PURSUIT (Gene Hackman) - April 27/14

This barely-passable thriller would hardly be worth mentioning had it been written by anyone other than Hackman. There are some exciting stretches here and there - the kidnapping stuff is expectedly tense - but Hackman offers up way too many superfluous portions, including a completely anticlimactic final 100 pages or so. (The girl is recovered and the book becomes all about the tedious investigation and pursuit of the perp.) The ending is pretty cool, though. (Julie leaves the guy to get eaten by coyotes.) **1/2 out of ****

A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH (Jules Verne) - April 20/14

After a decent setup - the two main characters feel a lot like Marty and Doc - A Journey to the Centre of the Earth devolves into an overly descriptive, far-from-exciting adventure that left me cold throughout. Verne seems more interested in describing the off-the-wall surroundings than cultivating an atmosphere of suspense and tension, and I subsequently found it very difficult to work up any interest in the protagonists' perilous exploits. *1/2 out of ****

TICKTOCK (Dean Koontz) - April 8/14

Sigh. Another weak effort from Koontz. As usual, Koontz mixes comedy and horror to near disastrous effect, as the author offers up a super quirky female sidekick and her unreasonably oddball dog. I suppose the banter between the main character and the quirky sidekick is supposed to be charming and lighthearted but I just found it grating and annoying. The action didn't fare much better, with the overly descriptive passages more boring and daydream-inducing than anything else. And it's way too long, too. ** out of ****