I am a big “review” person. Well, duh ! I read film reviews, book reviews and whatnot. I attempt to remove the chaff from the wheat before I eat it, or read it or see it. However, there is stuff out there which looks pretty attractive, but turns out to be just the opposite. A recent book I read, “Lost Lake” by Philip Margolin fits into that category. Its a very urban defense-America type plot, all about generals, and secret units, and trained mercenaries etc. However a plot needs to be couched in effective words to make an impact, and here Mr. Margolin fails.

“Lost lake” read like the first draft of a novel, no polish, no finesse, no positioning of words; like a work not yet done. Words plodding after one another does not a novel make. There must be a twist and a weave, a nuance here, a subtlety there ! Card-boardish, one-dimensional characters did not elevate the plot quality any. I read “Lost Lake” fast though; I had other (good) books to read. There’s this quote which goes “It is better to read a little and ponder a lot than to read a lot and ponder a little”. Apparently I read a lot, and pondered little.

Also read Jodi Picault’s “Vanishing Acts”, which was a big dissapointment after her “Keeping faith”. The plot of VA didn’t hold much suspense, you knew what had happened, and quickly too – it’s revealed pretty much in the begining. As the shock factor wears off, and I read through anecdote after anecdote, mixed with a Native American woman’s homespun philosophy, the going gets tedious. This is a book which depicts the impact of alcoholism, but I’m not sure it made interesting reading.