I will say, that I listened to this one, which almost always makes me not like the book as much as if I read it (unless done really well) and that is the case with this one as well. Benny was a little too obtuse for my taste (seriously, borderline offensive to teenagers obtuse) and the book was probably about 100 pages longer than it needed to be (there was a lot of description and down time between action). Also, biggest pet peeve, I found the dialogue quite inauthentic. However, I think it would still be a sound recommendation for teens just, maybe, older teens that have more patience... but older teens that can overlook murderous villains saying the word "butt" instead of a curse word. Really, if you are willing to kill and torture, I doubt you watch your language...
That being said, I would consider reading the sequel (coming out pretty soon) I would just make sure to read it instead of listen.
If you liked this book and want to check out some of Maberry's other work, I suggest reading his Joe Ledger Novels: Patient Zero, the Dragon Factory, and the King of Plagues. Patient Zero and King of Plagues were my favorite Ledger novels so far, but only because I felt the Dragon Factory was lacking on the bad guy department.
ReplyDeleteMags, I really liked your assesment of the story. Especially about the language (or lack thereof) that was being used. Sometimes I think authors try too hard to make their characters "sound" like teenagers and they just completely miss the mark.
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