A ‘Did Not Finish’… ‘Killer’ – Peter Tonkin (Valancourt Books)
I’ve had a good run of books that entertained and made me want to keep turning those pages but, it had to end at some point :o) It happens and because I want this blog to be about all the books I read (not just the ones I enjoy), it’s time for another ‘DNF’ post. This time, it’s a book that I packed for a bus ride to Bromley but couldn’t continue with on the way back.
They were caught in the ultimate trap. They faced the ultimate terror.
Five men and one beautiful woman. Marooned on a floating island of arctic ice. Together they had the equipment and skills to fight the freezing cold, the violently savage storms.
Then suddenly from the angry seas the jaws of horror opened wide as nature's deadliest creature rose from the depths — a huge killer whale of enormous intelligence, incredible power, indestructible endurance, ravenous for human prey.…
Maybe I’m spending too much time in my own head right now (entirely possible) but just recently, I’ve been wondering if there is such a thing as ‘bad writing’. I’m not talking about spelling, grammar or even plot (all of which can be horribly abused), I’m thinking more about prose and the relationship between it and the reader. Because it’s not just on the book, is it? If I’m not receptive to the prose, is it the books fault for failing to engage? I’d say that it’s just as much on me as it is the book, maybe even a little more so. So maybe there isn’t such a thing as ‘bad writing’ then, more like the inevitable outcome of the law of averages in relationships; not every coupling is going to work out. What speaks to me might not necessarily speak to you in the same way.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that while I think ‘Killer’ does its job, it didn’t work out for me. I found what I read to be very dryly written and veering more towards thriller territory than horror. Which is great if you’re after a thriller but I saw ‘Paperbacks from Hell’ on the cover and thought I was getting horror… I suspect your view may differ depending on where you’re sat but personally, I’m after more than hints of dark secrets and an account of the Killer Whale’s trip up north. Which is a bit of a shame as the Prelude was awesome, I’ve got a lot of time for a Killer Whale that kills an Admiral and then goes looking for praise as technically, it did the job it had been trained for.
And that’s the other thing, is it really a books fault if life is too short to stick with something that you’re not enjoying? I suspect that ‘Killer’ has the makings of a fine thriller but my reading takes me in other directions. No-ones fault, lets move on to the next read and hope that this one speaks to me :o)
They were caught in the ultimate trap. They faced the ultimate terror.
Five men and one beautiful woman. Marooned on a floating island of arctic ice. Together they had the equipment and skills to fight the freezing cold, the violently savage storms.
Then suddenly from the angry seas the jaws of horror opened wide as nature's deadliest creature rose from the depths — a huge killer whale of enormous intelligence, incredible power, indestructible endurance, ravenous for human prey.…
Maybe I’m spending too much time in my own head right now (entirely possible) but just recently, I’ve been wondering if there is such a thing as ‘bad writing’. I’m not talking about spelling, grammar or even plot (all of which can be horribly abused), I’m thinking more about prose and the relationship between it and the reader. Because it’s not just on the book, is it? If I’m not receptive to the prose, is it the books fault for failing to engage? I’d say that it’s just as much on me as it is the book, maybe even a little more so. So maybe there isn’t such a thing as ‘bad writing’ then, more like the inevitable outcome of the law of averages in relationships; not every coupling is going to work out. What speaks to me might not necessarily speak to you in the same way.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that while I think ‘Killer’ does its job, it didn’t work out for me. I found what I read to be very dryly written and veering more towards thriller territory than horror. Which is great if you’re after a thriller but I saw ‘Paperbacks from Hell’ on the cover and thought I was getting horror… I suspect your view may differ depending on where you’re sat but personally, I’m after more than hints of dark secrets and an account of the Killer Whale’s trip up north. Which is a bit of a shame as the Prelude was awesome, I’ve got a lot of time for a Killer Whale that kills an Admiral and then goes looking for praise as technically, it did the job it had been trained for.
And that’s the other thing, is it really a books fault if life is too short to stick with something that you’re not enjoying? I suspect that ‘Killer’ has the makings of a fine thriller but my reading takes me in other directions. No-ones fault, lets move on to the next read and hope that this one speaks to me :o)
I'd like to differ with you. There is bad writing. The hordes of indies churning out crap prove my side of that argument every day ;-)
ReplyDeleteI see where you're coming from but if you didn't get anything out of it and I did (for example), that says more about us as readers than it does about the writing, surely? I will do literally anything, at this point, to avoid thinking about the Christmas shopping that I still need to do... ;o)
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