Review by kjperkins -- The Shepherd's Calculus:
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kjperkins
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- Latest Review: The Shepherd's Calculus: by C.S. Farrelly
Review by kjperkins -- The Shepherd's Calculus:
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Shepherd's Calculus:" by C.S. Farrelly.]
I had the privilege to read and review, The Shepherd’s Calculus by C.S. Farrelly. This is an incredibly written political thriller that shows an extremely realistic situation where politicians and church leaders join together for policies that are quid pro quo for election votes and taxation policy. Interweaving storylines from a writer, campaign worker, a priest, and a politician reveals secret deals and scandalous cover-ups that will shake your faith and trust in your church and government. Farrelly shows the readers how these kinds of backdoor deals could be happening in their communities without their knowledge.
I immediately realized that this book was extremely well written from the very first page. She put feelings and observations into words that most writers could not. It is clear from the beginning the amount of talent and potential Farrelly has as a writer. While the writing was incredible, the plot and different storylines were confusingly intertwined, bouncing between past and present, dense with content and heavy in subject-specific vocabulary that is hard to follow for anyone that is not familiar with that topic. I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
What I really enjoyed about this book was how it started off strong with Peter, a writer that was involved in a terrible attack desensitizes himself as he returns home and learns his mentor and teacher passed away. Through learning more about his departed friend, he discovers a coverup that involves a local politician and a well-known religious figure that will rock the country to its core. This entire idea grabbed my attention and throughout the story, there were definitely points of action but this would hardly be considered a thriller. I can appreciate how strong the writing is – but the story itself was not as interesting and nowhere as “thrilling” as I was anticipating it to be.
After the beginning action, the story swerves to a political campaign and as the plot progresses, it’s hard to see how everything relates and I felt I had to scrutinize and read each page extremely close because of how compact the information was. The action at the beginning immediately grabbed my attention and throughout the book it was lost through technical jargon and seemingly useless subplots. The climax was crunched into a tiny chapter while the first half of the story dragged on about tax code, church litigation and other seemingly minor details that seemed to carry on too long. With a little bit of trimming in the subplots and focusing on the action as opposed to minor details, this could be an incredible thriller.
I can see how this book got incredible reviews – if you’re a reader that likes things thoroughly explained and full histories on the characters – this is a great book for you. Or if you’re like me and when you are expecting a thriller, this book will leave you wanting more. The multiple plot lines and the confusing shifting timelines of flashbacks make for a tough and long read – even when it’s only 200 pages. The writing alone led me to rate it 2 stars as well as the ideas behind this book, I was craving more thrilling action, a clearer plotline, and more focus. Overall the editing was good – a few minor typos and some of the wordiness made it confusing and can be cleaned up. This writer is extremely talented – I am in awe that this is her first book – and with all the incredible characters, subplots and ideas, she can easily make this story into a series. She would be expanding all the ideas she had in one book, adding more action and that could lead to an incredible series. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book and I am looking forward to more books from this incredible author!
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The Shepherd's Calculus:
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I had the privilege to read and review, The Shepherd’s Calculus by C.S. Farrelly. This is an incredibly written political thriller that shows an extremely realistic situation where politicians and church leaders join together for policies that are quid pro quo for election votes and taxation policy. Interweaving storylines from a writer, campaign worker, a priest, and a politician reveals secret deals and scandalous cover-ups that will shake your faith and trust in your church and government. Farrelly shows the readers how these kinds of backdoor deals could be happening in their communities without their knowledge.
I immediately realized that this book was extremely well written from the very first page. She put feelings and observations into words that most writers could not. It is clear from the beginning the amount of talent and potential Farrelly has as a writer. While the writing was incredible, the plot and different storylines were confusingly intertwined, bouncing between past and present, dense with content and heavy in subject-specific vocabulary that is hard to follow for anyone that is not familiar with that topic. I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
What I really enjoyed about this book was how it started off strong with Peter, a writer that was involved in a terrible attack desensitizes himself as he returns home and learns his mentor and teacher passed away. Through learning more about his departed friend, he discovers a coverup that involves a local politician and a well-known religious figure that will rock the country to its core. This entire idea grabbed my attention and throughout the story, there were definitely points of action but this would hardly be considered a thriller. I can appreciate how strong the writing is – but the story itself was not as interesting and nowhere as “thrilling” as I was anticipating it to be.
After the beginning action, the story swerves to a political campaign and as the plot progresses, it’s hard to see how everything relates and I felt I had to scrutinize and read each page extremely close because of how compact the information was. The action at the beginning immediately grabbed my attention and throughout the book it was lost through technical jargon and seemingly useless subplots. The climax was crunched into a tiny chapter while the first half of the story dragged on about tax code, church litigation and other seemingly minor details that seemed to carry on too long. With a little bit of trimming in the subplots and focusing on the action as opposed to minor details, this could be an incredible thriller.
I can see how this book got incredible reviews – if you’re a reader that likes things thoroughly explained and full histories on the characters – this is a great book for you. Or if you’re like me and when you are expecting a thriller, this book will leave you wanting more. The multiple plot lines and the confusing shifting timelines of flashbacks make for a tough and long read – even when it’s only 200 pages. The writing alone led me to rate it 2 stars as well as the ideas behind this book, I was craving more thrilling action, a clearer plotline, and more focus. Overall the editing was good – a few minor typos and some of the wordiness made it confusing and can be cleaned up. This writer is extremely talented – I am in awe that this is her first book – and with all the incredible characters, subplots and ideas, she can easily make this story into a series. She would be expanding all the ideas she had in one book, adding more action and that could lead to an incredible series. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book and I am looking forward to more books from this incredible author!
******
The Shepherd's Calculus:
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Shepherd's Calculus: by C.S. Farrelly
