The Front

A quick read -- closer to novella-length than a novel.

The book was written in a style I find irking -- a series of short sentences, and not always complete ones at that.

He's ordering an iced coffee at Starbucks when he feels somebody behind him. Glances around. Cal Tradd.

Much of the dialogue was in the same choppy style. I know of few people who talk that way ordinarily, so it was odd to find almost all the characters speaking like that.

My favorite passage involved a corpulent elderly woman who was offered a ride on the back of a motorcycle by Win, a handsome younger man.

Win puts on his helmet, says, "You want to hop on the back and I'll give you a ride?"

She guffaws. "Don't make me wet my pants! My Lord in heaven. A whale like me on a itty-bitty jet ski."

"Come on." He pats the back of the seat. "Hop on. I'll take you to your car."

Her face goes slack. Then something soft and sad in her eyes, because he means it.

I love that last sentence.

It's a quick beach read, easy enough to keep turning the pages, and is over before you know it. But if you're looking to have your socks knocked off, look elsewhere.