Saturday, May 31, 2014

Exodus 2022



Exodus 2022
I received this book in a free giveaway with the understanding that a review would be appreciated.  
Exodus is a new novel by Kenneth G. Bennett (Kenny G. hehe.) It is a fictional, sci-fi, eco-thriller type of novel that is fast paced and easy to read.  I found it quite funny that it featured some whales since my last book, Big Miracle, also featured whales.  I don't think I could have found books so far apart on the spectrum if I had tried!  
While I enjoyed the book I found the characters to lack depth.  The good guys were very good, and the bad guys were very bad.  Every time there was a glimpse of a bit of depth to a character the plot would swerve away which I found disappointing.  The author also lacked variety in his descriptions of the characters.  The term twentysomething was horribly abused. One paragraph on pg 12 started "Joe Stanton was a tall, athletic, twenty-eight-year-old."  and the same paragraph ended with "More like a patient emerging from anesthesia than a vital twentysomething."   
Now my husband would probably say that I am over reacting to this next point, but he's not the one writing this review so I am adding this in.  Ella, the main female character, was repeatedly reduced to being a pretty face.  Characters constantly thought of her as beautiful and nothing else, or beautiful first followed by other desciptions.  Most insultingly, in one of her most dramatic scenes she thinks to herself that a gunman might think to himself while pointing a gun at her, "Oh you're beautiful, so you don't have to die."  Women are more than pretty faces!  I know that it can be difficult for a male author to write female characters, and vice versa, but in this case a little bit more effort needed to be made.
As far as quality is concerned in general the proofreaders did well.  There are two sentences that break into new paragraphs, one on pg. 289 and another on pg. 314.  There is also a " at the end of a random sentence on pg. 188.
In the end I would probably not read this book again, although I would read a sequel.  I would also recommend this book to most of my friends for a fun read.  I am sure that this author will continue to have interesting selections in the future as well.

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