.
Series books that are closely related are hard for me. I'm someone who reads a book and loves it in the moment, but mostly forgets it once I'm done. Right now, the characters in this book are fresh in my mind, but once I've read a few more books, I'll have a hard time remembering them. The problem is, if the next book in this series comes out in six months or a year, I won't remember all the character development and plotting that the author worked so hard on in this book - to my forgetful mind, it will be like I've never read the author before. That makes it hard to really appreciate a multi-book series where the books are closely inter-related, unless I wait until all the books have been published and then read them back-to-back. That's a big committment.
So, will I buy the next book in this series? Unsure.
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