New 06.25.05

Another J. A. Jance book came to me shortly after reading Exit Wounds. I jumped at reading it and was disappointed. Day of the Dead deals with evil that is anything but banal. The evildoers are main characters in this book, not just bad guys peering in from the edges of the plot. Foreshadowing is the main theme of the book. My imagination was more fertile than Jance's. I dreamed up end-plots and resolutions that made me fear the inevitable good vs. evil confrontation. I almost didn't read the last third of the book, but my desire to procrastinate on more serious work won out. The evil was really awful, but the bad guys sort of got their due (if that was even possible) at the end. The good guys survived in a wounded state (wounded by the evil and the bad guys). There is another Hillerman-like decoration in this book. Jance works at making a native culture part of the plot. But it's really just decoration, not central to the story. I'll be careful to stick to Jance's stories about Sheriff Joanna Brady from now on. Although I'll be much less enthusiastic after this reading adventure. Ever have a reading adventure like that (here a writer whose product you really liked disappointed you)? Well, besides Dan Conrad who has told us about that before. If you have, write and tell us about the experience.

• The Book Reporter on Day of the Dead

• From publisher William Morrow on Day of the Dead