Whodunit Book Club February 22, 2011

Nineteen members braved the chilly temperatures to attend this month's meeting.
Pam's 'magical question' this evening:
"Do you prefer reading 'page turners' or books that savour language more and venture into description and characterization?"
The majority of members seemed to read both types with a marked preference toward the more literary type of novel, with a few preferring the page turner type of book. The discussion then digressed to a the query "What IS a page turner?" We deemed a page-turner could fall within two different catagories. The first category of page-turner is an action packed novel with short chapters and little characterization. The second category could be any book that you are so interested/immersed in that the pages seem to turn of their own volition. The dictionary definition of page turner: any book, esp. a novel, which is so interesting, exciting, suspenseful, etc. that it draws the reader along, though it may be of little or no literary worth.

The novel under discussion this month was "True Blue" by David Baldacci. A book that could be considered a page-turner, but one which fell into the first category. About 75% of the members in attendance did not enjoy the novel and a few of those did not read it to the end. The comment was made that to enjoy this type of novel fully one would have to "check their brains at the door" and have the ability to suspend belief. About a quarter of the members enjoyed it a lot and would read more books by this author.

David Baldacci is a best-selling novelist in the true sense of the term. He has over 100 million books in print and his books have been printed in over 45 languages!
He began writing in high school and claims that writing is his 'private passion'. A lawyer in real life, David Baldacci has worked as both a corporate and a trial attorney. He is a philanthropist who established the "Wish you Well Foundation" which promotes literacy.

"True blue" was a novel which told the story of 'black-ops' pertaining to national security. While suspenseful and action-packed its characters were one-dimensional and the plot was at times unbelievable. The protagonist Mace, was a larger-than-life character who recently released from prison, took more chances than any sane person should. Her sister, Washington D.C.'s police chief seemed to bend the rules to aid her wayward sister at every turn.

Break-neck paced, the novel was saturated with strong women. Two somewhat likeable (Mace and her sister Beth) and two that were villainous (the Russian assassin and the attorney who framed Mace). It portrayed the U.S. capital as having a dark and dank underbelly where no one would want to visit.

Congratulations to the lucky winners of the free book draw this month:
Laird
Mabel
Carmella
Marilyn

Whodunit's next meeting will be held on March 29th when we will discuss "Red snow" by Michael Slade.