Review: Very clunky.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2014
I think the writer's bitten off more than he can chew.First off the writing is very clunky, reminding me of a high school creative writing class assignment, here is an example:  The restaurant was nearly empty but it was a little early yet for the evening crowd. It was situated in the hotel next to the martini bar. A waiter came to the table.The dialog needs work, much, but not all, seemed stilted, more to convey information to the reader than an actual conversation would have.The writer has the tendency to tell us each minute detail of a characters actions: I won't give examples, but the writer needs to pare down and concentrate on what's most important to the story. There is lots and lots of needless step-by-step descriptions of actions. A good editor would have helped with this. As is, I found myself skipping large sections of the text to try to follow the actual story.As for the story: a story of good (light) vs. evil (dark). I believe this has been done before, but if the writer brings something new to the table, great. In this case, I don't see it. As a matter of fact, the light vs. dark was done too crudely, again, on a high school level. Sometimes less is more, in this case, the analogy is done over and over and over, as if we are being beaten over the head with it. And the attempt to explain using quantum physics principles didn't work for me, I think the writer needs to work that out a little better in his own head before trying to explain to the reader.The story jumps around quit a bit which makes following it difficult. I  suppose if one sat down and read the book in one sitting, that might be okay. But I read a chapter or two at a time (I do have an outside life) and had a great deal of trouble keeping up with the story--which is what I was referring to as the writer biting off more than he can chew. In an epic, rambling book, the writer needed to keep the story lines tighter, because with seemingly needless details, it took me a while each time I picked up the book to get back into the story.Then there is the theological/mystic aspect of the book. This is where the story really lost me. But then again, I'm not a big fan of Dan Brown or the other writers who claim there is this hidden truth from God which will destroy the world, etc. But for me, I'm not buying what the author is selling. Which, ultimately, was a deal breaker, causing me to skip through the book to see how it ended, which, sadly to say, was a rather pedestrian and predictable ending.