A review by bunnieslikediamonds
Bad Things by Michael Marshall Smith

2.0

A very peculiar book. Plotwise it's messy and disjointed. The main story line starts off briskly enough but is then completely buried in the endless logistics of the main character's rushing around in the small town where bad things happen. The rushing around is meant to convey a sense of urgency, I think, but it's more like watching a soap opera. Every other page one character is about to divulge something terribly important to another, just to be suddenly interrupted or inexplicably leave. There is a pointless subplot involving drugs and gangsters who act as if they have learned about gangsterdom from the same soap opera. There is a jarring sarcastic tone throughout the book, which makes it seem the author is trying hard to make a point about something but I have no idea what. The countless references to iPods and heavyset vegans lead me to suspect these are things we are meant to find ridiculous, but I can't think of anyone who would find either iPods or vegans unusual or controversial (well actually noboby owns an iPod anymore, but you know what I mean) making the snarky comments incomprehensible. I'm genuinely confused by this book.