Review: Worth the read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 26, 2013
A Hook in the Sky is the story about a man named Robert retiring from his job from the UN and pursuing his dream in painting. His life is surrounded by art, including that from his wife, who has her own gallery, and his mother, who was also a painter. He hopes it isn't too late to become a successful artist by painting the things he's seen during his job in the UN, but feels constantly hindered by the ongoing art fads and trends that conflict with his own style. On top of that, his marriage to his wife Kay becomes shaky and compromised due to her attitude, actions,  and individual perspective on "Art" with a capital 'A'So that's the plot, and I'll say it was carried out quite well. It's not all one big painting expedition out of retiring. He takes several different steps including work consultations, traveling, and doing nothing at all. There is also a lot of drama carried out among all of the characters that can draw in the reader. The characters all have their own, well-written personalities, although in the end I didn't particularly like any of them for who they were. The settings are all described well, but without overdoing it.So the plot, setting, and characters were all done nicely. There were some times when I felt the narrator spoke on one topic for too long. Now the events I'm referring to are plot points that I won't spoil, but there were times when it will talk about one subject, and give many examples on how Robert examined it. In my opinion, there were too many examples at these points, and I reached a sort of "I get it. Let's move on," attitude at them. Now these weren't too common, but it especially bothered me when it wasn't even a major plot point that was being explained. Other than that, I had no issues with the author's writing style and prose. The book was well-written aside from the occasionally overdone portions I just mentioned.So all-in-all, I'll give this book a positive. I will emphasize the fairly-mentioned point in the description that this book really is aimed at older target audiences. If you are in your later years, or a "baby boomer", then you will probably enjoy this book, and I recommend this to you. If not, then this book is much less likely to entertain you.