Book Review: Unthinkable by Brad Parks

I really liked the way this one started. I hadn’t read Brad Parks before, although head certainly heard of him. The premise and setup were intriguing and well-managed – unfortunately about 40% in it felt like it was floundering and I started to lose my feel for the characters and the story. I didn’t see how they could possibly drag 60 more percent of the book out based on what had happened so far. (Slowly and painfully, as it turned out…)

It started feeling like the author was deliberately dragging things out to make the story longer, and that just didn’t work with the concept or the pacing of the start of the book. I just couldn’t stay with it at that point, despite repeated attempts.

I don’t know why this one didn’t work for me – there wasn’t anything objectively that I could point to. Frankly, the concept was pretty out there from the beginning, and it didn’t bother me early on,so I don’t think it was the suspension of disbelief, since that was pretty much present from the beginning. I just lost interest, I guess that’s really the only thing I can say. I don’t know if it was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me or if Parks is just not an author that resonates for me. Other readers have had a much different experience, so definitely check it out for yourself and see where you fall on the spectrum.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.