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Yesterday, I read (and finished) P. J. Tracy's Dead Run. Thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dormouse_in_tea for warning me that I did not want to have to stop reading it, but to be able to read the book in one day, due to the way the storyline works. She was right.
I enjoyed it, and yet, I find myself growing more ambivalent about the series. It is ... I can't call the books fluff, and yet, I feel a little that way. Like eating sticky hard-tack, which is not good for you, nor quite satisfying, and it's just a little odd and doesn't taste quite right. They are definitely thrillers, as billed - they keep you turning the pages. And when I get to the end of the book, it is satisfying. But the satisfaction doesn't last; I find myself frowning and uneasy with the whole thing. It's definitely forming a pattern: each of the three books I have read is built around a sensationalist premise that, honestly, feels more like it was done for the ooo factor than because the story really needed it. I think I will read the fourth, but if it follows the same pattern, that's probably it for me with this author. It is also the only other one out right now, but.... I'm curious about it. I suspect that curiosity will soon fade, with a lack of books to indulge in, though.
There is nothing about the first book that would have been damaged if the one element that felt too "ooo! looky me! edgy!" had been omitted. Actually, the book would have been rather improved, IMO. (Not that there is ever anything ordinary about a series of thrillers about serial killers, IMO. But this is over the top even for that genre.) The second book and third books probably would be damaged by the removal of at least some of their elements, but at the same time, I feel like the authors are deliberately seeking out and setting up these to titillate the audience. And it makes me uncomfortable. They write a very good thriller, and I don't think they need these elements to make the book work. They are distracting and they make me uneasy.
dormouse_in_tea for warning me that I did not want to have to stop reading it, but to be able to read the book in one day, due to the way the storyline works. She was right.I enjoyed it, and yet, I find myself growing more ambivalent about the series. It is ... I can't call the books fluff, and yet, I feel a little that way. Like eating sticky hard-tack, which is not good for you, nor quite satisfying, and it's just a little odd and doesn't taste quite right. They are definitely thrillers, as billed - they keep you turning the pages. And when I get to the end of the book, it is satisfying. But the satisfaction doesn't last; I find myself frowning and uneasy with the whole thing. It's definitely forming a pattern: each of the three books I have read is built around a sensationalist premise that, honestly, feels more like it was done for the ooo factor than because the story really needed it. I think I will read the fourth, but if it follows the same pattern, that's probably it for me with this author. It is also the only other one out right now, but.... I'm curious about it. I suspect that curiosity will soon fade, with a lack of books to indulge in, though.
There is nothing about the first book that would have been damaged if the one element that felt too "ooo! looky me! edgy!" had been omitted. Actually, the book would have been rather improved, IMO. (Not that there is ever anything ordinary about a series of thrillers about serial killers, IMO. But this is over the top even for that genre.) The second book and third books probably would be damaged by the removal of at least some of their elements, but at the same time, I feel like the authors are deliberately seeking out and setting up these to titillate the audience. And it makes me uncomfortable. They write a very good thriller, and I don't think they need these elements to make the book work. They are distracting and they make me uneasy.
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