Afterburn (Paperback)

I didn't appreciate the author's determination to punish, re-punish, and then re-re-punish Charlie...for what? Vietnam? Yes, I wonder too what vets think of it.

Then of course, Charlie had to be punished (no...TORTURED) some more for his first-time stray into adultery at age 58, and for wanting another child, and for making the $8 million by the death of a Chinese superbillionaire. UNFORGIVABLE. Charlie was apparently a worse person, in the author's judgement, than Tony Verducci who skipped out of the story at the end untouched by any of it - he even got his money back. And of course, no one actually RESPONSIBLE for Vietnam was highlighted and punished. God is often cruel, it seems to us, so when you play God by writing a novel, you outta be nicer than God, not meaner, you silly (expletive deleted).

God at least has a Plan, and strange cases of fairness and retribution in the right corners crop up all the time in real life, courtesy of FATE. Colin Harrison had no plan after all, except to create in order to pointlessly destroy. BUMMER is too good a word for the ending, so is SUCKS; yet it doesn't rate more careful words than those.

Some brilliant reviews here, a handful of incredibly stupid ones by readers who don't know fantastic characterization when it oozes off the pages, but most of you are on the mark far as this reader is concerned. I'll strictly avoid this author hereafter and forevermore. Got to read something better SOON to clear my head of this fine literary atrocity.

As for Mr. Colin Harrison...he'll read our reviews (these writers do read our comments, avidly!) and persuade himself to be proud that he wrenched from us such reactions, even if the reactions are terribly negative. And he'll be kidding himself.

For the record, I am female. For the record, I liked Rick almost as much as Charlie, and hated Christina.

The author goes through great lengths to set up these characters and their lives (hundreds of pages of overly descriptive prose about asian finance, artifical ensemination and retirement homes), and all for absolutely no reason. Almost none of it had any bearing what-so-ever on the story or ultimately on the fate of the characters. ....