THE RAW SHARK TEXTS (Steven Hall) - July 28/07

I'm really conflicted on this one. On the one hand, the book has a lot of exciting sequences (ie the final shark attack) and the relationship between Eric and Scout is genuinely compelling. But on the other hand, huge chunks make absolutely no sense. All this stuff about concept sharks, conceptual loops, and people crawling through letters... It's just weird and nonsensical. And the emotional ending is completely negated by the unanswered questions (ie is Scout Clio? How did she not die scuba diving in Greece? Is the entire book a figment of Eric's madness?) I sporadically enjoyed reading it, but I also dreaded picking it up again. Hall is clearly talented, so I'm sure his next effort will be better (or even more obtuse; it could go either way). ** out of ****

THE GOOD GUY (Dean Koontz) - July 19/07

Though it took about 200 pages to get going, The Good Guy eventually turned into a fairly compelling read. The story really becomes interesting when Koontz focuses on the remorseless killer's chase of the two central characters. Koontz also remains a master of ending most chapters on a cliffhanger and consequently making the reader wait for the resolution. And once again, I was impressed by how quickly the killer was dispatched. *** out of ****

HELPLESS (Barbara Gowdy) - July 12/07

A refreshingly concise, simple book. Though not especially well written, Helpless is entertaining throughout and Gowdy does a nice job of establishing the various characters and the whole kidnapping plot. That the kidnapper is struggling with his impure thoughts was a nice touch, I thought, though it did seem a little ridiculous that the girl would be that naive (slave traders? Really?) The incredibly abrupt ending was a let-down, though; I wanted to have at least a page or two of the reunion between the girl and her mother. *** out of ****

EVENING (Susan Minot) - July 2/07

I tried, I really did. This interminable novel, which has been written from the perspective of a dying woman, is jam-packed with flowery passages and overly descriptive paragraphs. Picking it up was seriously starting to feel like work, so I abandoned the whole thing at page 74. No rating.