Wednesday, August 13, 2008

My First Book Review


Some few weeks back, I came across this lovely new website, Mini Book Expo. The website brings together readers and publishers. The publishers offer a few copies of books or authors they want to promote. The readers claim those books, the publishers ship them out, and the reader publishes a review on their blog or website.

Free new books, who could resist? So forthwith, here is my first book review.

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The Phoenix Egg

Author Information: (Taken from the back of the book.)

Richard A Bamberg grew up in a small town in the heart of Alabama during the 60s. He started work as a logger and truck driver, entered the Air Force as a radio operator and did a little duty as a forward air control operator in a small South Asian nation. After graduating from Texas Tech University, he returned to the Air Force as an electrical engineer where he spent most of his time at the Air Force Weapon’s Lab and at the Tactical Air Warfare Center.
He currently lives with life-partner, wife, and best friend – Joy in Huntsville, AL, where he works on the national missile defense system.
His writing leans toward thrillers with a touch of science fiction and horror. The Phoenix Egg is his fourth novel.


Plot Summary:

This is the story of Caitlin Maxwell and John Blalock. She is a tech company owner and he is a security expert. When she is assaulted and finds the police less than helpful, she turns to an old friend, John, for assistance.
Together, they discover who is after her and why they are willing to go to such great lengths to kidnap or kill her. Along the way, they rekindle a former love that lingers all these years later.


Format:

This is a 380-page novel, divided into 28 chapters and an epilogue. Chapter length varies anywhere from 5 to 25 pages each. The narration is third person with the perspective shifting between the two main characters and the occasional secondary player. The ISBN of this book is 1-931468-15-X. It is published by The Invisible College Press, LLC.


Analysis:

The book starts with an attention-getting situation, Caitlin hears her soon-to-be ex-husband die in a car crash while they are on the phone together. The action from this point is fast moving and immediately draws you into the story. Unfortunately, not unlike Caitlin’s husband, the author fails to keep this story on the road.
Much of the next 200 pages, while entertaining, do little to advance the storyline to any great degree. The book is premised on the search for this fabled phoenix egg, a device of some sort that is sought after by no less than three separate governments and at least 2 American governmental agencies. Frustratingly, the author fails to produce this “egg” until the last 50-75 pages of the book. At this point, the revelation is anti-climatic. The denouement fails to produce enough answers. The reader is left wondering just what they are to make of this fabled “egg.” In fact, the author even fails to include a reason to connect this artefact to the phoenix bird of myth and lore.
The failure to produce the phoenix egg of the title until near the end of the book makes what could have been an interesting tale a disappointing read. Further, the reader is left with too many unanswered questions. Whom did her husband get the devices from? Where did the devices come from? These are pivotal questions and should have been addressed.
It would also have made for a better story had there been a better foundation for the relationship between Caitlin and John. Their past encounter hardly seems to point to a lifelong yearning for each other, yet we are expected to believe this is the case. It would have taken only a few more details, one or two more scenes to create the needed believability.
This brings me to a personal pet peeve; proofread the thing before you print it. This is solely on the publishers; it appears they trusted spell check and grammar check to do their proof reading. As you can guess, while the words are spelled correctly, they are not the ones that should have been used. Noisy for nosey, worse where worst was certainly meant. If you are going to the time, effort, and expense of publishing a novel, at least have someone competently proofread it.
This author, any author, who entrusts their work to a publisher should be given the necessary critique of their work to correct any missteps they made with the writing itself, the storyline, character development, or any other aspect of the work. Here, it appears this was somewhat lacking.


Conclusion:

Ultimately, what could have been an interesting and exciting read falls somewhat flat. Although the writer is capable and well able to tell his story, the failure to move the story along and provide answers sooner makes the book frustrating to read. I would love to see this story retold with some judicious editing and a greater emphasis on the “egg” and its provenance. Mr Bamberg, a valiant effort.

3 comments:

Whitesnake said...

Think I'll stick ta Dr Sesuss!

Anonymous said...

I just read this book and I totally agree. The book needed a good edit!

Unknown said...

Steve, Dr Seuss rokz!
Bermuda, it really is a shame. The story line isn't a bad one. It could have been a much better book with some editing.