I got this book through paperbackswap.com. I had heard Kate Atkinson was a good writer so decided to read the Jackson Brodie series in order. Atkinson is a good writer but not a good storyteller. These books supposedly are "thrillers" or mysteries but thus far, all have been a little short on the mystery part. In this book, like the other four, there are far too many coincidences to be believable. As many other Amazon reviewers have noted, there are so many characters that it's sometimes hard to keep track. In this book I was trying to remember who a particular character was but wasn't interested enough to go back through the book to see if I could find where she first appeared. I just didn't care enough.
Jackson Brodie is the recurring/main character in these books. I have come to see him as rather aimless and not very likeable. As other Amazon reviewers have noted, the story seems disjointed. It's clear early on that this will be a human trafficking story. The two girls in the first chapter don't reappear until much later. All the "thinking" that the characters do (mainly Jackson and which is in parentheses) doesn't add much to the story and is distracting. Jackson also doesn't seem to do much in this book as far as "sleuthing"--it seems like he's more along for the ride while others around him do the actual detecting (this was also pointed out by Amazon reviewers). After the human trafficking part of the story is wrapped up, the author adds a few more chapters that are not relevant and add nothing to the story--Jackson's daughter Marlee (who is barely mentioned prior to this) dumping her fiance at the altar; the female impersonator at an arcade show singing on stage, etc. At the end of the story, I wondered who had been driving the silver BMW that was following one of the characters. I wondered if I somehow missed it in the mess of the storytelling. Apparently not--a one-star Amazon reviewer noted that there was no resolution about the silver BMW. So, was this sloppy storytelling by the author? Or did she purposefully leave it unresolved?
As of this review, there's one more Jackson Brodie book ("Death at the Sign of the Rook"). Not sure if I will read that one as it's probably a hot mess like all the previous Jackson Brodie books.
Jackson Brodie is the recurring/main character in these books. I have come to see him as rather aimless and not very likeable. As other Amazon reviewers have noted, the story seems disjointed. It's clear early on that this will be a human trafficking story. The two girls in the first chapter don't reappear until much later. All the "thinking" that the characters do (mainly Jackson and which is in parentheses) doesn't add much to the story and is distracting. Jackson also doesn't seem to do much in this book as far as "sleuthing"--it seems like he's more along for the ride while others around him do the actual detecting (this was also pointed out by Amazon reviewers). After the human trafficking part of the story is wrapped up, the author adds a few more chapters that are not relevant and add nothing to the story--Jackson's daughter Marlee (who is barely mentioned prior to this) dumping her fiance at the altar; the female impersonator at an arcade show singing on stage, etc. At the end of the story, I wondered who had been driving the silver BMW that was following one of the characters. I wondered if I somehow missed it in the mess of the storytelling. Apparently not--a one-star Amazon reviewer noted that there was no resolution about the silver BMW. So, was this sloppy storytelling by the author? Or did she purposefully leave it unresolved?
As of this review, there's one more Jackson Brodie book ("Death at the Sign of the Rook"). Not sure if I will read that one as it's probably a hot mess like all the previous Jackson Brodie books.
