THE LEFTOVERS (Tom Perrotta) - October 30/11

This is probably the most disappointing Perrotta book I've read since I became obsessed with him. For one thing, the book takes a really long time to get going; I didn't wholeheartedly get into it until about 100 pages in. For another, the whole pseudo-rapture thing didn't really work for me. Not the event itself, which is fine, but the way it impacts certain characters. The Guilty Remnant thing is probably the most problematic issue here, as I just couldn't swallow that a suburban mother would give everything up, take a vow of silence, start smoking, and, eventually, participate in the death of her newfound friend. It's all too much. As such, the book, which unfolds from the perspectives of several different characters, just feels uneven, as certain perspectives are far more interesting and compelling than others (eg everything involving Kevin the Mayor is a highlight, especially his relationship with Aimee, his daughter's hot friend). Still, it's very well written and I was certainly curious to see how everything was wrapped up, but I've come to expect much more from Perrotta. *** out of ****

THE MASK (Dean Koontz) - October 25/11

This overlong and anticlimactic thriller is packed with dream sequences and flashbacks, and it does, as a result, become awfully difficult to care about the characters. The book feels like it should've been about 200 pages shorter, although Koontz offers up an extremely abrupt ending that leaves too much unresolved. (Was Jane actually Carol's daughter? What happens to Jane now? etc) This is, as a pretentious critic might say, lesser Koontz. ** out of ****

WHERE THE HEART IS (Billie Letts) - October 20/11

This cute but overlong book contains a number of indelible characters, especially its compelling protagonist, but the episodic structure does grow a little wearying after a while. The whole thing is certainly quite readable, but Letts' quirky sensibilities are occasionally a little suffocating. Still, I wasn't bored. **1/2 out of ****

OFF SEASON (Jack Ketchum) - October 15/11

Off Season admittedly gets off to a less-than-promising start, as Ketchum devotes much of the book's first half to the exploits of characters that never quite become indistinguishable from one another. That, plus his decision to keep switching the book's perspective, ensures that the book is initially readable but far from compelling. But once the cannibals attack, the book just moves like a rocket right through to the grim conclusion. It's just so brutal, too; little kids get their heads blown off, cut off, etc. It's impressively violent. *** out of ****

THE POWER OF SIX (Pittacus Lore) - October 14/11

My biggest problem with I Am Number Four was the action, and since this book consists almost entirely of action, I wasn't too impressed. The book is basically entertaining, but "Pittacus" devotes so much time to the characters either running from one location to the next or the protagonists battling literally hundreds of Mogs, and it was just all so overwhelming. Where's the character stuff that made the first book so engrossing? The consistency in the Twilight series is apparently a rare thing in the young-adult world. **1/2 out of ****

A DESPERATE CALL (Laura Coburn) - October 9/11

I decided to take a break from an interminable John Updike novel to read this, which I assumed would be a fast-paced kidnapping story. Not so much. Coburn offers up a languid procedural detailing the investigation that ensues after a young boy is kidnapped and murdered. (The murder was unexpected, certainly.) Some of this stuff is kind of interesting, but it just seems to go on and on. By the time the protagonist is hopping on a plane to Hawaii, I'd almost completely checked out. The book admittedly does pick up in its final stretch, but really, the whole thing is about 200 pages longer than necessary. ** out of ****