Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
Thanks for tip, but I'm not sure to take that comment.
Are you suggesting that this book will not have action? I've never read this author so I don't know.
Or are you of the believe that other books with action typically don't have deep characters and humor?
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Fair question!
Easy one first-- yes, I think there will be 'action' in this book.
The hard one:
I think there are some thrillers where the direct path of the plot is "the whole story" as written-- very little subtext to the characters, no backstory, no feeling that you 'know' the characters outside of the direct plot element. In my limited experience, I find that this is
more likely to be the case in books categorized as "action" novels, while the wider genre of "thrillers" may include the aforementioned "action" books as well as novels with decided romantic, psychological, or other elements.
I'm not intending to imply that there are not "action" novels with well-developed characters or humor. But it may be fair to say that some readers with a preferred-genre of "action" thrillers may consider character-developing parts of a book as a waste of time (based on comments I've read from reader reviews of some books in the genre); while, for instance, I've never seen that complaint from readers of some other genres (for example, cozy mysteries or romance.)
In the Levine books I've read, I always get the feeling that I'm reading about a story that happens to a character that I'm getting to know, and that I care about as a result; and that I get some concept of why the character acts as he/she does, and how they would act/react to other situations based on that.
So, I included the original statement to indicate that:
1) if you prefer your 'action' novels with just the action, and no wasted time or effort on getting to know the character, you might be disappointed.
and
2) If you generally avoid 'action' thrillers because you like to see a little more depth of character and/or human elements than you typically see in that genre, maybe you should give this one a try anyway.
I prefer getting the feeling that I know the characters in a book-- that's what makes me care what happens to them! And it's a large part of why I've read most of Levine's novels.
KentE