Page Turners

I bought the two-inch thick new novel, Scarpetta, hoping that it would be as engaging, interesting, and clever as all the other Patricia Cornwell novels that feature Dr. Kay Scarpetta. It's not. Watching Patricia Cornwell hype her new novel in a TV ad, I fell for her hook: you'll never figure it out. I now know that I won't ever figure it out because I'll never finish reading it!

One of Cornwell's strengths is her storytelling, which is glaringly lacking in this tome. I'm sure that there's a great story buried in the 500 pages of the hard-cover edition, but I've restarted my reading three times now, and I'm not motivated enough to read the unread 400 pages and find it. To phrase a teen reader: this is b-o-r-i-n-g! I especially became bogged down when I read a conversation that was so phony, so forced, so unnatural that I found myself reading word-for-word, as a two-year-old novice would read. Perhaps I'll never know the denouement, or perhaps I'll simply read the last 100 pages and figure out the middle for myself. Either way, the novel is a huge disappointment.

I also bought Kathy Reichs' newest, Devil Bones, as I've enjoyed some of her other work, as well as the TV show based on her writing, Bones. Again, the pace is so slow that it's hard to stick with the book night after night. Maybe my lack of interest has to do with the inclusion of devil worship and Satanism, but I think it's just a story that bogs itself down with too much detail, too much description, too much trying to make a point that may not have to be made to finish the story. I'm half-way through the 300-page story and may not make it the rest of the way. [Updating: I did finish the story and it gets much better as it picks up steam. Clever plot temporarily side-tracked by the Santeria, which is pretty much what the characters have to figure out, too]

On the other hand, I picked up an original in paperback, Six Seconds, written by Rick Mufina, that is dynamite. The story caught my attention and kept me reading long past my bedtime, which is the sign of a well-crafted plot. The characters are real, their conversations natural, and the revelation of details is short, sweet, and to the point -- so the story keeps moving toward the climax. It's intricate, not obvious, which is another facet of a novel that I appreciate.

I'm going to weed out all the books I have stashed here and there, which I usually pass on to reader friends. This time, I'm going to donate them to my friend's favorite library, a small library in a small town that can benefit from doubling their fiction section with my contribution. And before I plunk down my cash to purchase future hard cover editions, I'm going to sit and read at least the opening 20 pages and see if it's worth paying more now or waiting for the less expensive soft cover edition to be disappointed.