Review by Kaylee123 -- B-Side by Janis Jones
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Kaylee Elmer
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Review by Kaylee123 -- B-Side by Janis Jones
[Following is a volunteer review of "B-Side" by Janis Jones.]
2 out of 4 stars
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B-side, by Janis Jones, is a mystery novel centered around Detective Mara Bays. Mara is looking forward to spending a romantic evening with her girlfriend, Casey Terranova, but their plans are derailed when Casey is brutally attacked and left for dead in their home. Together with her partner, Derek Jenssen and other fellow officers, Mara is determined to hunt down Casey's attacker.
This book was very frustrating to read. It's supposed to be based on a screenplay, but it reads like it's just a screenplay still. It was full of sentence fragments that made me think of watching part of a movie. An example is, "a private home-care facility on a quiet street in Silver Lake." It seems like that would be what you would see at the beginning of a scene in a movie.
Also, the book had a lot of potential subplots that could have been really interesting. Mara and Derek had interesting cases they were working on that could have added so much more to the book. I would have liked to learn more about the past of the characters. Mara's family is briefly mentioned, and Mara and Derek dated, but we barely learn anything about these things. The whole plot seemed very underdeveloped.
I struggled to find anything I truly liked about the book. The one part I settled on was a character named Skeezy. Skeezy is a homeless man who lives on the beach near Mara and Casey. Casey has a soft spot in her heart for him, but Mara finds him annoying. Skeezy was refreshingly innocent amidst the horror in the book. However, I felt his storyline could have been expanded, too. He actually played an important role in finding Casey's attacker, but this is just touched upon.
I would rate B-side 2 out of 4 stars. I wouldn't give it a 1 because I did want to keep reading to find out who Casey's attacker was and the result was surprising. I can't give it a 3 though because of how the book reads like a screenplay. The sentence fragments were distracting, and the dialogue was confusing. I had to reread several parts, and it was still unclear who was talking sometimes.
This book is clearly meant for an adult audience. There is profanity and many instances of sexual content and other adult topics. The description of Casey's attack was also very graphic. But, people who like mysteries and can overlook the writing style might enjoy the book.
B-side was probably professionally edited because I didn't notice any grammar mistakes other than tons of sentence fragments. The book had a lot of potential to be amazing but based on the writing style and underdeveloped plot and characters, I didn't really enjoy it. However, there could be people out there who might enjoy reading it. I also think it would be a great movie!
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B-Side
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
2 out of 4 stars
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B-side, by Janis Jones, is a mystery novel centered around Detective Mara Bays. Mara is looking forward to spending a romantic evening with her girlfriend, Casey Terranova, but their plans are derailed when Casey is brutally attacked and left for dead in their home. Together with her partner, Derek Jenssen and other fellow officers, Mara is determined to hunt down Casey's attacker.
This book was very frustrating to read. It's supposed to be based on a screenplay, but it reads like it's just a screenplay still. It was full of sentence fragments that made me think of watching part of a movie. An example is, "a private home-care facility on a quiet street in Silver Lake." It seems like that would be what you would see at the beginning of a scene in a movie.
Also, the book had a lot of potential subplots that could have been really interesting. Mara and Derek had interesting cases they were working on that could have added so much more to the book. I would have liked to learn more about the past of the characters. Mara's family is briefly mentioned, and Mara and Derek dated, but we barely learn anything about these things. The whole plot seemed very underdeveloped.
I struggled to find anything I truly liked about the book. The one part I settled on was a character named Skeezy. Skeezy is a homeless man who lives on the beach near Mara and Casey. Casey has a soft spot in her heart for him, but Mara finds him annoying. Skeezy was refreshingly innocent amidst the horror in the book. However, I felt his storyline could have been expanded, too. He actually played an important role in finding Casey's attacker, but this is just touched upon.
I would rate B-side 2 out of 4 stars. I wouldn't give it a 1 because I did want to keep reading to find out who Casey's attacker was and the result was surprising. I can't give it a 3 though because of how the book reads like a screenplay. The sentence fragments were distracting, and the dialogue was confusing. I had to reread several parts, and it was still unclear who was talking sometimes.
This book is clearly meant for an adult audience. There is profanity and many instances of sexual content and other adult topics. The description of Casey's attack was also very graphic. But, people who like mysteries and can overlook the writing style might enjoy the book.
B-side was probably professionally edited because I didn't notice any grammar mistakes other than tons of sentence fragments. The book had a lot of potential to be amazing but based on the writing style and underdeveloped plot and characters, I didn't really enjoy it. However, there could be people out there who might enjoy reading it. I also think it would be a great movie!
******
B-Side
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Josh the Firetruck by Bob A Goldstein
