I admit that when I got a notice of new books from William Rubin, I was immediately interested. I had read Forbidden Beginnings and Forbidden Birth, respectively about 200 and 400 pages...So I never thought to check the pages...my bad... I had bought both of the books of the new book and started to read yesterday...
The thing is, I knew that Rubin could write an exciting thriller novel. What had happened?
Michele's Captivity, moves into action immediately, introducing the series main character and his wife. Then he moves into the actions of his villain(s).
The thing is, I, for one, had read the other books years ago. And if a reader had never read any previous book, they would be almost immediately wondering... Who is this guy? Why is he after Ravello? And his wife? For it is his wife who first finds she is being followed... There is absolutely no flashbacks into the earlier story to help the reader know who the characters are...It was like entering into a home where you knew nobody, but was expected to enter into their lives without even an introduction. I was disappointed... For me, I kept wondering. Who is this villain? What had happened? And I refused to go back to my earlier reviews to find that information...
When I'm reading an ebook, I use the percentage completion line at the bottom to help decide when to take a break. I was shocked when I looked and found it at just under 50%... I had barely started reading. So I quickly finished the book, which was just over 30 pages...
I immediately moved on to Part II, a different book...Again, action began without any explanation of how characters were related. Obviously there were bad feelings...But...nothing...
Once you know what the villain is doing, the remainder of the book, for another total 30 pages or so, moves into action, once again... and then before you even take a tea break...two books have been read... The concept was, of course, not new; however, if there had been more narrative about the goals of the villain, or why he was so focused on Ravello and his wife, it might have salvaged what became, quickly, to be boring...action with no value of story...
And the second again stops within the action and refers you to the next part, another book!
At that point, I was disgusted...and no way was I going to buy another book no matter that the action was good or not...
Ok, it was only $2 that I had spent...but, to me, it was a total waste of money. Why can I buy complete books with hundreds of pages of exciting, well-written stories, and then get caught with two totally unsatisfying, incomplete books, for which I was asked to proceed on, perhaps, Ad infinitum... And why did it bother me so much? The idea of dividing books is also not new...but, surely, if you're going to do it, the page length should be sufficient to get your readers totally involved and willing to proceed to the purchase of another book. Fooled Once, Fooled Twice...Not Again... I am quite willing to easily forget I read about 60 pages of action without a conclusion... But I won't be reading this author again...
Needless to say...not recommended...
GABixlerReviews
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