[orlok]

Originally Posted by Lady Blue

I’m currently reading Mistress by James Patterson & David Ellis that I got from one of my Overdrive e-book libraries.

Quoting the library blurb (bold text is mine):

James Patterson's scariest, sexiest stand-alone thriller since The Quickie.

Ben isn't like most people. Unable to control his racing thoughts, he's a man consumed by his obsessions: movies, motorcycles, presidential trivia-and Diana Hotchkiss, a beautiful woman Ben knows he can never have.

When Diana is found dead outside her apartment, Ben's infatuation drives him on a hunt to find out what happened to the love of his life.

Ben soon discovers that the woman he pined for was hiding a shocking double life. And now someone is out to stop Ben from uncovering the truth about Diana's illicit affairs.

In his most heart-pumping thriller yet, James Patterson plunges us into the depths of a mind tortured by paranoia and obsession, on an action-packed chase through a world of danger and deceit.

Spoiler:

Ben is telling the story in the first person present tense in a way I find annoying. It just inhibits the flow of the read when the protagonist is speaking directly to the reader in an ongoing one-sided conversation. It reads like: “I am seeing …, I am looking …, I am running …, I am driving …, I jump …, I hear …, I climb …, I stop ….” All the while, he’s spouting trivia about movies and presidents in the midst of most thoughts, even as people are trying to kill him. Which causes him to keep saying “Focus, Ben.” Really?

He seems more like an eccentric 2 year old with ADD on crack. Makes me jumpy just reading it.

I almost pay more attention to the trivia than I do the storyline. The trivia has more substance than what Ben is currently doing. If it wasn’t for all the trivia, this would probably be a very short story.

As for being the scariest, sexiest, most heart-pumping thriller yet … not so much. In the 88 chapters I’ve read it’s been mostly silly (without the ha-ha), disjointed and ridiculous. Maybe within the remaining 100 pages it will get scary, sexy and get my heart pumping. One can only hope.

But that's just me. Results may vary.

(Maybe this belongs in the Vent and Rant Thread.)

I've completely given up on Patterson. Quantity has definitely won the day over quality, and his output now is risible drivel (I'm thinking of registering that two-word epithet ).

Currently reading the second in the Wilt series by Tom Sharpe (no relation to our much loved moderator...), The Wilt Alternative. Wilt has a great penchant for taking awkward situations and turning them into mayhem on a stick. Hasn't been quite as laugh-out-loud as the first in the series, but still an enjoyable read.