That makes sense, when it's like OMG I'VE NOT SEEN MY FACE BEFORE. I have seen that done, as you say.
We should re-title this from "things that kill a book for you" to "stuff that sort of irks you in a book". Most of MY last few examples, anyway, wouldn't cause me to stop reading so much as roll my eyes.
On that theme: Elvis (or similar) cameos in vampire/immortal/fantastical settings. "Dead Before Dark" could have had all the Elvis bits taken out and it would have been infinitely better and less campy dumb. I liked the book anyway, but no Elvis. Just... no.