Official Review: "The Bar Code" by Donna Wood

[Nikolas Farmakis]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of ""The Bar Code"" by Donna Wood.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Bar Code by Donna Wood is a fictional story about a Vietnam veteran who is struggling financially ten years after he returned from the Vietnam war. The writer explores various themes through the text, like family, drugs, crime, poverty, and romance. Overall, the style in the text is informal, casual, and very direct.

The writer introduces Dale, the main character, by writing that he lives with his parents and his young daughter. His daughter, Starlight, was born while he was in Vietnam. Her mother abandoned her, so Dale's parents took care of her. Dale is trying to make ends meet by doing various jobs when he meets Miles, a former soldier from his unit. The author also introduces an FBI agent named Loretta, who is working on a narcotics case along with some of her fellow agents. Next, Miles calls Dale to stay at his house in San Francisco for a weekend, where he offers him a job at the shipping inventory part of his business. However, Dale does not know that Miles is deep into the drug-selling business, nor does he know that Miles is using him to further his drug sales.

There were many positive attributes in this novel. For one, the writer gracefully moved from chapter to chapter, giving the reader a spherical image of the events occurring in the story. Furthermore, I appreciated the realism of the text, as the author created a real-life scenario that can occur. In particular, the writer expertly included many mature themes in the novel, such as romance, crime, war, and poverty. What I liked most in this story was that it included excitement, suspense, and many emotions, thereby making this book an awesome crime thriller.

What I disliked most in this book was that it contained some grammatical and typographical errors, which are significant for a small book like this.

This novel is best suited for mature adult readers who enjoy crime thrillers. Young readers should avoid reading this story because it has some profane words, while it also contains some violence. Readers of all religions, including atheists, can enjoy this novel.

In conclusion, I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. The errors in the text were the reason I deducted a star from the book. Other than this, the novel was exciting, realistic, and expertly structured, so a lower rating would have been unjustifiable.

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"The Bar Code"
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