I’ve been putting off reading Surveillance for at least a month, maybe two. The cover did not look appealing and I couldn’t remember why I had reserved it from the library or if one of us had just picked it up off of the shelf. I had better things to read. When I saw it was due back to the library this week and had already been renewed to the limit, I went ahead and picked it up. It was good, at first.
Actually, it was good through til the end. What the hell? I feel like I’m missing chapters or something. It ended like that? But, but, but. Huh? I don’t even get it now. I almost re-read the last chapter thinking I missed something by trying to rush through it this morning so we could hit the library early. But I didn’t. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have missed THAT much. It just ended badly. Very badly. Because of that – don’t read this book. Sheesh.
(Oh goodness, I should have read the Amazon reviews – they all were disappointed in the ending. What crap! The author should be shot!)
Technorati Tags: fiction, seattle, paranoia, surveillance, jonathonraban
Those of us who read this book are still talking about it, and we give it a thumbs up. Yes, the ending was a shock and open ended, and it seemed to come out of no where, but when you look back, it’s hinted at in the beginning.
I think the characters, and how they deal with what’s going on with fears of terrorism and big brother breathing down their necks is more the story than the ending. I felt like he captured the climate of dread and distrust that we seem to be heading into. And even though it’s not tied up in a neat knot, the book and characters still haunts me. And that makes it worth reading. IMHO. (And not all the amazon readers hated it).