"A Rather Remarkable Homecoming"

A Rather Remarkable Homecoming by C.A. Belmond

Ok, I've been enjoying the ride but I've had enough. I found this one boring and full of way-too-convenient co-incidences. The dialogue written for the "I" of the story (the narrator, Penny) is cheesy and unbelievable. The whole thing was a bit over the top.

There's a scene where a man has been kidnapped and a ransom is being delivered in exchange for his release, but it's very hard to take a crime scene seriously when the criminals are referred to as "hooligans" - and not by an older person who may have lived when that term was actually used.

In another scene a drug deal is going down and two of the bad guys are said to have "popped" out of a truck. I almost expected them to hug and exchange cell phone numbers.

And, when the victim of the kidnapping was released no one even bothered to ask him if he's alright. Was he hurt, did he suffer? Not important, apparently, when the main characters want to move on and follow another clue.

I enjoy a certain amount of light reading. It's exactly what I need at times. As Anna Quindlan says; "reading has as many functions as the human body, and ...not all of them are cerebral. One is mere entertainment, the pleasurable whiling away of time". The first three in this series were simply the pleasurable whiling away of time, but this fourth one had me rolling my eyes too many times and I just wanted it over.

If you're in the market for some light reading, this series might be just what you're looking for. The fourth book is set up to lead into another, and I just read that there will indeed be a fifth one out sometime this year. As for me, it's time to wade into "Crime and Punishment". I've been putting it off, but I'm ready. It should more than satisfy my current need for something with a little more substance, and will probably send me running eagerly back to the lighter end of my bookshelf when I'm done.