reading: A Stroke of Midnight

A Stroke of Midnight, by Laurell K. Hamilton
ok, my expectations of laurell k. hamilton are really not all that high. she is a pulp fiction style writer who tells fantastic stories about vampires, were-animals, and faeries in modern times--this is somewhat cheesy but in general, works for me. i expect a certain amount of fluff from her, but also a quick escapist read that will be entertaining. lots of sex and bloodletting--a guilty pleasure the hippie and i (and his mother) share. it used to be that i thought if her like phillip k. dick--an author who makes up for so-so writing skills by being such a great plotter. lately, however, she has been disappointing me. she dwells so much on the details of every sex scene in her last few books that she is actually stalling in the story telling. they are degenerating into soft-core porn novels with no real plots--it's sad.

a stroke of midnight is one of her faerie books, continuing the story she (sort of) started in the last one, a caress of twilight, but in neither book is there ANY conclusion to anything at all. the end is just like the end to a chapter, with no loose ends tied up, no thing to think about till the next book comes out--no cliffhangers even. *sigh* this book ended just as it got going. overall a blah experience. she would have done better to have waited till the story was complete and then published one big fat book.

looking forward to better book experiences, i am planning to finish up jonathan strange and mr. norrell before we leave for the beach (in less than two weeks!), and i have my beach books all lined up:

• the time traveler's wife, by audrey niffenegger, about which i have heard great things
• assassination vacation, by sarah vowell, which looks FABULOUS (the dedication made me laugh), and was highly recommended by our friend, jason puryear
• the mermaid chair, by sue monk kidd, who wrote the secret life of bees, which i LOVED and highly recommend