Not interested in watching my video review, then look below for the major bullet points.
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Rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Thriller / Horror
Technical Reasons Points: Inciting incident, imaginative virus, and tension.
Hello friends!
In this blog, I’m reviewing Dead on Arrival by Matt Richtel. As usual, the first half of the review will be spoiler-free, and more about my overall thoughts, whereas, for the second half, I’ll be doing a technical review. There will be spoilers there to help you strengthen your craft.
I haven’t turned the page this quickly on a while.
The scare factor is high with Dead on Arrival. Even I got some chills while reading the book. When I made it to the end, I felt a lot better. I recommend finishing the book even if it’s scary for you.
What a beginning. You’re dropped right into the story and choosing to start the book with the Pilot’s POV was an excellent choice.
Eerily accurate. Feeds off the current events of the time. Even though some of it felt fantastical, it was still steeped in believability.
The philosophical portion of the book left much to be desired. It didn’t do anything for me. It almost felt like it was trying too hard. It was the inciting incident for the antagonist, but ultimately, I felt like that character was fucked up and had other issues that could have explained the resulting actions. I wasn’t here for the philosophy. I was here for the WTF is happening moments.
The first two-thirds was phenomenal. And though the idea was interesting in that last chunk, that intense energy fizzled out at the end. There was so much time and ground to cover. I also don’t understand how the protagonist lives his life after quitting his job. It’s been 3 years. He has to have found some work.
I appreciated the timeline jumps and the characters.
The story is woven well with the time jumps and the POVs of the antagonist and protagonist. Though I don’t find Lyle’s back story with his wife to be believable, I did think that both characters were placed in believable situations. I appreciated both POVs.
Now look away if you don’t want spoilers.
Because here we be entering the technical review.
Can we stop with the down-on-his-luck male protagonist? This is a common trope with male writers, especially in detective novels.
Why was Lyle apologizing for his wife cheating on him? This was a weird plot line that didn’t play into the story. She could have left him because he was a jerk.
What a way to start a book. This is horror writing at its prime. And the main reason that I kept reading.
The second obvious trope is the student falling in love with the professor. I think Rochtel should have dug a little deeper.
The book was missing a level of emotional content that I wanted. There were good parts, but most of them felt surface level.
The best part of the book is the scare factor.
Scientifically, why did they lose their memories?
I loved the time spent exploring the airport and the town. Well done. The constant exploring can be bumbled or become boring quickly, but Richtel kept the tension and interest high.
Well-created time jumps
The book started to lose its steam when Lyle woke up in the hotel. There was too much ground to cover in the short amount that was left.
Happy Reading!
Love,
Kait