Prophecy, by Peter James

ISBN: 9781409181286
Amazon ID: B004BDOJKY

So many unpleasant and frankly unlikely things happen to people within the first 7 chapters (of 33) in this book, that it starts to feel more like a fantasy story than a thriller.

It's just not plausible that this many bad things happen to such a small group of people in such a small period of time.

It doesn't improve by chapter 11. Or chapter 12. Chapter 13 is just as bad. There's a respite in chapter 14 before we return to Bad Things happening to the same group again in chapter 15.

By chapter 28 it becomes clear that we're not dealing with people we can relate to, in situations we can relate to, dealing with circumstances we can relate to. The story has simply gone off the rails into absurdity, or at least unbelievability.

My advice is to stick to Peter's Roy Grace books if you want good stories about realistic people dealing with things which can be accepted as part of normal (although extreme, for most people) life.

This one just goes too far into ridiculous implausibility.

The central character also seems to have a bizarre inability to choose warm enough clothing for being outdoors in cold weather. She lives in London, and can't manage to wear something sensible for being outdoors in the evening, or remember that Yorkshire is going to be a bit chilly in comparison.

By the time I got to the start of chapter 31 I felt really pleased that I knew there are only 33 chapters in this book.

If you're not a full-on card-carrying poltergeist-believing demonic-possession supernaturalist, and you manage to get to the end of this book, you have my sympathies.

If you are, however, I suppose you might not be impressed with the Roy Grace books.

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