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Anyway this book is a cocktease just like the adult books. It promises wrong-headed preaching yet when it comes time to deliver, it wusses out. This is what we get instead of preaching.
Judd told Sergeant Fogarty and the two detectives his whole story, from being raised in the church, to rebelling, to running away, to the Rapture, to getting home, connecting with Bruce Barnes, meeting the other kids, praying to receive Christ, and moving in together.
On one hand, I'm a little grateful Ellanjay has put down their usual sledgehammer style of preaching; on the other hand, I'm tempted to pull out a sledgehammer of my own and pound into their heads the basic commandment of all writers: Show, don't tell.
Anyway, Bruce and Lionel go to visit Talia in jail and we get more discussion about whether or not the Rapture is it or not. Bruce obviously leans towards second chances which would be noble if it weren't for the fact it raises even more questions, such as what about people like Ryan's parents who never got the opportunity to take advantage of their second chance? But I have a feeling, Ryan's parents, now that they are condemned, will never be heard from or mentioned again in this forty-book series.
Anyway, later we meet Josey, Sergeant Fogarty's wife, who is currently on my favourite characters' list along with the cabbie. Why? Because Josey is acting like someone who's had her whole world shaken upside down and is on a quest for answers, as opposed to our close-minded protagonists who swallow whatever Bruce tells them. She is described as being into new age stuff--channeling, crystals, etc.--but the book makes it clear that she is at a lost to describe what has happened, which is how a person should be when faced with something of this magnitude: lost, frightened, and curious. She is someone who deserves to be in a much better book.
3 comments:
Just wanting to note that I do enjoy reading these! Perhaps this bumps your reader count up to three, but hey.
The other approach might be "Judd told the cops what had been happening to him, and [then they got on with whatever]". This habit of repeatedly running over what's already been discussed may be convenient for the hard of thinking or those who don't read so good, but it's boring for everyone else. Still, it pads out the word count.
So even L&J can accidentally create real characters from time to time? Makes some sense, actually - as mentioned on Slacktivist, the less time a character gets on stage, the fewer chances they have to do something mindbogglingly inane and blow all our sympathy for them.
What Firedrake said. The less times they use a character the more it seems L&J keep that character reasonable.
By that token, the Left Behind teenage foursome in these books are going to be downright unbearable by the last few books. Judd and Vicki seem like they could make a cute couple, but already the asshole factor seems to be peeking through for them.
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