Massive Black Hole

Massive Black Hole  by Andrea Barbosa

I read this book, because the author is promoting it heavily on goodreads and facebook. I don't remember if I paid for a kindle copy, or it was a freebie.   I dread reading the books I find this way, because there's a good chance I won't like them and then, I have to write mean things (because I've got to be honest) about someone's hard work.  That's totally the case here.  While I'm sure that Ms. Barbosa worked very hard to write her first novel, she somehow skipped a few steps between first draft and finished product.  Actually, this book reads like she skipped all the steps.

If we concentrate strictly on the quality of the writing and the technical proficiency of the author, we're in trouble. The syntax is weird. From start to finish, this book is filled with misspellings and grammatical errors.  All of the idiomatic speech is wrong.  (You are never going to find "an escape goat".  No one is looking to keep a roof under their head.)   There are misused words, and even words that were completely made up.  Reading this book was like listening to someone who is just learning English, telling you a story.   There is no way this book was edited. I can't believe it could have even been proofread, or spell checked, for that matter.  

Then we have the story itself, which may have come directly from one of those little religious booklets people leave around. You know the ones where they tell a little story, usually in graphic form, and no matter what, everyone goes to hell at the end?  That's exactly what this is, but without the pictures,  Of course, much of the work is based around a Bosch painting, Christ's Descent into Hell (which in a few instances, the author calls Christ's Descent into Heaven).  

 

I can't even begin to explain this story to you.  I really just want to put this whole experience behind me.  

I promised myself that I would read the books people have worked so hard on and post reviews immediately.  I'm going to hold to my commitment to read one per week.  Last week, I was really pleasantly surprised by Pamela Rose's Sherlock's Home.  Next up is Coded G6  by Hillary Layelle. Cross your fingers for all of us.