I seem to have lost my appetite for murder mysteries. There was a time, in not too distant past, when I used to curl up with a good whodunit trying to figure out who the culprit was. But I rejoined the library after a long hiatus, only to find that I don't enjoy them as much as I used to.
There was 'Echoes In Death' by J. D. Robb, the plot of which I won't remember now even if my life depended on it. I brought home 'A Tell Tale' by Jeffrey Archer. A favorite author and a collection of short stories with a twist in the tale. What could go wrong? But I liked only 2-3 stories in all, and those were the ones that were based on real-life incidents that were narrated to him or that he had picked up on many of his journeys. I didn't like a single story that he had thought of on his own.
Then there was 'Origin' by Dan Brown, another favorite author. I liked the plot but given the bold premise suspected that I was in for a disappointment towards the end. Sure enough, when the discovery by the scientist was shown to the world, I wondered why it needed to be put forth in such a verbose manner so as to put more than half the world to sleep. And it sounded so scientific, rather so nerdy, that it would not be capable of dislodging even a single brick from the edifices that the world's major religions have become. Plus it wasn't any conclusive proof of how it all began or where it would all end. And I am still in the dark about who kills the Muslim and Jewish leaders. Sorry to say this, but the whole novel seemed to be written to take advantage of the current hype about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The only saving grace turned out to be Winston - the AI-based assistant. It seemed a much better alternative to the Alexas and Siris of the world.
Now, I am reading James Patterson's 'Murder Interrupted' and wondering about what kind of idiot would continue to pay someone who isn't carrying out the job assigned to him. And also in this day and age, where the police dramas are a dime a dozen on every TV channel, what imbecile hands over his phone to the cops without realizing that they will do a thorough technical investigation of its contents and logs. The novel had two stories and the second one - Mother Of All Murders - wasn't any better. The plot consisted of a woman who makes her daughter believe that she is very sick, when in fact she is a perfectly healthy child, just to gather sympathy - not to mention a lot of help on the monetary front. No prizes for guessing that when the daughter realizes the truth she ends up killing her mom. I am not sure why the good doctor doesn't inform Child Services after realizing what the mother is up to. I was expecting some twist in the tale but there was none.
Guess I am more than a bit jaded with the Western authors. Let's see if Indian authors can revive my interest in the genre. I have brought home Ashwin Sanghi's 'Keepers Of The Kalachakra'. Hope it turns out to be The Book to curl up with on a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon.
There was 'Echoes In Death' by J. D. Robb, the plot of which I won't remember now even if my life depended on it. I brought home 'A Tell Tale' by Jeffrey Archer. A favorite author and a collection of short stories with a twist in the tale. What could go wrong? But I liked only 2-3 stories in all, and those were the ones that were based on real-life incidents that were narrated to him or that he had picked up on many of his journeys. I didn't like a single story that he had thought of on his own.
Then there was 'Origin' by Dan Brown, another favorite author. I liked the plot but given the bold premise suspected that I was in for a disappointment towards the end. Sure enough, when the discovery by the scientist was shown to the world, I wondered why it needed to be put forth in such a verbose manner so as to put more than half the world to sleep. And it sounded so scientific, rather so nerdy, that it would not be capable of dislodging even a single brick from the edifices that the world's major religions have become. Plus it wasn't any conclusive proof of how it all began or where it would all end. And I am still in the dark about who kills the Muslim and Jewish leaders. Sorry to say this, but the whole novel seemed to be written to take advantage of the current hype about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The only saving grace turned out to be Winston - the AI-based assistant. It seemed a much better alternative to the Alexas and Siris of the world.
Now, I am reading James Patterson's 'Murder Interrupted' and wondering about what kind of idiot would continue to pay someone who isn't carrying out the job assigned to him. And also in this day and age, where the police dramas are a dime a dozen on every TV channel, what imbecile hands over his phone to the cops without realizing that they will do a thorough technical investigation of its contents and logs. The novel had two stories and the second one - Mother Of All Murders - wasn't any better. The plot consisted of a woman who makes her daughter believe that she is very sick, when in fact she is a perfectly healthy child, just to gather sympathy - not to mention a lot of help on the monetary front. No prizes for guessing that when the daughter realizes the truth she ends up killing her mom. I am not sure why the good doctor doesn't inform Child Services after realizing what the mother is up to. I was expecting some twist in the tale but there was none.
Guess I am more than a bit jaded with the Western authors. Let's see if Indian authors can revive my interest in the genre. I have brought home Ashwin Sanghi's 'Keepers Of The Kalachakra'. Hope it turns out to be The Book to curl up with on a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment