Review: Pretty good action story buried in psychobabble
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2014
The Jeremy's Run series is a readable take on a post-EMP and attacked United States, but the author seems almost obsessed with micro-analyzing characters and focuses too much on conversations that stall the plot.Books 1 and 2 of the series suffer (more lightly) from this problem, and I and others have noted that in reviews. The author doesn't seem worried by it, however, and doubles down in this Book 3, Run Through the Jungle.I see two defects with this series: First, there is a real surplus of dialogue and internal narration about people's motives, points of view, and "tell me about your father" exposition that just bogs things down. Some of it can be skipped over, but some of it gets really odd when the main characters are in a tension-filled moment with seconds to decide their next move...and their answer is to stop and talk about it. Groan.Second, Jeremy, the title character, is just not all that great a hero for such a series. I'm sure the author has this set up by design, so he can perhaps allow Jeremy to grow and become someone you can root for. Through the first three books, however, he's either been a secondary character or one who is so governed by his "little brain" that he makes all sorts of ridiculous decisions and non-decisions that are unrealistic given the themes and storyline.Spoiler alert:Book 3 also takes a turn where a central character, who provided a great deal of cohesion and a real chance for this motley group of New Age brats to actually succeed in their quest, won't  be available for succeeding books. This, in my opinion, is a serious and possibly fatal mistake for this series.Book 1 was an okay setup; Book 2 went right to the heart of the danger and changes one would need to face in a massive loss of civilization in a large city; but Book 3 almost feels likes multiple episodes of a video game. And it ends essentially in the middle of one of these episodes, with no sense of climax or tension to compel you to look for Book 4 in the series.I'll probably complete the string, but I think the author missed an opportunity with this series.