Review: The day one guy goes shopping..? (some spoilers)
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2012
I will start off by saying that I did not dislike the writing. The author does a good job creating his world with visuals, action and through the eyes of the character. The concept behind the book is also interesting, and the lesson learned is ALSO good. So, why give it 3 stars?The beginning of the book does a great job capturing interest. Everything, except Mark, stops just as he is about to be killed by a bus. At this point, Mark is stunned and predictably wants to know what is going on, so he investigates. He finds that, while he can interact with inanimate objects and move them, as soon as he throws something (or whatever), it freezes in mid air. This also includes a really mind bending thought that even the rays of light are frozen, so when Mark opens his curtains, it does not illuminate the room.However, the more the book continues, the more it leaves this concept behind. Instead of investigating how or why it happened as a first thought/motive, he decides to go shopping. Literally the entire middle of the book is about Mark shopping, bathing and traveling. The details were, I thought, completely over the top. Using half a page explaining how Mark is going to have to buy a new backpack to carry things in because obviously a back pack is not big enough to do much with.Anyway, the last 20 or 30 percent of the book is at least interesting, but has nothing to do with the concept of time stopping. Instead, Mark attempts to right a wrong between a married couple (who, I may add, are complete strangers to him). This unfolds into a sort of mystery/conspiracy, but only as Mark reads it on paper. This also produces nothing about the story, and ends quite abruptly. So does the book. Literally within about 3 or 4 sentences, the book suddenly ends. But I do want to add that it is a good ending, and we learn something from it.However, I think he book would have been a lot more effective and a lot more compelling if it were a short story or a novella (between 60-100 pages). Honestly, I think it could have kept his shopping trips to a minimum detail, and he should have investigated why time stopped, or at least tried to retrace his steps around the bus.In the end, there were a lot of good elements about the story, the book was well written, and I don't feel like I wasted my time. I just think the author could have given us the same story, with the same lesson, in close to half the pages. I give it a solid 3 stars.