Review of The King David Syndrome
Posted: 29 Apr 2023, 19:56
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The King David Syndrome" by Ormine Thompson.]
The King David Syndrome is a crime thriller novel by Ormine Thompson. The author is described as a political poet and satirist. His work also ranges to other genres outside of crime thriller. This one follows a billionaire who is caught in a love triangle. People around him are getting killed. It is moving, and it is filled with action. But it was also betrayed by many elements that made it dull, slow, and quite frankly forgettable.
The book opens with JW with his father having an intimate time together. That’s when his father gives him strange advice about marriage and cheating. JW is not sure how to react to this because he has always viewed his father as an honourable, honest man. But he loves him, so he takes his advice. His father, on the other side, has something he is keeping from his family. He has learnt that he is dying. He chooses to face death head on instead of waiting for it to take him lying down.
And it happens, JW’s father dies, and he’s left with his huge inheritance. JW has been trained for this, so he takes it with strides. On the other part, there is someone murdering people left and right, and these murders seem to be getting close to JW. Illisya is a woman who hangs out with shady people. They are sometimes flashy and expensive, and she loves that. She also seems to be involved somehow in the murders that are happening.
Councell and Blundell are two law enforcers who are trying to unravel these killings. They are baffled by how efficient the killer is, so they put on extra work in their detection, and they strike gold. Who is behind these murders? Is JW innocent? Who is Illisya? Is she the reason why all of this is happening? Can Councell and Blundell close in on a killer before more people die?
I did not enjoy reading this book. The premise drew me in, but I am afraid once I got to dive into it, there was nothing substantial about it. The biggest let-down of the book was the characterisation. The author did not take the time to introduce and develop the characters. Instead, they all came out fully flashed, almost at once, adding nothing worthwhile to the plot. The characters’ background stories tried to standout, but I am afraid they fell short because how they were given, it was repetitive and monotonous. The presentation was also to blame for this because sometimes I got lost, trying to figure out how I got to the past when I was reading the present. This happened more often between Illisya and Kali.
The writing was good. It was clean in the sense that there were no unnecessary adjectives trying to flood the reader with descriptions. This enabled the narration and dialogue to balance. The narration, through its descriptions, made the pictures to be crystal clear in my mind, moving the story forward with ease. The dialogue gave the characters authenticity because their speech and thoughts were reflected through it. That’s where all the good things I liked about this book end.
I disliked the pace. It was unsteadily fast. It contributed to what I have said about characterisation. Had it been slow in the beginning, it would have allowed space for the characters to be developed and grow. This also contributed greatly to the unconvincing conclusion the book had. It was all so sudden that I couldn’t believe it myself. I kept reading the words ‘the end’ over and over again, trying to come to terms that, indeed, the book was over. And how it ended, I am not sure if there would be a sequel. It raised more questions than answers.
I came across a couple of errors; some were typographical, while others were punctuation. This ruined my experience because I had to reread sentences a couple of times to make sense of them before I could attempt to move forward. This slowed me down and took away the quality otherwise the book would have possessed. The length of the book was just under two hundred pages, so with my speed, I should have finished it sooner.
Taking into great consideration all I have said in the above paragraphs, I have no choice but to give this book a rating of two out of five stars. It could have been lower if it wasn’t because of the superb writing. There was a strong language. It was far in between, so it didn’t come out all at once. I am not recommending it to anyone because I did not enjoy it.
******
The King David Syndrome
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The King David Syndrome is a crime thriller novel by Ormine Thompson. The author is described as a political poet and satirist. His work also ranges to other genres outside of crime thriller. This one follows a billionaire who is caught in a love triangle. People around him are getting killed. It is moving, and it is filled with action. But it was also betrayed by many elements that made it dull, slow, and quite frankly forgettable.
The book opens with JW with his father having an intimate time together. That’s when his father gives him strange advice about marriage and cheating. JW is not sure how to react to this because he has always viewed his father as an honourable, honest man. But he loves him, so he takes his advice. His father, on the other side, has something he is keeping from his family. He has learnt that he is dying. He chooses to face death head on instead of waiting for it to take him lying down.
And it happens, JW’s father dies, and he’s left with his huge inheritance. JW has been trained for this, so he takes it with strides. On the other part, there is someone murdering people left and right, and these murders seem to be getting close to JW. Illisya is a woman who hangs out with shady people. They are sometimes flashy and expensive, and she loves that. She also seems to be involved somehow in the murders that are happening.
Councell and Blundell are two law enforcers who are trying to unravel these killings. They are baffled by how efficient the killer is, so they put on extra work in their detection, and they strike gold. Who is behind these murders? Is JW innocent? Who is Illisya? Is she the reason why all of this is happening? Can Councell and Blundell close in on a killer before more people die?
I did not enjoy reading this book. The premise drew me in, but I am afraid once I got to dive into it, there was nothing substantial about it. The biggest let-down of the book was the characterisation. The author did not take the time to introduce and develop the characters. Instead, they all came out fully flashed, almost at once, adding nothing worthwhile to the plot. The characters’ background stories tried to standout, but I am afraid they fell short because how they were given, it was repetitive and monotonous. The presentation was also to blame for this because sometimes I got lost, trying to figure out how I got to the past when I was reading the present. This happened more often between Illisya and Kali.
The writing was good. It was clean in the sense that there were no unnecessary adjectives trying to flood the reader with descriptions. This enabled the narration and dialogue to balance. The narration, through its descriptions, made the pictures to be crystal clear in my mind, moving the story forward with ease. The dialogue gave the characters authenticity because their speech and thoughts were reflected through it. That’s where all the good things I liked about this book end.
I disliked the pace. It was unsteadily fast. It contributed to what I have said about characterisation. Had it been slow in the beginning, it would have allowed space for the characters to be developed and grow. This also contributed greatly to the unconvincing conclusion the book had. It was all so sudden that I couldn’t believe it myself. I kept reading the words ‘the end’ over and over again, trying to come to terms that, indeed, the book was over. And how it ended, I am not sure if there would be a sequel. It raised more questions than answers.
I came across a couple of errors; some were typographical, while others were punctuation. This ruined my experience because I had to reread sentences a couple of times to make sense of them before I could attempt to move forward. This slowed me down and took away the quality otherwise the book would have possessed. The length of the book was just under two hundred pages, so with my speed, I should have finished it sooner.
Taking into great consideration all I have said in the above paragraphs, I have no choice but to give this book a rating of two out of five stars. It could have been lower if it wasn’t because of the superb writing. There was a strong language. It was far in between, so it didn’t come out all at once. I am not recommending it to anyone because I did not enjoy it.
******
The King David Syndrome
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon