May 21, 2013

On My Shelf: After The Night by Linda Howard



When I read “After the Night” by Linda Howard I was instantly captivated when she introduced the female protagonist, Faith, as a young girl. I identified with her to the core. This little girl felt like me, she felt like every girl in the world. Even when this little girl became an adult, I still related to her as a woman and being able to feel that as a reader is magical; it is what every writer strives (or should strive) toward.

The first five chapters where the protagonist is younger are written so well. They tell the background information that you need to know about the characters and their families, and reveals the beginning of the story. These chapters will suck you in and what happens in chapter five will leave you speechless, but in a very good way. You’ll want to plow forward to read what happens next and what happens next is juicy, even more shocking, and addicting!

I don’t want to give away the plot but there are some of the steamiest sexual encounters that I have ever read in a book. Okay, so I haven’t read 50 Shades of Grey, but the man in this story and the culprit of these scenes is named Gray. Need I say anymore? And if you like dirty little secrets, this is the book for you because this story is all about dirty little secrets.

The only pitfall I experienced while reading this book was at the end, after the climax. Due to circumstances that I will not reveal, Faith found herself in need of replenishing everything she ever owned (food, clothes, makeup, etc.) and Linda Howard thought it was necessary to tell us everything that Faith had to do to get these items, including shopping. For the first time while reading this book, I skipped paragraphs with a roll of my eyes.

TIP: You can easily tell a reader that your character went shopping for everything he/she lost in their household after a flood, tornado, fire, or break-in in just a sentence or two, but to write pages on this is far from necessary. If you do, your readers will do exactly what I did and that is roll their eyes and skip ahead.

Don’t write parts that a reader will find pointless! Unnecessary Writing

With that little hitch in my reading stride, “After the Night” is one of my favorite books now and just talking about it makes me want to read it all over again. I definitely recommend it to anyone (mostly women) who wants more passion and suspense in their life.

Cheers to a good book!


QUESTION: Have you read this book? What did you think?




4 comments:

  1. Sounds like a tell, don't show moment with the shopping. Good review, thanks for sharing.

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  2. Definitely a tell, don't show moment. lol Thank you, Beverly! And you're welcome!

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  3. I haven't read it and normally this wouldn't be my type iof book but I've been reading outside my normal reading. I'll give this book I try. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Dawn, reading outside your normal interests is always good! :) And reading the description on the book flap may help you to decide if this really is a book for you, but I at least recommend reading the first five chapters. ;) Let me know what you think of it if you do read it!

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