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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