I have watched a few seasons of the show Longmire and enjoyed it. I don't think that's clouding my judgement, but maybe that's the problem... I cannot unsee Vic as Katee Sackoff, even though in the book she is described as having dark hair and being an Italian goddess.
I love the setting. I have only been to Wyoming once for a few hours and have always wanted to go back. It was snowing, in July, which was both weird and fascinating at the time.
My issues: this novel is written in 1st person. I don't know if it's just the books I am choosing to read but 1st person is everywhere. I can't find a YA book to read that is not in 1st person. I get it, you are supposed to be closer to the character that way, it's hit or miss with me. I miss a good 3rd person novel...
Because Cold Dish is written from only Walt's POV it just jumps into the story and was a tad confusing. There's a lot of driving to this town, and then driving to that town... a map would have been helpful with a big X for the dead body. Not a spoiler as that is literally the first line of the book.
The dialog in this is confusing because there aren't any dialog tags. Any. Not a single said, asked, replied. None. The dialog is good, lots of snark, sarcasm, and banter, but confusing when you don't know who started talking first.
One of the characters does not use contractions when they speak. The main character even mentions this, but (so far) there isn't an explanation. I kind of like it, at least it makes it easy to figure out who is saying what!
The writer does this thing where he starts a chapter with two characters speaking/interacting, and doesn't reveal who the second character is until a few paragraphs in. Then (the reader, aka me) has to go back and reread for things to make sense. With the lack of dialog tags, sometimes I'm still not sure who said what.
So, as of page 107, I can't decide if this is a series I will continue or not. Does it get better? The series is on book #17 (or whatever number) so someone must like it. Maybe I should stick to the show... The ratings for book #2 are slightly higher than book #1.
I think if I had not watched (some) of the show before reading this, I'm not sure I would have picked this up, or made it to page 107. I'm conflicted...
There's another series I tried, where I hated the main detective, but apparently after book #4 the writing greatly improved (not sure if the main character stopped being a complete jerk as well) which I have hesitated on continuing. Do I read three mediocre books to get to the good ones, or skip ahead?
I guess we will find out the answer in 250 more pages...
And those are my writer-impeded thoughts so far. Sometimes I wish I could turn off my writer brain and just enjoy a story for what it is.
#seriesseptember2023
Update: as of page 210, I still have the same thoughts. I think I am willing to (at some point in the very distant future) give book #2 a shot, but I am still struggling. The story is great, it's the writing choices that are irritating.
Update #2: Nope, nope, nope. Page 250, and I'm so confused about who is talking, and don't care anymore about whatever is going on in the plot that I skimmed the last 100 pages. And I SO wanted to like this book :( So many, out of nowhere, what just happened moments. The "must retrieve this person, good thing we know someone who can fly a helicopter, but uh-oh there's a storm coming" scene totally lost me. I might rewatch the show... the books however, I'm out.
