Customer Reviews

Acid Row

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Walters is a truly fantastic writer. This book treats the themes of poverty, prejudice, and the inevitable assumptions we make about each others actions and motivations. It deals with all of this through a non-stop, action - filled plot in which the search for a missing ten year old girl is juxtaposed with a deadly riot. I am amazed by the way in which Walters can create characters and settings that are so real and so rich. The only way to describe this book is 'compelling'. I was quite literally on the edge of my seat while I was reading. The subject matter is dark and unpleasant, but once you pick up this book, you will have a hard time putting it down.

After having adored five other books by this writer, I was saving Acid Row for a treat. Each book she writes is different, but reliably high quality in terms of pacing, structure, characters, and plot elements, and there is always a very satisfying payoff. This book was a major disappointment in each of these areas and more.

Interesting folks (good and bad) were created and set aside. Intrigues were established and never developed. Most words were spent on pasteboard characters, and even they didn't do much or interact believably. The police involvement in both story lines was spotty and dubious. Race and class characterizations were extremely clumsy and simplistic, as were the criminals themselves. Some jarringly anachronistic media/culture references played a significant role. Also: Walters usually adds a leavening of grace, humor, romance, or beauty. If they were here, they were atrophied. All were missed.

Instead of introducing a moral dilemma and plot points to lead the reader to a logical conclusion, one point was made by ham-handed hammering, and the other might have been believable with clarification that was never provided. Many of the psychological points were either incorrect or poorly made, resulting in more unsupported moralizing. Unforgivably, the trigger-heavy matters were handled in a blithe, callous fashion. But even someone not specifically vulnerable might loathe heavy-handed moralization and flippant attitudes applied to the same subject. It's inconsistent and hard to follow. (Sorry for the vague references, but I'm avoiding spoilers.)

Usually, one would build a situation and allow it to simmer over time. Here, most of the events occur over a few hours. The riot (mentioned on the cover) is not cohesively described and turns into a confused slog. Because there is not enough groundwork, and no time to build tension, we don't develop a commitment to certain characters and their outcomes. We have no reason to care. At best we have mild curiosity, and dogged hope that we'll latch on to a person whose story will be told, and that the story will matter, but that never happens. The parallel story line is only minimally related to the riot plot. Making the *lack* of overlap a plot point is a mistake; instead of being an interesting twist, its merely a diversion from the main action. It's just so many more dead ends and pointless beginnings and characters we don't care about.

Worst of all is the total lack of payoff. The many minor open threads and possible intrigues are left unresolved. The characters we know best are abandoned, except for one who is given a tired, unrealistic final scene.

So: imagine tearing out ten pages toward the end of a book. Discard the thick beginning and the rich ending, and add a ton of confused fragments. Acid Row is the result. Trade this stinker back to the bookstore and get one of her earlier novels, which are brilliant, re-readable classics.