Friday 4 April 2014

The Beast by Faye Kellerman

It was the stuff of nightmares, starting with the slow walk down the courtroom aisle: as if his stall tactics had the power to stop the inevitable.

The wording is great and creates a sense of tension, but words can be misleading. By page 2 we still have no idea why this is the stuff of nightmares, except that this person is being asked questions he'd sooner forget about : ...that day had started out so normal and within minutes had turned into something almost deadly.

Almost deadly? Kind of disappointing, that word: almost. And beginning with the day had started out so normal is preamble that anyone in grade 7 or higher could pull off. No offense to those in grade 6 or under.

There is also some educational info about law on page 2:

"You were a dream for the prosecution: completely credible, plainspoken, and damn cute."

Being cute is part of the legal process? This is good to know. Of course, this book is set in the US, so it's completely credible that being cute is a legal issue or could set a precedent.

Satirical criticism aside, if this opening bit sets the tone, and we can assume it does or why have this so soon, then I'm not interested. It's flippant and well...plain old dumb. Though, at least now, I can theorize what the title refers to.

First thing said:

"I'm going to change and get dinner ready."

Verdict: Fail

Sincerely,
Rudy Globird

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