Again?

 Cold As Hell by Kelley Armstrong is a mystery book. I read these types of books almost exclusively for a period of time before they all seemed to blend together. Usually someone is missing, someone gets killed or is kidnapped. I guess the difference between them is the writing and the originality of the story. With so many out there, it’s important to have one or the other, or better yet both, going for it. I’m talking about the book-a-year types. All great writers but honestly, after ten or fifteen books, how original can they be? I’ve read most of these authors books. It’s taken me until now to come around to this way of thinking. Oh sure, the plot can take place in a different state or country, the crime can be new or old, as can be the killer or victim, intentional or accidental. You have your lone investigators, small town or international police departments, male or female sluths, etc. 

This is the first and only book I’ve read by this author and it seems like it might fall into the category outlined above. I only started thinking that ‘sameness’ quality about two-thirds of the way through. The writing is really good although the plot is somewhat familiar -  An attempted crime takes place in a very small community and is investigated by its small police authority. In this case a husband and wife, (who also happens to be about nine months pregnant). While the sheriff is investigating the almost crime, the criminal actually carries off a second, successful one. Who done it? Investigation ensues, suspects are interviewed, Braxton hicks contractions happen, blizzard/whiteout conditions creep in. After eliminating the guy in town everybody hates, the real killer is deduced. Then they have to catch him or her. A chase ensues. Do they catch the culprit? Is the baby born in the blizzard? Gotta read to find out. 

I’m not trying to say these books aren’t entertaining, it’s just that I guess it’s hard to come up with really interesting/original story lines year after year. They have their place and audience, but maybe one every two years? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Beginning

 Oh no. I think I just started my new blog with an oxy moron. Oh well, one thing I want my blog to be above all else is honest, so I’m not going to fix that. What my main goal is here is to spread the love about books I’ve read, would like to read, have heard about, and things peripherally literary. That last part sounded pretentious. I should have just said other book stuff. I’m gonna keep trying to do this. Hopefully you’ll bear with me and I’ll get better. So, a little about me? I really like to read. Always have and hopefully always will. If you’re reading this I guess you like to read as well. Great, we should get along. Enough about me. How about my very latest book issue? I picked up a book which someone recommended to me from the library yesterday. I used to be a book snob (only reading books I’d chosen myself) but am trying to expand my horizons. The book is called The Wedding People by Alison Espach. A new author for me. I enjoyed the first few pages but found out that th...
Read more

Author Spotlight

 Hi there. Every once in a while I’m going to feature one author for the entire blog. It’s obviously going to be a favorite author of mine. All of the books I’ve read by this author (so far) will be talked about.  This week I’m talking about a fairly new to me author, Kristin Hannah .  I’ve just come across Hannah’s books within the last six months or so. Boy am I glad that I did. I like the history lessons I get from the stories she tells, I like the way she writes, the flow of the stories, the strong characters, and the fact that there’s no fluff or filler. It’s all story. I would recommend any of these books I’ve read highly. Very highly. The first book I read by Hannah is The Nightingale (pub.2015). I think I’ve mention my attraction to historical fiction and this book is of that genre. It takes place in a French village during the WWII Nazi occupation. It involves two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, trying to survive the best they can under the circumstances they now ...
Read more

Is It Just Me?

 Of course it is. Although reading (definitely more so nowadays) can be social it is also very personal. The kinds of subject matter/genre which appeals to one may not resonate with another. One might like to read about trains because their grandfather was an old timey conductor on the Erie Lackawanna railway. One might shy away from novels with divorce as a running theme for reasons of their own. One might like road trip novels. It can be exciting to go where it’s scary or to places we’ve simply never been, or probably never will be, but it’s also okay to not go there. Whatever floats your boat. Recreational reading is something no one can force upon you. No one can tell you what you like or don’t like. Reading is all you. That’s great, isn’t it? All of that said goes to justify my decision to put down The Wedding People for now. From the comments I’ve read about this book it seems like I’m in a very small minority of readers for which this book did not hit the mark. It just was n...
Read more