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Burn Factor
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Author: Kyle Mills, Reader 1
List Price: $7.99
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0061098035
Publisher: HarperTorch (05 February, 2002)
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Sales Rank: 87,055
Average Customer Rating: 2.8 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 3 out of 5
even escapist fiction should have some grounding in reality
I read this right after reading Rising Pheonix and, while I felt it was better overall-- more plausible plot, better characters, better writing--, it was still far from a satisfying read.The main problem was the writing. The action scenes were awkward, and there were a couple of howlers, especially at the beginning: rice cakes "fatally impacting" on the floor (pg. 8), a woamn eating a "snowball-sized" scoop of ice cream (pg. 63). Some of the characters still were not fleshed out enough or totally believable-- Twain and Marin, for example. There is actually the cliche of the serial killer listening to classical music at one point, something you see a lot of in movies but not in real life. More than a few of the plot developments and incidents seem straight out of an action movie: the bad guys are always a step or two behind the good guys, a woman survives a gunshot when a bullet glances off her head (pg. 201), two people survive massive explosions that kill everyone around them (pg. 355), a man jumps out of the way of a bullet (pg. 377), the killer imbeds a knife in a cinderblock wall (pg. 333). Other plot points are just ludicrous, as when one of the characters calls Stephen Hawking on the spur of the moment. There are many more smaller problems which highlight his lack of research or inability to write about events in a believable manner, though it would be pointless to list them all. Two thumbs down for me.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Offensive and Repugnant
I've never written a review before, but this book was so revolting that I can't let it go without a protest. I have listened to one other Mark Beamon book on tape, which I found to be mildly entertaining. And, as this book was billed as a Mark Beamon book on the jacket cover, I checked it out from the library. However, this was grossly misleading, because he has no role in the plot and does not even appear until the last few lines.
In a word, this book would only appeal to individuals who like to experience sadism vicariously. The graphic descriptions of the torture, mutilations, and murders of numerous women is stomach turning, horrifying, and completely unnecessary. I am amazed that the author could actually compose many of these passages, and certainly cannot fathom why. I hope to erase this book from memory as soon as possible.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Okay
This book is about a young FBI computer analyst aspiring to become an agent, but when she stumbles upon a series of crimes that were programmed into CODIS (combined DNA index system) to be missed all hell breaks loose. Though not as good as his three previous books, I still found it entertaining and readable. I can't wait for Mills' next Mark Beamon novel.
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