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belanna2's review
medium-paced
1.0
For a world–renowned author that has published a slew of books, I would think Masterton would know that doing one's research on the subject matter is paramount to a believable and authentic story. This author is British and imparts the British school system into a book set in America. The story setting is in a community college: a 2-year college to obtain an associate degree or to transfer those credits to a four-year college/university; you attend community college/university after graduating from high school. In the UK, their secondary schools are the equivalent to our high schools and are often called colleges. So, the protagonist is teaching adult college students, but is acting like they're in high school: he mentions school assemblies, the principle (headmaster), parents waiting to pick their kids up, etc.
Another pet peeve was how the author through his protagonist, stereotypes ethnic characters and blue-collar students--It screamed British class system, projected onto these characters. The casual racism stood out. Oh, and that brutal, unnecessary rape scene with no consequences for the character's actions; it's just a blase, "oops, my bad. I wasn't myself." The Rook character is completely unlikeable. I was rooting for the "bad guy", who was such a cartoon level villain, that was constantly telegraphing his intent through this book, and no one noticed or took action. This book sucked.
Another pet peeve was how the author through his protagonist, stereotypes ethnic characters and blue-collar students--It screamed British class system, projected onto these characters. The casual racism stood out. Oh, and that brutal, unnecessary rape scene with no consequences for the character's actions; it's just a blase, "oops, my bad. I wasn't myself." The Rook character is completely unlikeable. I was rooting for the "bad guy", who was such a cartoon level villain, that was constantly telegraphing his intent through this book, and no one noticed or took action. This book sucked.
skeletonia's review
3.0
[bc:The Terror|1706488|The Terror (Jim Rook, #3)|Graham Masterton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1266872589l/1706488._SY75_.jpg|1703646] For context, I have previously only read Jim Rook #3. While not perfect, I really enjoyed that novel.
I enjoyed this book, kind of. It was okay. I wanted to like this book, but I don't think I'd pick it up again.
Firstly, I need to get this out of the way. Towards the beginning of the book, a character is compared to Lord Farquaad from Shrek. Shrek. A reference to Shrek was made.
Sorry, I just found that hilarious.
None of the characters are particularly likeable. Most of them are clichéd and don't really develop throughout the duration of the book. I think I only liked one of the side characters by the climax of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't even find Jim a compelling or sympathetic protagonist. More so at the beginning. He is kind to some people, but he comes across as unlikeable in other instances. On the other hand, I did enjoy that we are informed more about his personal life. As a result, Jim became a bit more likeable towards the second half of the book.
In general, I found the story interesting and the majority of the book was well-written. I enjoyed the biblical themes and references. This is where the three stars I rated this book come from. The story is engaging and creative, I certainly was entertained.
I enjoyed this book, kind of. It was okay. I wanted to like this book, but I don't think I'd pick it up again.
Firstly, I need to get this out of the way. Towards the beginning of the book, a character is compared to Lord Farquaad from Shrek. Shrek. A reference to Shrek was made.
Sorry, I just found that hilarious.
None of the characters are particularly likeable. Most of them are clichéd and don't really develop throughout the duration of the book. I think I only liked one of the side characters by the climax of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't even find Jim a compelling or sympathetic protagonist. More so at the beginning. He is kind to some people, but he comes across as unlikeable in other instances. On the other hand, I did enjoy that we are informed more about his personal life. As a result, Jim became a bit more likeable towards the second half of the book.
In general, I found the story interesting and the majority of the book was well-written. I enjoyed the biblical themes and references. This is where the three stars I rated this book come from. The story is engaging and creative, I certainly was entertained.
Spoiler
There was a rape scene, which didn't bother me too much personally. It occurred when I found Jim to still be unlikeable, so I feel like it didn't really work. I get that he was indoctrinated, but I still just didn't see it as beneficial to the story. I guess it did make me sympathetic towards Summer though, who I didn't find very interesting prior. However, this was completely reversed when Summer was forgiving and merciful of Jim's action. It just rubbed me the wrong way. I honestly don't know what Masterton was trying to demonstrate with that plot point. It just seemed to glamorise rape.
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