Book three: Bad Things Happen.

A quick break from Sundance to continue by 2010 book journal.

Lately, I've been reading books that don't fall within my usual chosen genres. Why? Because they're recommended by people I trust, like that librarian that recommends books on NPR.  Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan is one such book.  I would never have chosen this book on my own.  But it turns out, this was one fun read.

I guess I'd call this a mystery novel. But in reality it's more like a mystery/crime/film noir/romance/action adventure novel. I loved the writing style with its short, crisp sentences that crackled with action. I also loved the characters. David Loogan, the main character is full of secrets that mean you should hate him. But you just can't.

Bad Things Happen is filled with fictional authors who've written fictional novels, with ingenious mystery titles.  I also liked the way Dolan writes mystery-novel cliches and then admits it by having his fictional authors call them out.

There's a lot of good in this book, but there's also some bad.  I regularly rolled my eyes at the ridiculous plot twists and turns.  For that reason, I'm not giving this book a Read It rating (although it was close).  Instead, it gets Nothing Better to Read.  A rating that's perfect particularly if you have nothing better to read on a sunny beach vacation or on a rainy weekend when you want to snuggle up under a blanket with fun book.