Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross

I don't mind saying if a book is crap, but I do feel bad for the author! Andrew Gross is working his way up the mass-market thriller ladder, but I thought Don't Look Twice stunk.

Readers relate to an author's personal perspective, and from the first page, this seemed like the sections of a writing plan or it was written by a program.

His character is Ty Hauck, who is, of course, separated. There is a witness to a crime whom he has to protect, possibly fall in love with, and there's the corrupt underbelly of Greenwich, Connecticut, to expose. You know what's going to happen when, who's good, and who's bad, without any excitement or mystery.

The other thing that bothers me is the speed of the chapters - some are one or two pages long, so before you know it, you are very quickly on chapter 34 - and there are ninety-four chapters in all!. You can read a chapter in the time it took to write this sentence.

Andrew Gross wrote several James Patterson novels, and this is his second solo novel.

The James Patterson name has been on popular thrillers for many years. These are available at Costco, drugstores, basically everywhere. He has claimed he cannot write a good sentence, but has good concepts, and leaves it to a team and co-author to write and produce multiple books a month. His brand name sells the book, with a co-author listed underneath. It is a marketing strategy used by top authors like Clive Cussler and Robert Ludlum (who has co-authored over twenty books since his death in 2001). There are always ghostwriters and co-authors. Do we think celebrities actually write their own memoirs?

Reading reviews, people like Don't Think Twice—but wow, was it boring!

The kind of book you might find near your resort pool, but after reading a few chapters, you'd put it down next to your towel and forget about it.

2009 / Hardcover / 384 pages