Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge - Paul Hoppe's The Curse of Van Gogh

In The Curse of Van Gogh, Tyler Sears, an art thief who has been recently released from federal prison, is trying to turn his life around, when he is blackmailed into doing one more heist. This last job is grander than any of Sear's previous jobs and involves stealing several of the most valuable paintings from a tightly guarded exhibit in Washington D.C.. Sears has strong misgivings, but as a powerful mobster is threatening the lives of his family, he is compelled to follow through with the crime.

With author Paul Hoppe's snappy prose and compelling plot, the novel gets off to a strong start. I bought into the premise and I wanted to see how Sears was going to pull off the seemingly impossible heist. Hoppe has a nice way of doling out small bits of information to keep the reader wanting more.

Unfortunately, the story begins to fall apart mid-way through. Hoppe has plotted a lot of action, but I didn't feel like much of it was plausible. For example, Sears is on parole, but he seems to be able to easily travel throughout the United States without really worrying about his parole officer. He has an easy time obtaining a impressive arsenal of high tech weapons and gadgets. A lot happens in the story and some of it happens too easily.

The action is not balanced by character development. I require character development to enjoy a story. There is a good set up for emotion and drama, especially with Sears trying to protect a mentally unstable brother and flighty mother. This could have led to some really wonderful moments in the story, but they were never developed. Instead, Sears is given a fast-tracked romantic relationship which didn't fit with the story. I kept thinking that less would have been more with this story.

I didn't completely dislike Hoppe's debut novel, I was just left feeling like it was a draft, rather than a completed story. I was left wanting more, left seeing potential that wasn't developed. I thought that the reference to the title was interesting. I'm not sure if Hoppe made it up or if the "Van Gogh Curse" is a known thing, but I liked the extra drama that it brought to the heist and I found it to be entertaining.

The Curse of Van Gogh is in the same vein of a Dan Brown novel and would probably appeal to fans of action-thrillers.

Off Adventuring

Hello readers...thank you for continuing to support Always Packed for Adventure! I continue to be amazed at the outpouring of support and the connections that I have made from this blog. This is just a quick note to let everyone know that I will be traveling for the next four weeks and although I'm bringing my laptop, I will likely be too busy to do much blogging. The exception will be the Booksparks Summer Reading Challenge. I've committed and I'm determined to get those books reviewed.

We have a jam-packed vacation plan, which includes cute kids, two countries ( Sweden and England), a canal boat and lots of ice cream. I'm sure that we will get ourselves into a heap of trouble and I will have tons to write about upon our return.

One teaser...did you know that Sweden has a Pippi museum? Cool, right? I freaked out when I heard about it and it's on the top of our to-do list. I'm getting a picture with that crazy redhead and I'm going to try to steal her coins!

Cheers and Happy Trails!

PS-(directed at potential thieves) - Although we will be gone, our house is well protected by two attack cats, a horde of nosy neighbors and a woman from Texas!

Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge - Kris Radish's Gravel on the Side of the Road

I enjoy non-fiction personal short stories and after several weeks of reading Young Adult Fiction, I was excited to see something a little more my speed in the Book Sparks Summer Reading Challenge line-up.

I'd never heard of Kris Radish, but after reading her collection, Gravel on the Side of the Road, I'm left feeling impressed with the life that she has been leading. It seems like Radish has done it all. She has worked as a war journalist, she survived a harrowing plane crash landing and an equally harrowing white water rafting journey, she has reported from murder scenes...she has a wealth of experiences make her intriguing.

However, the best stories in this collection come from quieter moments, like when she writes about helping her daughter shop for a prom dress or helping her children cope with their father, her ex-husband, imminent death. It's in these moments, that Radish's experiences become more universal. I became less amazed at all that she has experienced, as I could begin to see her experiences in my own and in people that I know. This is the magic in Radish's writing.

An interesting aspect of this collection is something that Radish addresses in her forward, the quality of her writing. The collection is not arranged chronologically by event or order in which she wrote it and the writing spans her entire career. From a craft perspective, I found this very interesting, as it is easy to see the growth in Radish's writing, in particular, I can see her "writers voice" emerging. It makes for an occasionally uneven read and had I not read the forward, I probably wouldn't have been so forgiving with this review. Some of the stories have a style that's fussy and overdone, which I felt must have been earlier pieces. The strongest pieces are the ones where Radish has a direct tone and cuts to the core of the story. When she was direct with her writing, she was often her most venerable, not hiding behind the flowery prose. I really connected with these stories.

This is a strong collection from an apt writer. Radish's stories are engaging and run the gamut of emotions. I felt exhausted just reading about all that she has accomplished in her life and if anything, I was left feeling motivated to raise the bar in my own life.