Review: Good but needs work
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2013
I'd have liked to give this novel a higher rating as there is much to praise. The overall concept is good and the author creates convincing characters and action scenes.Unfortunately, it really needs a lot more work. Right at the start my eyebrows were raised when I saw the preface containing glowing praise from a number of major publishing companies for the quality of the writing.But this is a self-published book! Assuming these are genuine quotes I would imagine each one had a large 'but' attached - if the book were really that good surely it would have been published by one of them. (I wonder if the companies concerned know they are being quoted?)And the truth is, the book just isn't as wonderful as the quotes suggest. For one thing it's too long and unfocussed. To begin with the action keeps chopping and changing between a couple fighting a storm at sea, an attack on a Ghanian truck driver, an arms dealing musing on his marital problems and past history and a tramp freighter in the Adriatic. There is no clear protagonist and it takes a very long time for the real point of the story to emerge.In a lot of places there's also way too much detail. K D George clearly knows a lot about military hardware and how soldiers train. But do we really need to know so much? The descriptions, particularly of a team in training go on too long - and at a point when we want to get to the action.There's a scene at sea involving three boats where exactly what is going to happen with all the weapons and explosives is explained in detail - before it happens! We also then get a lengthy description of the action when it happens! Some technical detail for those who like it sure but not at the expense of the story - this is meant to be a thriller after all.(I also found Sarah's occasional references to her past history and the dubious circumstances relating to the death of Jack ultimately annoying. This was never explained and was ultimately pointless.)On a more basic level, the novel also needs a decent proofread and edit. It's littered with mistakes such as extra words and words that are joined together. Annoying.This might seem like a list of complaints but I hope this is constructive criticism - there's a good yarn here but it could be much improved. (And then maybe one of those big publishing companies might really look at it!)