Review of Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

Maybe I'm too exacting about writing now that I do it with an eye toward publication. For me, Ten Thousand Saints was a good book that could have been great. Its genre has been described as rock lit and while music does make appearances from early in the story, the main character doesn't get involved in it until 58% of the way through the book (Kindle doesn't use page numbers, it uses percentages).

There seemed to be a little too much reliance on adverbs. Sometimes, I really felt certain scenes would've had more impact if Henderson had *showed* me the characters' reactions. Once she threw Jude headlong into the "straight edge" music scene, I did get a strong sense of just how wrapped up in it he got and why it meant so much to him. I thought she hit it just right when she showed what kind of nutty things teenage boys can get into. Some of the minor characters, Jude's friends, weren't all that different from each other but they were minor so that didn't bother me much.

Henderson uses a narrator throughout and that has its advantages. I wonder though if this story would have grabbed readers more if she'd alternated viewpoints among Jude, Johnny and maybe Eliza. She almost does that many times, to the point of making me wonder "is this a slip from narrator to close third? We're following this or that character's thought process pretty closely."

I think my biggest disappointment was the end of the book. Like JK Rowling does at the end of the Potter series, Henderson jumps ahead in time and reunites us with the main character after he's married. I was more uncomfortable with the way Henderson did it though, because she indicates the wife is not a character we've met. I don't think the poor woman even got a name. To me, the wife felt more like a shadow rather than a new, integral part of the guy's life.

It was a kick to read about the problems with early cordless phones. You guys under 25 have no idea what it was like to have conversations constantly interrupted by staticky noise and drift in and out the whole time. That added some important realism.

I really liked that Henderson didn't toss music industry terms around. She kept the whole music part well within the grasp of people like me who've never talked with anybody in the biz. Granted, the characters themselves wouldn't have gone for "formula" or "commercialized" music, though I don't know if that occurred by happy accident or on purpose. Sometimes authors who learn about something they're really interested can't resist getting some of it into a story whether it confuses readers or not, so I was glad Henderson avoided that.

Not a bad book at all, just one I feel would've benefitted from more editing attention. Critique Circle members push excellence in writing and I guess I hold published people up to that standard too.

“Drumbeats” by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart

I confess, this is the first work of Anderson’s I’ve read. Maybe his novels are better. This short story has potential but gave me the feeling that the authors had a word limit so some things were left simplified.

As a Rush fan, I believe the bulk of this story was written by Anderson. I read part of one non-fiction book that Neil wrote and even that much reflected Neil’s affinity for detail. About his lyrics, I've always felt any amibiguity was there purposely, so listeners could easily adapt songs to their own lives. Parts of “Drumbeats” strike me as timid writing. The author could have been more imaginative or redolent, but decided to take the easy way out.

And frankly, what disappoints me just as much is Neil’s afterword. He spends far too much time singing Anderson’s praises (if I may crack a pun). Even if Anderson’s novels are considered successful, maybe not all his works are gems. A little backstory on how they started corresponding is fine and even interesting, but honestly, I wound up feeling all that “Kevin is really, really wonderful” stuff was either forced or Neil felt he owed Anderson something for being a Rush fan.

Because my Kindle tells me how far along I am by percentages rather than page numbers, I can tell you that that the story ended 53% of the way through the download. The rest was Neil’s afterword and synopses of Anderson’s other books. So while I only paid $2.99, there wasn’t much actual story.

On the plus side, the story’s big twist did surprise me. It is a bit creepy but in a good way. I’d definitely like to see the idea expanded, provided a longer story was better written. There were spots where the setting and characters came to life. With more effective showing, this could be a great story.

Then I found out that Sammy Hagar has a book out, and there went $12.99. I’ve read the foreword by Michael Anthony and the first few pages of chapter one. I suspect Sammy made use of his imagination when talking about his childhood, but one wouldn’t really expect much different. I’ll have a review of his Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock next week or the week after.

Echo Park by Michael Connelly (2006)

An inauspicious opening sentence from a “New York Times bestselling author”:

“It was the car they had been looking for.”

For me, that one falls flat. It’s from the prologue. By chapter four, I decided that Connelly’s standards slipped while writing this one, his editor’s standards slipped, or conventions have changed since this book was published in 2006. He uses the “was -ing” construction too often for my taste, in places where I feel it weakens the impact of the sentences. He describes how the protagonist, Harry Bosch, is obsessed with a murder he couldn’t solve for thirteen years, painting a picture of why and how the obsession continues. Then he drops, “He would not give up.”

Really? You didn’t make that clear enough after saying that Bosch kept requesting the murder file, and re-interviewing persons of interest several times?

Now here’s one I like. Bosch has just called his old partner and indicated that the two of them may have missed a clue years ago that might have not only caught a woman’s murderer, but if he’d been caught, other women might not have been killed. How does Bosch’s partner respond?

“The background sound of television went quiet and he then spoke in the weak voice of a child asking what his punishment will be.”

In context, it has a good impact. Connelly seems to have an inconsistent ability to be compelling.

Having finished the book now, I have to say the author’s word choices don’t strike me as unique or gripping. Yes, *telling* can have a place, and sometimes a writer may actually want a passive phrase. But for most of the book?

On the positive side, he establishes a solid foundation for conflict between the cop Bosch and the criminal Waits. Early on, I assumed Waits was in fact the murderer Bosch has been looking for over thirteen years, but finding if that’s true isn’t the whole issue. It’s *how* we find out. Waits is described as a real loony, somebody who chops up at least some of his victims. Bosch is shown to be pretty practical, and loyal to his badge. Interaction between the two must have some psychological adventure aspect. By the end, Bosch is shown to have at least one major character flaw, which helps make him realistic.

And there are plot twists I didn’t see coming, which fit with groundwork laid previously. Connelly’s plotting is fine, it’s his wordsmithing I’m not fond of. Still, I’d like to read one or two more recent novels of his and see what’s changed, if anything.

First I’m going to tackle “Building Better Plots” by Robert Kernen, which I started several months ago. He’s got exercises in each chapter that look like they might help my plot dam—or damn plot ;)