Week 2: Appeal Factors

Are you looking for an engrossing read with quick pacing, lots of action, and best of all, unexpected plot twists? Well, look no further! Best-selling author Harlan Coben has written an action-packed suspense novel full of surprising developments, a strong female lead character, and an ending you won't expect.

This novel would appeal to a reader who enjoys a quick story with action and adventure and a whodunit nature. Saricks would put this book in the "adrenaline" group, and Nancy Pearl would characterize this novel as one that lets the reader in through the Story doorway. In terms of characterization, as mentioned, the main protagonist is a female pilot who had been in the military and seen active combat; hence, she takes decisive actions and is not a helpless damsel in distress. This fact might appeal to readers who are tired of the usual suspense-novel characters of the strong male lead with his female (sometimes romantic) sidekick and are looking for a suspense novel that is a little bit different.

Do you like mysteries? How about comedy? If you want a mix of both, Spencer Quinn's To Fetch a Thief will fit the bill. Told from the point of view of Private Investigator Bernie Little's canine partner Chet (Chet the Jet), this novel has an unusual mystery at its core (disappearance of a circus elephant); yet it has the expected murders and bad guys, along with plot twists and action/adventure. However, being narrated from Chet's point of view makes this novel unique and fun, especially as the reader really only knows slightly more than Chet does (and there's alot of dog-related distractions for Chet to contend with, like dropped food bits and intriguing smells to investigate).
Another appeal factor is related to the setting. It takes place in the desert US southwest, and this location is important to the story as well as to character motivations.

On a much more serious note, Matthew Desmond's Evicted is a non-fiction book that explains the details related to the housing crisis in a typical, mid-sized city. He used Milwaukee for this book, but as he explains, these stories could happen in any similar city, including Baltimore. While the pacing is slow, due to the amount of details conveyed, there are intricate characterizations of the people who are profiled in this book. Desmond profiles both tenants and landlords, giving the reader a view of the housing dilemma from both sides of the coin. The tenants range from families, single mothers, and individual adults, black and white alike, all with their own deep-rooted problems, that lead to the unending cycle of deep poverty, eviction, homelessness (or near homelessness), and the arduous task of finding yet another sub-standard dwelling that they can afford for a short while. The rich details Desmond infuses in this book conveys the dark drudgery, frustration, and exhaustion the housing crisis inflicts on everyone involved, tenants and landlords alike.