axleyjc reviewed Name of the Devil by Andrew Mayne
Review of 'Name of the Devil' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I didn't like the writing style. It was very abrupt transitioning from one scene to another. The reader was left to unpack the new scene and how it relates to what they just read.
I also found the action hard to follow - especially things like the fake explosion and setup of the pope and the aftermath. Still have no idea what happened there. Don't have a good mental model at all.
Spoiler alert: The ending is a perfect example of its problems.
At the end, there is this tension about Marta being holed-up in the embassy and you're wondering "how will they resolve this?" Then, there is a sudden break where the resolution is literally "phoned-in" by a character. A call comes into Jessica that just announces out of the blue "she's dead". WTF? Then goes on to explain some crazy situation occurred that I can't believe Jessica would …
I didn't like the writing style. It was very abrupt transitioning from one scene to another. The reader was left to unpack the new scene and how it relates to what they just read.
I also found the action hard to follow - especially things like the fake explosion and setup of the pope and the aftermath. Still have no idea what happened there. Don't have a good mental model at all.
Spoiler alert: The ending is a perfect example of its problems.
At the end, there is this tension about Marta being holed-up in the embassy and you're wondering "how will they resolve this?" Then, there is a sudden break where the resolution is literally "phoned-in" by a character. A call comes into Jessica that just announces out of the blue "she's dead". WTF? Then goes on to explain some crazy situation occurred that I can't believe Jessica would buy for a minute. The typical trope applies - they're not dead until you see their lifeless corpse! Was super unsatisfying way to end and seemed to come out of the blue. I think there were several situations like this throughout the book that were told after-the-fact to the reader rather than walking you through first-hand.