book review

finished local news. it was okay-good, but felt somewhat incomplete. oddly, it was the second missing child book i'd read this year, the first being the last child. definitely the first one i read was the better. this one... it was stronger at the beginning, with the characters being more clearly drawn and the plot better defined. later it drifted, which may have been designed as a reflection of the main character's drifting life-focus, but it was made the story less compelling than it could have been. there was unfulfilled potential for compellingness. it would have worked better had more parts been clear than unclear - the plot, the characters, the inner-life narration, something. if one part is out of focus, then it is brought into relief by the focused parts. if all parts are out of focus, it's just a messymess. overall, it was okay but not great.