2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Novel Until the Weak Ending, August 2, 2006
This review is from: Death Watch (Paperback)
I really enjoyed Death Watch until the final chapters where the quality just dropped off, the authors got lazy and gave us a weak ending and unimaginative cause for the Death Watch notices. The book was up there with other supernatural mystery novels such as The Stand and The Cell by Stephen King, I was hooked and couldn't put it down but the weak and unfortunately propagandarous preachy ending disappointingly lets this great story and its readers down.
In Death Watch, Sydney St James is looking to be assigned a story with a bit more substance than the usual light hearted features she has been assigned in her short journalistic career. Unfortunately for her, her arch rival takes what she thought would be her big break away from her and Sydney is sent to report on the car crash on the freeway outside the station's building. After seeing a note in one of the vehicles and using her looks to her advantage with a traffic cop, Sydney discovers what turns out to be the biggest story of mankind, that a series of victims have all received notes telling them the exact time they will die and died precisely as the notes outlined. Teamed up with EuroNet superstar Hunz Vonner who sees her as an unprofessional emotional hindrance, Sydney sets out to find the source of the Death Watch notes. A pregnant Wonder Wheel contestant, homeless man who talks to angels and many other characters all put her career and future in jeopardy as many including Hunz, question if she has what it takes to be an unbiased journalist who doesn't get attached to the subjects and gets the story at all costs.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
God as a divine escape hatch, November 17, 2007
This review is from: Death Watch (Paperback)
This book was great about 90% of the time. Cavanaugh and Kuiper really know how to craft a story. Sydney St James, a Los Angeles TV news reporter, stumbles on what is, quite possibly, the biggest news story ever. While covering what seems to be a fatal car crash, she finds that the driver had received a "Death Watch" notice: "You have been selected for death. Precisely forty-eight hours from the time of this transmission you will die. This is an official death watch notice."
As it turns out, six other deaths (with accompanying notices) occurred that day in Los Angeles. And before the end of the day, St. James finds out that thousands of the notices have been sent all around the world. As the evidence begins coming in, two things become clear: (1) the mortality rate is 100% and (2) St James is quickly losing her objectivity as a news reporter, getting wrapped up in the lives of some of the recipients. The latter is completely understandable, but does become more prominent as the story progresses. Were her involvement with -- people who were a day ago -- total strangers not enough, the authors ratchet up the tension when people close to St James receive notices, too.
Like I said, 90% of this book is great. But that other 10% . . .
Early in the book, there is a gaping hole in continuity. One of the notices turns out to be a hoax. Even though details of the notices were only made public hours before this scene takes place, the perpetrator of the hoax knew 48 hours earlier the exact wording of the notices, so that he could duplicate it precisely. I'm really surprised that neither of the authors, nor the editor, caught this issue. It doesn't help any, either, that this scene does nothing to advance the story.
Unfortunately, that is the greatly smaller problem with Death Watch.
* * * SPOILER ALERT * * *
After over 200 pages of story, St James is told the reasoning behind the deaths and something of a solution. Both are of a completely supernatural nature. While the reasoning behind the deaths is certainly of a plausible nature to a Christian, the authors gave almost no indication as the book progressed that this is where they were heading. In comparison/contrast, most of Frank Peretti's books are full of supernatural elements, but he makes it clear that this is where he's coming from and where he's headed.
I have often said that I largely only like science fiction that pre-dates me. This is because sometime in the late 60s or early 70s, authors starting blurring the lines between science fiction and fantasy. Suddenly, if a scifi author wrote himself into a corner, he could simply introduce a supernatural element (which does not belong in science fiction) -- and voila -- problem solved. Sadly, most of those authors didn't actually write themselves into a corner, but simply planned this "easy way out" from the start. It seems very likely that Cavanaugh and Kuiper did this, too.
The solution is little more than "let go and let God". While the concept is grounded in Scripture, the implementation makes a mockery of the very faith that the authors are trying to advance. It is improper to look upon salvation as merely "fire insurance" -- something to allow one to avoid eternal spiritual death. Cavanaugh and Kuiper kick it up (down?) a notch by reducing it to something to allow one to avoid physical death.
This concept may have been acceptable had the authors explored the idea of whether it worked or not, depending on if the victim actually meant it or was just using God as a divine escape hatch. Needless to say, this idea was not pursued. Once the "secret" is discovered and is tested successfully, all that remains of the book is tying up a few loose ends and the promise of St James and some of the other protagonists spreading the word.
* * * END SPOILER ALERT * * *
When St James and another protagonist first try to convey the "secret" to the notices (and how to defeat them) on an international newscast, they are cut off, with anchors profusely apologizing for the proselytizing. I find it interesting (and a bit sad) that Cavanaugh and Kuiper didn't see that they were presenting the Gospel in just as lame a way as their characters. Or maybe they did, and didn't care.
Either way, reaction of unbelievers to this book will be disappointment at the authors having taken the easy way out, and probably further distancing of themselves from anything having to do with Christianity. One Amazon reviewer referred to the ending as "propagandarous" and "preachy". And to be honest, even as a Christian, I have to agree with him.
As a believer, had the vital part of the story been better presented, my reaction may have been a renewed sense of urgency is spreading the Gospel, as time is running out. This book did place my focus on time, but not of that nature. Rather, I really want those hours back that I spent reading this book when I could have been doing something productive, like watching M*A*S*H re-runs.
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