A review by romonko
The Echo Man by Sam Holland

dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

I thought I knew what to expect with this book after I read some of the reviews, but, believe me, they did not prepare me for this bloodbath of a book.  After I had read about 1/4 of it, I would have put it away, but it was given to me, so I felt compelled to finish.  At that point I would have probably given it 3 stars because it had captured my interest, and I hadn't yet read the 100's of pages of blood, gore and depravity.  As I continued the star rating kept going down and when I finally finished it, it was actually barely 1/2 star, but since there is no way to enter that rating,, I left it at one.  For those of you who like your thrillers graphic and full of blood and killing, this is the book for you.  To me it felt like the author threw everything but the kitchen sink into this mess.  I really don't know if he missed any possible depravities, but to me it felt like he didn't.  After reading the afterward, I realize that this is a first novel for Mr. Holland, and he followed the advice of his publisher to not stop at anything.  The book is about 450 pages long, and with all the repetitiveness, and with the cliffhanger of the ending, I think it could have ended at 150 pages.  I think I should have stopped at that point anyway.
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