Official Review: Praying For The Surgeon
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Stari
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Official Review: Praying For The Surgeon
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Praying For The Surgeon" by Frank D. Lawrence.]
1 out of 4 stars
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I give this book 1 out of 4 stars.
"Praying for The Surgeon" by Frank D. Lawrence is a self-described 'biopunk noir novel.' It follows the adventures of P.I. Rhys Faulkner through a future post-war America where bio-engendering is being pushed to its absolute limits. This, along with the government's control over the country's three biggest corporations, leads to social unrest and a complete disregard for human life. Rhys, our protagonist, finds himself caught in a plot by the evil Turanid that will completely devastate the human race. Rhys, along with the help of a few people along the way, makes it his mission to take down Turanid and save all of humanity while escaping the higher forces trying to kill him.
There are many problems with this novel, the biggest one having to be the lack of editing. Reading this, you find yourself seemingly putting more work into the story than the author did. Each page contains dozens of spelling and grammatical errors, most of which could have been spotted in a simple read-through. It honestly seems more like a rough draft than a finished product. Tenses are constantly changing, sentence fragments pretend to be full thoughts, and apostrophes pop up of their own free will. Microsoft Word's editing software appears to have done most of the work here, which explains the misused words and sentence structure. Some parts of the book are simply gibberish. This book was not ready to be reviewed.
Another issue I have with the book is its awkward and juvenile writing style. Many sentences need to be restructured to help the story flow in a more natural pattern. Transitions could have been used in several sections to connect the author's thoughts. Contractions are desperately needed throughout the work to increase the authenticity of the character's conversations. Phrases such as "I do not get it" lower the quality of any writing. Better word choice is needed- the word 'thing' was used as a noun far to often. Misused words and punctuations are a regular problem. The main character needs further development. The author is constantly telling us who Rhys when he should be showing us.
Some sections were uncomfortable to read due to blatant sexism and use of phrases that are inconsiderate to several minorities. The female characters are weak, sexual objects. Every time the main character sees a woman he gets a 'boner', something that seems more like an undiagnosed medical condition than a character trait. Female characters are shown overreacting to everything that happens and prying too much into the protagonist's life. Rhys seems to get annoyed every time a female character asks him a question, reinforcing his view that women are better to look at than listen to. Female characters are seen as 'clever' if they pick up on the most obvious things, such as repeating something that was just mentioned. Rhys is constantly saying secondary female characters look like "sluts" or "whores." In addition, the writer uses some negative Latin American and Mexican stereotypes- and then mislabels them as Spanish. He even employs the use of the word "retarded." These type of representations have no place in the twenty-first century.
Overall "Praying for The Surgeon" is a rough draft or an outline passing as a finished novel. While I have in no way fully discussed the book's flaws- such as the strange encouragement of smoking as a habit- I can say the characters are weak with no development, the central ideas haven't been fully thought out, and the world it all takes place in is lacking foundation. It's hard to review this book at all in its current form. I suggest the author make some serious edits before releasing this book again.
******
Praying For The Surgeon
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1 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
I give this book 1 out of 4 stars.
"Praying for The Surgeon" by Frank D. Lawrence is a self-described 'biopunk noir novel.' It follows the adventures of P.I. Rhys Faulkner through a future post-war America where bio-engendering is being pushed to its absolute limits. This, along with the government's control over the country's three biggest corporations, leads to social unrest and a complete disregard for human life. Rhys, our protagonist, finds himself caught in a plot by the evil Turanid that will completely devastate the human race. Rhys, along with the help of a few people along the way, makes it his mission to take down Turanid and save all of humanity while escaping the higher forces trying to kill him.
There are many problems with this novel, the biggest one having to be the lack of editing. Reading this, you find yourself seemingly putting more work into the story than the author did. Each page contains dozens of spelling and grammatical errors, most of which could have been spotted in a simple read-through. It honestly seems more like a rough draft than a finished product. Tenses are constantly changing, sentence fragments pretend to be full thoughts, and apostrophes pop up of their own free will. Microsoft Word's editing software appears to have done most of the work here, which explains the misused words and sentence structure. Some parts of the book are simply gibberish. This book was not ready to be reviewed.
Another issue I have with the book is its awkward and juvenile writing style. Many sentences need to be restructured to help the story flow in a more natural pattern. Transitions could have been used in several sections to connect the author's thoughts. Contractions are desperately needed throughout the work to increase the authenticity of the character's conversations. Phrases such as "I do not get it" lower the quality of any writing. Better word choice is needed- the word 'thing' was used as a noun far to often. Misused words and punctuations are a regular problem. The main character needs further development. The author is constantly telling us who Rhys when he should be showing us.
Some sections were uncomfortable to read due to blatant sexism and use of phrases that are inconsiderate to several minorities. The female characters are weak, sexual objects. Every time the main character sees a woman he gets a 'boner', something that seems more like an undiagnosed medical condition than a character trait. Female characters are shown overreacting to everything that happens and prying too much into the protagonist's life. Rhys seems to get annoyed every time a female character asks him a question, reinforcing his view that women are better to look at than listen to. Female characters are seen as 'clever' if they pick up on the most obvious things, such as repeating something that was just mentioned. Rhys is constantly saying secondary female characters look like "sluts" or "whores." In addition, the writer uses some negative Latin American and Mexican stereotypes- and then mislabels them as Spanish. He even employs the use of the word "retarded." These type of representations have no place in the twenty-first century.
Overall "Praying for The Surgeon" is a rough draft or an outline passing as a finished novel. While I have in no way fully discussed the book's flaws- such as the strange encouragement of smoking as a habit- I can say the characters are weak with no development, the central ideas haven't been fully thought out, and the world it all takes place in is lacking foundation. It's hard to review this book at all in its current form. I suggest the author make some serious edits before releasing this book again.
******
Praying For The Surgeon
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like aridawn's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "Second Chances" by Lincoln Cole
