(no subject)

[nilchance]

Skin Game by Max Allan Collins.



Not enough Alec.

Oh, was there supposed to be more? Damn. Okay, so whoever told Collins that the book had to be accessible to new readers, they crippled this book. There were such cringingly awful lines as "Original Cindy, the beautiful black woman that was also Max's best friend and a lesbian, stepped down on the transport." Which is tolerable once, but when every line in the first few pages involved a similar description? Deep hurting.

Also, having a character note that your serial killer is violently ripping off Silence of the Lambs by creating a human suit out of skinned guards so that he can mimic Logan and schtup Max? Yeah, that doesn't distract me from the fact that you're still ripping off Silence of the Lambs. And the fact that I think we're supposed to feel sorry for the serial killer because he's a poor ignored invisible transgenic geek that was so nice to Max and yet she ignored him and he wrote all about the abuse of "nice guys" on his post-Pulse LJ? It's creepy. Stop it.

Also also: there is no magical pill that turns men into serial killers. Sorry to disappoint, but Ames White cannot will someone into being a psychopath with creative use of pharmacology. And if he slipped the Psycho Juice into the killer's trypotophan doses, why wasn't the killer having seizures?

In conclusion, man, did this book waste an opportunity to explore a siege scenario trapping human-type transgenic with animal-type transgenics and the group psychology at work. Or the way that mayyybe the power of Max's inspirational speeches with occasional chiming in by the other cast members wouldn't be enough to keep people from wanting to leave a death trap.

On the other hand, Collins gives good Alec. And there's a point where Alec is strapped to a bed while White carves him up with a scalpel and Alec creatively insults him. So there's that going for it.

Comments

[lomer.livejournal.com]

I was sort of vainly hoping that book might be decent. There's been a lack of Alec fic in my life recently. I'm sorry it's as lame as I feared. If it ever comes back to our library though, I'll probably still read it because I have a weakness and his name is Alec. *le sigh* I really wish official books were better. I've read a few for other shows as well, and it always seems like the author only watched two episodes before writing.

[mona1347.livejournal.com]

"Original Cindy, the beautiful black woman that was also Max's best friend and a lesbian, stepped down on the transport."

D-:

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

You can almost see the writer flailing. "Which is most alien? Black? Lesbian? Multiple diversities, cannot compute!"

[meredevachon]

I vaguely remember having read that shortly after it came out. Mostly I remember how painful it was to read. Even more that most tie-ins. More Alec is a good thing, but I think I'll stick to the good fanfic authors I know/can find online.

[sillie]

Heh, I've read it too. I've put post-it notes at the Alec parts, so I can skip the rest and just read those when I need an Alec fix. I like the other book (After The Dark) better. I believe it has more Alec too.

[x-darkshines-x.livejournal.com]

Okayy.. I didnt even realise there was a DA book! I was going to avoid it based on your review 'til I got to that last line.. now I gotta say the curiosity is gettin the better of me! Maybe with next months pay cheque!

[doctor-dorothy.livejournal.com]

Hello,

Long-time reader of your fic (which I love); first time commmentor -- thought I should say "hi" first!

Damn -- I was going to buy that in hopes there would be much Alec; but sadly, given what you've already said about the parts with Alec -- I'll still buy it.

[the-ellcrys.livejournal.com]

Wait until you get to After the Dark...

[nephthys101.livejournal.com]

I found this book at a $1 book store. I really enjoyed Alec's character so I purchased it...thanks for the review though :) I'll now proceed with caution.