Customer Reviews

Expired

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It took me a while to get into the book, all the way the chapter 20, and it does frustrate you with all constant repeats of everyones first and last name. I do believe this is my first and last book that I will read by this author.

Now I've tried to make it a point to read any book that I picked out at least to the 61st page, but I got to Page 58 and just returned it. I don't believe the writer is a bad writer, it's just the author failed with one very important detail. I MUST CARE ABOUT THE DEAD PERSON! By page 58, I really didn't know more than three short things about the boy who died--he liked nice boots, he played basketball well, and he liked roofs. Wow, now I really care who killed him. WRONG! I found out more detail about the cops than I did about the victim, and definitely more about the killer. Isn't that a little backwards? I couldn't hang.

I like some of the readers picked this book up on a whim. Figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. And I stuck by this book through thick and thin just to give it a fair chance. Normally, I can finish a book within hours if it is truly interesting, but I found it took me days to finish this book as I kept on having to put it down to give myself a break, before forcing myself to pick it back up again. I eventually had to ressort to skipping over sections that had a tendency to repeat themselves.

My major problem with it was the pacing of the story. It was too fragmented, sometimes going fast, sometimes dragging on. There was never really a steady fast pace that would make it an easy read.
Character descriptions and depth could have been fleshed out more. It was very much a one-dimensional book, where you couldn't really connect with the characters at all. You knew what they thought and how they felt, but you just could not connect with them, which made it even harder to really digest the underlying message being driven in this entire novel. This message was lost too much in the murky and stagnant pace of the story, before being somewhat fully revealed towards the end of the novel.

The idea was a nice concept, but probably could have been executed a bit better.

The proud mother of four teen-aged sons, Tracie Burlingame does everything she can to keep them safe in their rough Harlem neighborhood. Despite her best efforts she loses her oldest son to drug addiction, gaining his hatred in return for her love. But the grief she feels at their estrangement is nothing compared to what she suffers when her youngest son is drained of his blood and thrown from a rooftop. The police have no motives and soon it is clear that the boy was taken by something, rather than someone.
I loved the author's imagination but the writing style left much to be desired. Wordiness, amateurish descriptions (Raw pain glittered from his eyes; boulevard was alive with confusion; electrifying pain burst forth from his lips) and redundancy within nearly every paragraph caused me to yawn with boredom and check to see how many pages I had left to finish this book. That was on page three. I plodded ahead trying to find out why policewoman Monica was so hostile to Tracie and also her boss Alexandra. And why after the initial death the police was looking for a serial killer.
What was up with the repeated use of the main characters first and last names? It was "Tracie Burlingame" this and "Tracie Burlingame" that. Was it the writer's fascination with this name or was the initial submission to the editor was returned because the manuscript was too short? The writer added "Tracie Burlingame" twenty thousand more times to pad the book. I don't know how this story ends because after chapter 38 I couldn't take anymore. You could say that this tale drained all the blood from me. $ EJG---ChocolateSleuth reviewer.

Okay, I admit. I purchased this book on a whim. I saw it at the bookstore and thought, "Why not. I may be pleasantly surprised." Well, I was. I was pleasantly surprised that an editor allowed this book to be published. There was nothing that could save this book, not the writing and certainly not the storyline. I'm not usually this harsh, but I simply had to stop reading the book to end the pain I was enduring TRYING to finish it, trying to give the author the benefit of the doubt. I eventually exhausted the effort and just stopped trying.

For one, I've never ever read a book that repeated the main character's FULL name when speaking of her. After the first introduction I no longer needed to know her name was Traci Burlingame. Secondly, so many (I'm sorry again for sounding harsh) ridiculous things happened in this book that I just started to feel outright insulted. Please, if you're going to write a SCI-FI book DO NOT insult my intelligence while you're doing it. At least, make it appear as if it COULD happen. Read Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land if you don't know what I mean by this. In Heinlein's novel the main character was raised on Mars and that was more believeable than anything written in Expired!

The major problem I had with the book was the imbalance. No matter how we feel about peace on earth and we all say we want it, the paradox of life is: good cannot exist without evil and evil cannot exist without good. It's the story of Cain and Abel and so many more. Up until I finally tossed the book in frustration every single (major) character in the book was bad from Traci to her boyfriend to her druggie son to the demons. No one was there to balance the equation until Soldier Boy has his "dream." And when he has his dream the unbelieveable aspects of the dream and its references to Jesus Christ did it for me. I'd read enough and no I do not wish to pick this book up again to see how it ends. I simply don't care.

