[Dr. Drib]

Well, I finished "You Only Die Twice," by Christopher Smith.

The novel is a quick read, very simplistic in the story-telling and with simple - almost child-like - writing.

It does have a lot of plot twists that will keep you [OK, are you ready for the cliche?] glued to your seat. Presumably, the cliche does not refer to one's posterior, but to a piece of furniture, since the alternative would make reading difficult. One would have to be a pretzel.....

This is a novel that only an Indie writer could have written (in my opinion): No big publisher would touch this one. (Again, in my opinion.) There's not enough here and the plot-point references are (a bit) repetitious. Although the characters have a bit of back-story [history], there's very little in the way of development.

So, what does this slight little book have going for it? Well, as I mentioned, the story-telling is excellent. The story moves along at a brisk pace, making it a fun, little read.

I can recommend this book if you like your novels brisk, neat, and simple. It engages on a very primal level. There's no big ideas here, nothing to get excited about. If you like books like this (and I certainly do, on some occasions), then I can recommend this book with the above reservations.

If you want something deep and beautiful, then I would suggest something by Mark Helprin, such as "Winter's Tale."




Don