mark monday's Reviews > The Next

it's funny to consider the different things we can and cannot tolerate as a reader. take this book for example. the premise: a 10-year-old boy begins displaying the mannerisms of his dead uncle, starts romancing his widowed and delusional aunt, and soon enough, inexplicably ages into an adult (at least physically)... that's super creepy! but I can definitely tolerate "super creepy". the writing: Bob Randall had some success back in the day with his thriller The Fan, but I wonder how, since the characterization here is a glib joke, the internal monologues of the two sisters (in alternating chapters) sound exactly the same except one curses more, and the lack of writing chops overall is... well let's be generous and say that the surprising amateurishness made me smile. I can definitely tolerate "so bad it's good". but the straw that broke this reader's back: the offhand cruelty of the characters towards the black housekeeper who raised the sisters and, much worse (because I can deal with racist characters), the feeling that Randall wrote this laughable Mammy caricature without a second thought about how completely awful he was being. it's embarrassing when an author shows ignorance like that. I just couldn't tolerate it, so I gave up. good riddance, ya dumbass book!