Running with the Demon

An entertaining and captivating read, once you hit the middle section. I found the characters interesting with their quirks (Gran's smokes and booze, Jared's catatonic fits), but they were also overused at times (I really only need to be told Gran drinks vodka and orange juice for breakfast a maximum of twice). Brooks is fantastic with narrative descriptions, making you feel as if you're walking in the footsteps of the characters. He can get a little wordy and delve into minutiae, which detracts from such wonderful plot and action. I would have enjoyed the novel more had a lot of the repetition been cut. There is a fantastic plot and Brooks has a masterful ability to skip through the heads of characters without breaking the reader's stride, not an easy task. You get a real sense for each point of view character and you grow attached to even the smallest characters. The only parts I disliked are when Brooks switched from past tense to present tense dream sequences. I found it jarring and unnecessary. I wished he would have worked the explanation of the dreams into the current plot rather than flashbacks that change tense and disturb the reading process. All in all, a good read that keeps you turning pages. 3.5 stars for the reasons listed above. I will continue reading this series as, like I said, once I hit the middle of the book I couldn't put it down.

Meh. I was bored the entire time it's infuriating to see such a low quality book get a 4 star rating

The only problem I had with the book is that the plot is really slow. Good thing is Brooks replaces plot movement with character development.