Review by rachelinds -- The Date Farm by Jack Winnick
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rachelinds
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- Latest Review: The Date Farm by Jack Winnick
Review by rachelinds -- The Date Farm by Jack Winnick
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Date Farm" by Jack Winnick.]
The Date Farm by Jack Winnick tries very hard to tell the tale of the next Jack Ryan or James Bond. Unfortunately, it will not make it, at least not in its current form. If a book is generally well-edited and formatted, I will give it two stars, even if the plot and characters are bad. My reasoning behind this standard is that someone out there might enjoy the story, even if I don't. This book, however, cannot be spared that grace. So, while writing a book is an impressive task and should be noted, I give this one only 1 out of 4 stars.
This story follows married secret agents Uri and Lara. Uri is an Israeli Massad agent, and Lara is a former American agent, but she now works more for Massad. This is the fourth book in a series. The description says it can be read as a standalone, but I would not recommend that. Though, if you’ve read the other books, the exposition would seem repetitive. There is a third option though: read another book. Uri and Lara have worked all over America and the Middle East to take down terrorist cells, so when there is an attack on a Beverly Hills mall by a group of Middle Eastern men, they are immediately called in to work the case, even as more attacks occur across the country.
First, let’s look at the objectively wrong things with this book. Nothing is spelled wrong as far as I know, but the punctuation was all over the place. Gratuitous quotation marks and italics were the most common offenders. Also, continuity is not necessary in a book, right? In the Beverly Hills attack, the number of victims changed every time it was mentioned. And not by small, forgivable margins either. Sometimes, hundreds of people died instantly. Others, only forty total. At one point, people were being taken to a hospital and on the verge of death. About ten pages later, the hospitalized cases weren’t that serious. While these details are not salient to the plot, the inconsistencies were constant, confusing, and distracting. And that’s not to mention the long and confusing sentences that needed to be read multiple times to be understood.
I will admit that this is more of a subjective complaint, but it needs to be said. This book perpetuates false stereotypes. It would have you believe that after a terrorist organization pulls off an attack on American soil, the entire Middle East celebrates. Apparently, every Arab is anti-American and wants to kill everyone in the Western world. I don’t think it needs to be said, but just in case, I’ll say it anyway: this is not true. At all. The book even contradicts itself! Many of the hackers the attackers used were educated at American universities. This just ignores the fact that the radicalized people who perform these attacks are in the far minority, and that most people in that area of the world just want a place in which they can live in peace.
I very rarely give books one star, but I can’t find anything redeemable about this book to give it any more than that. I would recommend this book to… the author, because he needs to do some revision. If the grammar and continuity were fixed, I would give it two stars. Fix the racism, and I could do an overall positive review.
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The Date Farm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Date Farm by Jack Winnick tries very hard to tell the tale of the next Jack Ryan or James Bond. Unfortunately, it will not make it, at least not in its current form. If a book is generally well-edited and formatted, I will give it two stars, even if the plot and characters are bad. My reasoning behind this standard is that someone out there might enjoy the story, even if I don't. This book, however, cannot be spared that grace. So, while writing a book is an impressive task and should be noted, I give this one only 1 out of 4 stars.
This story follows married secret agents Uri and Lara. Uri is an Israeli Massad agent, and Lara is a former American agent, but she now works more for Massad. This is the fourth book in a series. The description says it can be read as a standalone, but I would not recommend that. Though, if you’ve read the other books, the exposition would seem repetitive. There is a third option though: read another book. Uri and Lara have worked all over America and the Middle East to take down terrorist cells, so when there is an attack on a Beverly Hills mall by a group of Middle Eastern men, they are immediately called in to work the case, even as more attacks occur across the country.
First, let’s look at the objectively wrong things with this book. Nothing is spelled wrong as far as I know, but the punctuation was all over the place. Gratuitous quotation marks and italics were the most common offenders. Also, continuity is not necessary in a book, right? In the Beverly Hills attack, the number of victims changed every time it was mentioned. And not by small, forgivable margins either. Sometimes, hundreds of people died instantly. Others, only forty total. At one point, people were being taken to a hospital and on the verge of death. About ten pages later, the hospitalized cases weren’t that serious. While these details are not salient to the plot, the inconsistencies were constant, confusing, and distracting. And that’s not to mention the long and confusing sentences that needed to be read multiple times to be understood.
I will admit that this is more of a subjective complaint, but it needs to be said. This book perpetuates false stereotypes. It would have you believe that after a terrorist organization pulls off an attack on American soil, the entire Middle East celebrates. Apparently, every Arab is anti-American and wants to kill everyone in the Western world. I don’t think it needs to be said, but just in case, I’ll say it anyway: this is not true. At all. The book even contradicts itself! Many of the hackers the attackers used were educated at American universities. This just ignores the fact that the radicalized people who perform these attacks are in the far minority, and that most people in that area of the world just want a place in which they can live in peace.
I very rarely give books one star, but I can’t find anything redeemable about this book to give it any more than that. I would recommend this book to… the author, because he needs to do some revision. If the grammar and continuity were fixed, I would give it two stars. Fix the racism, and I could do an overall positive review.
******
The Date Farm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Date Farm by Jack Winnick
