Review: Interesting idea . . . but not fully baked
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 14, 2012
Rory Scherer's RHYME TIME is an adult picture book about three unlikely heroes (a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker) who decide to get together and fight the mob boss who has been taking most of their money for years.  The mob boss is `Fat' Tony Palmenterri, who suffers from a bad case of gout (as well as bad breath and stinky feet).  The unlikely heroes are candle-maker Beau (who lives with his ailing mother), baker Morris (a would-be ladies man), and butcher Joe (whose annoying wife is an incessant nag).There's not much story here - Scherer introduces us to the major characters and sets up a conflict with `Fat' Tony that may or may not happen in future installments.  The whole book is so short I was able to read it in less than ten minutes!  Scherer does attempt rhyme in his story, but I found that many of his words were chosen just because they rhymed, rather than because they made sense in terms of the plot.  If you read the verses out loud it becomes clear very quickly that Scherer isn't really much of a poet.As for the drawings, they're actually cleverly done pen-and-ink sketches.  Scherer is a more talented artist than he is a writer - I found the sketches to be both humorous and revealing (I could tell more about the characters from the drawings than I could from the written story).  The only problem is the Kindle format is not the best for visuals and graphics.  This would have been much more successful in paperback format, where the pictures could be larger and easier to see.I'm honestly not sure what kind of reader RHYME TIME is aimed at - it's certainly not a children's book (there are several sexual references, including jokes about impotence and sexual conquests, and the characters and their plights are decidedly adult).  The story is so thin that adult readers will likely be bored (I expected our band of heroes to at least MEET `Fat' Tony before the end of the book, but no, Scherer is saving that for the sequel).  This is not the kind of story that lends itself to multiple volumes, however.  Had Scherer finished his story and spent a bit more time perfecting his rhyming prose, this might have worked.  As it is, it's an experiment that isn't totally successful.I appreciate the effort Scherer made to put this together, and I really did enjoy the drawings.  RHYME TIME is an interesting idea that just needed a little more time in the oven.[Please note:  I was provided a copy of this book for review; the opinions expressed here are my own.]