Flipping the Series

I hate when I get a series out of order.

For those of you who haven't read Timothy Hallinan yet, get yourselves in gear and start with A Nail Through the Heart. I've mentioned (in passing) the intriguing setting, the amazing writing, the deep characterization and the page-turning plot. What's left?

One thing.

I read Nail on my Kindle. For those of you who have acquired e-books, you may have noticed the formatting can pull you out of the story and either cause you to emit a few choice words, or at the very least, cause you to squeeze your eyes closed, apply fingertips to forehead and rub. Hard.

Just so you know, I have enough wrinkles and strange skin. I don't need to be doing that rubbing thing very often.

In addition to the master of Timothy Hallinan, I am giving immense kudos to Harper-Collins e-books for taking the time and trouble to format in a manner that never—not once—detracted my attention from the story. Except for the couple of times when I noticed how wonderful the reading experience was thanks to their efforts. They are to be congratulated for a job well-done. If only . . .

But now to that 'in order' thing. I was sitting out on my main deck, a glass of a wonderful red wine blend ready to enjoy, when events caused me to understand that what I thought was the second in the series is actually the third. And I've already ordered the hard-cover edition of the second (that I thought was the third) and it's making its long, non-Kindle, journey to me now.

Dang.



CR: Who knows. But I will have to find something.

It's all better with friends.

The Thing About Continued Characters . . .

See the wolf? Know who the wolf is? Know why the wolf is there? Did he dress himself or did he have help? Do we even care about the wolf? Or that sheep that seems to be leading the pack? Flock? Herd? Whatever?

I'm reading my first book in what is not a series, but also is not a stand-alone. It's a book (as far as I can tell) that is simply another story featuring a specific character. You know what I'm talking about . . . "A Miss Marple Mystery" kind of thing.

The problem is I didn't start with the first book for this character and this story doesn't give me much in the way of character identification. I'm about half-way through and I'm still not sure I care about the female protagonist, even though I know I should.

The danger of writing a continued character is that I would have to risk a new reader feeling a little blasé about the story, or boring faithful readers who've been with me from the beginning. I'm not sure how you find that kind of balance.

As a reader, I want to know about that danged wolf. He looks like the bad guy, but maybe it's the Evil Sheep who are trying to get even with everyone who ever enjoyed a lamb chop. That guy leading the sheep might be the ringleader I need to be looking out for.

Or it could be that someone with two legs has been poisoning the sheep and they've recruited the wolf for a little muscle.

But too much information (backstory) stops the real story and everyone who knows everything about the wolf from the last book gets frustrated.

See what I mean?

John Sandford does it very well. His Prey series is excellent and you can pick up any book any time and be there. Maybe I need to dissect one of his novels a bit and see if I can find the solution.



Still reading Dead Famous and although it's a well-written story, I'm struggling a bit with Mallory.

It's all better with friends.