Nicholas McCane

I wanted so bad to like this book. I am a real life Black Detective who has spent the last 15 years assigned to the Crimes against Children's unit. I was immediately sold on this book when I found out that Alex Cross was also black. I'm thinking, finally I can read a book with a detective that looks like me. But no, it was immediately obvious that the writer was white. The story is supposed to have taken place in the 90s.

It was like the author kept trying to remind us that Cross is black. The dialogue between black people was horrible. At one point there was dialogue involving a young black teen. The author tried to use ebonics. It was so bad that I didn't even understand what she was saying and I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. At one point Cross referred to himself as the n-word (with the ER) to a black woman. We don't talk like that James Patterson. You could've at least used the a at the end.

Someone also called Cross's girlfriend/killer a n-word lover. It's the 90s James, not the 60s.

Then there was the cross burned in the yard by the KKK

Nothing much to say here. The name of the book is On Writing, a memoir of the craft. That’s exactly what it is. His life comprises about 40 percent of the book. Some people may find this interesting. Another 40 percent is him talking about the books he’s written and a few writing tips. The rest is him and his sons (Joe and Owen) at an event talking. If you're looking for just a memoir, this may not be for you. This book may also not be for you if you’re only looking for writing tips. Now, if you’re a diehard Stephen King fan who just loves to read anything he writes, then bingo, I got one for you!

I got two things out of this book.

Write for your “Ideal Person”.

If you want to be a writer. Read a lot and write a lot.

To prepare for reading James, I read both The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and now The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book was first published in 1884. The book follows Huck as he runs away from his abusive father. He travels with Jim (James) who is a runaway slave. They both encounter a series of incidents as they travel along the Mississippi River. This story is heavy on racism and slavery. They both wanted freedom, which looks completely different for the both of them.

I have avoided this book my entire life, and wouldn’t have read it if I hadn’t wanted to read James so badly. The constant use of the n-word was a bit much, though I expected it. Overall, the story was just okay. I couldn’t wait for it to end. Yes, it captured the time, and yes, it did what it was supposed to do. But it just felt like another American classic that catered to white children. Can’t wait to see what Percival Everett has added to this.

The Poppy War was my first fantasy book. Unfortunately it starts off extremely slow. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great as far as world and character building, but still really slow. The book lacked action. I waited and waited. Somewhere near the 200th page it picked up, but quickly slowed back down. I still enjoyed it but to be honest, it was kind of a let down. I buddy read it and my buddy DNF. Since I’m invested, I will be completing the series. Maybe the other two books are full of action. I’m giving it four stars for the world building, some of the fighting scenes, and the graphic depictions of what war looks like. Those parts were really satisfying 🤷🏾‍♂️

This is my book club’s second book. Our first book was the Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose. I had seen mixed reviews so I was kind of nervous that this book wouldn’t be as good as our first.

The Silent Patient started out extremely slow and boring. The first four chapters were blah, I found myself rereading paragraphs. But then the book picked up and got better and better. This ended up being a great read with a satisfying ending. I’m giving it four and a half stars!