RARA-AVIS: Slide

From: DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net
Date: 25 Oct 2007


I recently read Slide by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr. It picked up several months after their previous collaboration, Bust, ended. I enjoyed the book, but it really brought to mind the difference between a standalone and a series entry. When I read Bust, I had absolutely no idea which character/s, if any, would survive. In fact, I was completely wrong in my assumptions of who would, which was a very good thing, making for a real surprise ending. There's little of that kind of surprise in the second book, as two from the first book become series characters. That lends them a certain expectation of invulnerability. I didn't rule out harm coming to them, but figured the odds were against it. Also, the two characters start off with an ocean between them, but there's an expectation that they will meet again. The jacket copy even plays with this expectation.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book. But it was a different sort of experience. It's hard for a series book to have the same
"anything can happen" feel as a standalone. I'm not saying it can't be done (as another recent Hard Case Crime book, won't spoil by naming, proved), it's just not the usual nature of a sequel.

Mark



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