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A review by trin
Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard
1.0
This is pacey, and that's the best thing I can say about it.
No one in this book behaves like a human being. Adam, the protagonist searching for his missing girlfriend, is astonishingly thickheaded one second, and jumps to just the right conclusion the next. (For example: he sees that his girlfriend's airplane boarding pass was for the middle seat, and goes: gasp! Then she must have been with someone, because who would pick a middle seat without a companion? Uh...sometimes you just get assigned it, and there's nothing you can do?) Then, the less said about the "Hollywood screenplay" plot the better -- every element of it is absolutely ludicrous (Adam just sold it but the revisions are due NOW and any payment at all is contingent upon the revisions but everyone in Cork knows he's a "famous screenwriter" now and is in awe (they're not just taking the piss -- he's invited to speak to a class) even though the film hasn't even come out? Huh?) and also it includes a mildly antisemitic asshole agent character. (His last name is Goldberg, in case you didn't get it.)
Finally, there's the implication that evil can be passed on to a child genetically or and...this isn't just stupid, it's full-on gross.
I just wanted to read a fun mystery on a boat, man.
No one in this book behaves like a human being. Adam, the protagonist searching for his missing girlfriend, is astonishingly thickheaded one second, and jumps to just the right conclusion the next. (For example: he sees that his girlfriend's airplane boarding pass was for the middle seat, and goes: gasp! Then she must have been with someone, because who would pick a middle seat without a companion? Uh...sometimes you just get assigned it, and there's nothing you can do?) Then, the less said about the "Hollywood screenplay" plot the better -- every element of it is absolutely ludicrous (Adam just sold it but the revisions are due NOW and any payment at all is contingent upon the revisions but everyone in Cork knows he's a "famous screenwriter" now and is in awe (they're not just taking the piss -- he's invited to speak to a class) even though the film hasn't even come out? Huh?) and also it includes a mildly antisemitic asshole agent character. (His last name is Goldberg, in case you didn't get it.)
Finally, there's the implication that evil can be passed on to a child genetically or
Spoiler
through the act of rapeI just wanted to read a fun mystery on a boat, man.