Grand & Humble -- Brent Hartinger

I'm with Chrissy on this one.  Describing the book would detract from the reading experience, so I'll just say this:  Fans of his previous books, more The Last Chance Texaco than the other two, will definitely be very happy.  (I say that because I found Grand & Humble and Texaco much more dramatic than the Russel books -- those are more understated.)  Fans of Gail Giles' psychological thrillers, Nancy Werlin's thriller/mysteries and fans of Graham McNamee's Acceleration will also dig it. 

And.  This is Very Important.  I didn't guess what the twist was until a few pages before it was revealed, which I think is very impressive.  (Usually I'm right on top of these things.  For real.  I'm so smart that I knew what the twist in The Usual Suspects was going to be about fifteen minutes into the movie.  Don't even get me going about The Sixth Sense.  That one I figured out before I even SAW the movie.  Sheesh.  We're talking, like, super-genius smart.)

Now.  Don't read the comments unless you've already read it, because I suspect that there will soon be spoilers.

Comments

[Leila]

Dude. This one is going to be so much fun to re-read.

[Chrissy]

Yeah, I'm going to have to re-read it now. I admit, movies/books usually totally bamboozle me. I guess I just really enjoy the ride, so I'm always really annoyed when I figure something out before it's revealed. But there was nothing in this book to even make me suspect. I just kept waiting for the big bad to happen, and then I was totally thrown in a different direction. It was cool misdirection. Even more so than the Giles books, but those have a creep factor that makes you suspicious when reading.

Gah, we have to get together. GAH it's almost March! Chris Crutcher in Maine! Are we descending on you? I have no idea who 'we' is.

[Leila]

Yeah, I was being a dork about being a super-genius, but I do really seem to have some sort of weird intuition when it comes to plot twists. It's annoying.

Ooooh, I hope so! In terms of a place to stay, we'd have to figure something out since our apartment is the size of your old kitchen, but it would be so rad if 'we all' could go see Chris Crutcher together.

I'm going to be in Boston in late March for the PLA conference, so there could be hangout time, then, too.