The Rule of Four--done

I finished off my 4th book so far this year, The Rule of Four. It is an alright read, kind of entertaining but also some issues that kind of have to be overlooked to enjoy. I thought the premise of the book was good, a Renaissance book that no one really understands with bonus points in that it is an actual book & mystery as well. I also was able to easily keep at with reading wise, because there was plenty of action/stuff going on throughout.

Unfortunately, there are several things about the book that just make it a good read and not really anything that will or should become lasting. The main characters are all college students, but I don't think they have a real class load, because all of their time is being spent on researching on character's final thesis. The whole timeline of this book is squeezed into just a few days with some flashbacks included. I just don't see where there are enough hours in these days to accomplish what the characters were doing. I never really made a connection with the characters as well and maybe because they were college students that was the reason. They just seemed a little to easily defined, but the book tried to make them more complicated at times and I just couldn't buy it. Also I was not a big fan of the ending.

This is a book that I think could have easily have doubled in size and been more satisfying. It seemed like it just pushed the action at points in order to just get through with it, rather than taking the time to develop some of the characters and plots a little more. Of course, I am just a reader and not a writer so I really have no idea what it takes to make a book either. Not sure I would recommend it to anyone, at least anymore than I do like a Grisham book. Good read with some action and interesting stuff, but make sure any expectations you have are tempered.

Kind of interesting side note. Our youngest, Angie, had her 3rd eye surgery yesterday for her lazy eye. I was able to put more than a few hours into The Rule of Four with waiting this out. The interesting part was after the surgery was finished her doctor came by to give us an update and noticed The Rule of Four and had read it also. He was more disappointed in it, he said the Dan Brown books are much better than it. I haven't read any Dan Brown yet, so that is probably why I am still calling this a good read, I don't think my expectations were the same as Angie's doctor on this. By the way, everything seems fine with Angie. It will be a few months though before we know if this surgery corrected her problem or not.