Wish List by John Locke (2011)

Well, this was a strange book. Maybe it is the sign of the times, since we are moving away from in depth reading, maybe adult fiction is moving towards quick, intense reads. The 215 pages consisted of chapters 1 (yes one!) to 7 pages long. I found one chapter that was 8 pages, most ran 3-4 pages. I think most kids' book chapters run longer than that. 215 pages of fast, non-stop action. Then there were 20 pages before you get to the story itself, mostly promotion for his next novel, of which you get 2 chapters at the end of the book. This is supposedly a New York Times best selling author, who was the first to sell 1 million copies in e-books. So maybe this is the style for e-books. I don't get it.

The premise sounded like fun. There is an online program where you can enter your wishes, and they get granted, but there is a price. And I didn't even mind the raunchy guy talk of I would like to take so and so to bed. And Buddy Pancake was a likable character, loved his wife, hated his job, so I liked how his wishes started changing his life. But then it went into a lot of senseless killing. I have a hard enough time with murders in mysteries and spy novels and all those crime shows on TV, but this went beyond my tolerance level and not my idea of entertainment. Sorry Mr. Locke, I will not contribute to your further success. (Wasn't John Locke one of the strangest characters on the TV series "Lost"?)

The one thing this book made me think about was if I was given three or so wishes, what would they be? Mostly I think of the nebulous health and happiness for my son, family and friends. The rest of the things that come to mind seem like I can make them happen myself, if I set my mind to it - travel around the world, get someone to clean my house and redo my yard, have a meaningful conversation about reorganizing my work environment, create a foundation to support Latvian libraries and archives. What ARE my priorities?