Review: Average read thats missing something!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 15, 2011
Sometimes I can spend a stupid amount of time browsing through books on Amazon and I am always on the lookout for new authors with good write ups. This is how I came across Grant McKenzie as I noticed his debut novel had pretty good write ups.I had zero expectations, as normal with new authors and was pleased that as I started reading it was very easy to get into the story. As the synopsis explains and the story starts out, ordinary guy Sam White leaves his job early one morning and arrives home to find his house burnt to the ground. He then receives a call from a man claiming his family are safe and will be returned to Sam if he complies with the killer.Due to the story itself it certainly doesn't take long to get into the story as there is quite a lot of action in the first few chapters. I liked the style of writing by Grant McKenzie as he seems to follow the same route as authors such as Simon Kernick which are sometimes short snappy chapters. Although that may be true, there was a certain element missing which made me feel there was something lacking. I just couldn't quite put my finger on what.The story itself had all the right ingredients and the writing was good, but for some reason I just didn't like the characters all that much. The further I got into the story, the more I felt like I had `read this type of thing before'. Admittedly I do read a lot of books but this storyline just had too much of a familiar ring to it.Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed the book, but it didn't leave a lasting enough impression on me to really stand out from the crowd. On reflection, I think this time around maybe I relied too heavily on other readers opinions and maybe I just didn't feel as strongly as others did. I certainly wouldn't be put off reading another McKenzie novel and I am hoping that maybe with a more original storyline I will like his next book more, but for some reason this one just didn't grab me all that much.Overall certainly not a bad book, just one that didn't have that certain something!