Evie Rhodes is a new fresh voice in Speculative Fiction. Her debut Novel "Expired" has all attributes of a classic novel, and omniscient point of view, well-developed characters and a suspenseful plot.

Set in Harlem, the story unfolds all of the sounds, smells and sights of the city. The reader quickly meets our heroine Tracey Burlingame, who faced with a spiritual battle leads the reader on an explosive journey

Evie Rhodes has skillfully demonstrated her ability to survive and standout in a crowed world of literary fiction.

- Pamela Walker-Williams, PageTurner.net

Newcomer Evie Rhodes has quickly established herself in the literary arena with her debut title EXPIRED. Known as an award-winning songwriter and music video scriptwriter, her foray into the literary world is sure to bring her to top levels of the media because of the genre in which it is written. Though a few horrific events occur, it's not necessarily horror, nor is it the typical contemporary fiction book. She has presented readers with a new type of read...a supernatural/psychological thriller that not only entertains, but evokes deep thought on living, life, and the good in each of us.

Tracie Burlingame is known around her Harlem neighborhood, mainly because of her successful beauty salon which caters to wealthy women across the city. Though she's a single mother, she has crawled to the top of the social ladder and established herself as an entrepreneur; sometimes at the expense of her four sons. With her main focus on acquiring money and more success, she's hard-nosed, self-centered, and a bit uncaring in her dealings with others. However, when two of her sons are killed, it soon becomes obvious that a serial killer is on the prowl and he has it out for Tracie and her offspring.

The killer, who isn't working alone, is on a deadly mission to milk the African-American community of Harlem of its history, heritage and hope for the future. Not only are Tracie's remaining sons at risk, but others are being singled out as well--those with extraordinary skills. The scariest part of all this is that there is a master plan in the works and the supernatural forces revolving around Harlem are set on exacting chaos.

The book is a terrifying, yet thrilling read which teaches that with just a little faith, unspeakable actions can take place. It strongly showcases a mother's struggle with herself and her demons, the injustices the street can bring, and the consequences of not doing right. Additionally, the reader is presented with the softer side of Tracie, in which her love for her children and her self-inspection assists in alerting her of the evil around her. Occasionally, there are books which arrive in the mail that I instantly know I have to read, no matter what. EXPIRED was such a book because of not only the uniqueness of the storyline, but also because it is the author's very first title. I simply love anticipating the release of the work of a new author and was thoroughly satisfied with EXPIRED. The messages embedded in the pages speak volumes on life and cherishing those people and gifts one is blessed with. (RAW Rating: 4.5)

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

Expired
Author: Evie Rhodes
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
ISBN#: 0758208707
Month Published: February 2005
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by: Camellia M. Johnson

Evie Rhodes first debut book "Expired" makes a loud statement of how important our faith in God is in our lives. Not only our lives but our family and friends. Expired is a journey. It's adventurous journey into the unseen world. At times the scenes were so captivating that I felt I was in the same room. Evie captures all the emotions involved with life, death and the supernatural.

Tracie Burlingame is the woman we all want to achieve to be. Her business is flourishing and all but one of her sons is doing extremely well until her faith or lack thereof is tested. Souljah Boy is the divine friend of the family who proves to be the intercessory covering the family needed when attacked. Even though Tracie's boys, Dre, Michael, Randi and Rashod didn't have a strong background in Christianity, Dre knew to call on the name of Jesus. And when you're in trouble the name of Jesus will calm and correct your situations and circumstances.

Expired is an overwhelming storyline that brings fear, pain, anger, grief, comfort and faith to the readers. The insight that we need to pay attention to our faith, friends and associations is key as you read Tracie's life unravel in Expired. It's a shocking page-turner.

By Camellia M. Johnson
www.camelliajohnson.com

I have 3 words for this book, WHAT THE HELL! I didn't understand the story at all. This book was so horrible that I stopped reading it. Save your money!

This is a fast-paced thriller that's great to curl up with late at night. The characters are gritty and real and the setting in Harlem is dramatic & mysterious. There are some real surprises and characters are not what they appear to be from the onset. If a thriller is your thing (with twists and surprising revelations), then pick up Expired.