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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, so I work with Greg Rucka on comics..., August 29, 2003
...but that doesn't mean I don't know a good novel when I read one. And A FISTFUL OF RAIN is a damn good novel. What impresses me most--and likely will impress anyone who has read Rucka's previous books (and who hasn't?)--is that as far as his prose work is concerned, this is new and exciting territory. In the Atticus Kodiak novels, you have Atticus Kodiak as your focus character--a bodyguard who is a pretty straight shooter and tells it like it is. He's a very reliable and meticulous person, and so using him as the authorial POV makes for a reliable story. Mim in A FISTFUL OF RAIN is none of these things--and she's telling the story in first person. This makes for a wholly different kind of read, where the reader is never on stable ground. Thus ratcheting the suspense up even further than normal. Now, Rucka has always been intrigued by flawed characters. No one in his other books is perfect, and they are all the more endearing for it. This is something he pushes to the limits in FISTFUL. Mim can be blindingly stupid and make you incredibly angry for some of the choices she makes--yet since Greg is an author who cares about this character, he knows how to make you care, as well. You don't love her in spite of her failings, but because of them. Ultimately, though, what keeps a reader hooked to a Rucka novel is on ample display here--and that's excitement. I think there is always a point of no return in Greg's books, where you have been dropped into the middle of the action and you just can't put the novel down until you are done. If that's what you love in the Kodiak adventures, then you're all set in A FISTFUL OF RAIN.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fistful Isn't Enough When It Comes To Greg Rucka, September 2, 2003
First of all, a warning: Do not start this book unless you have the rest of the day to finish it. If you start it right before you go to bed, trust me - you won't sleep a wink. Once this book gets rolling, it's near impossible to put it down. Greg Rucka once again creates a high-speed roller coaster of a novel - a novel that starts with a steep drop, followed by a brief moment to catch your breath, and then when you least expect it, you're sent down a wild loop-de-loop that doesn't slow down until the very last page. As with Rucka's other books, the best thing the novel has going is the main character - but instead of the familiar Atticus Kodiak, this time Rucka introduces us to Mim. She's one of those love/hate characters. One moment you are sympathizing with her, but the next moment you just want to take her and slap her silly. She is one of the most unpredictable characters that you'll ever come across in fiction and the predicaments that she finds herself in are definitely some of the most unique. This is pure mystery. You'll be guessing who's behind Mim's torment all the way up to the very last chapter - and everyone's a suspect. Is it the person you least expect, or the person you most expect? It's hard to tell, as Rucka is ruthless in his twists and turns throughout the novel. Just when you think you might have it all figured out, Rucka throws a curveball your way that makes you think twice, forcing you to keep reading out of anticipation and excitement.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Exciting Thrill Ride with a Little Substance, March 28, 2004
Greg Rucka is a new author to me. This is the second book of his that I've read, and he is quickly becoming one of my favorites. "A Fistful of Rain", after the Warren Zevon song, is satisfying not only because of its pulse-pounding plot (which moves at breakneck speed), but because of the challenge of a male author writing from a first person, female point of view. The story centers around Mim Bracca, a rock star who is temporarily ejected from her band because of her problems with alcohol. Upon her return home, she is kidnapped, forced to strip naked, and then returned home relatively unharmed. Things go from bad to worse, and soon Mim's brother Mikel finds that there are pornographic pictures of her on the Internet. The police try to get involved, but Mim is rather pigheaded, and they find their help unwanted at best. I won't go further into the plot, and for one major reason. The mystery isn't all that mysterious. You'll have it solved before you're halfway through the book, and the only reason it's even remotely believable that Mim missed this rather glaringly obvious resolution is that she's drunk nearly the entire time. One thing Rucka is famous for, however, is last minute twists, and boy, does this book pack one. He cleverly leads you on, making you believe that you have it all figured out, and reveals an accomplice (and I use the term loosely) in the penultimate chapter of the book. While the twist is surprising, it isn't very intelligent, as there is no possible way even the most hardcore mystery buff could guess at it. This may seem like a good idea, but it really isn't, because the accomplice isn't really given a decent motive even after he's unveiled, and so the whole thing comes off as rather stupid. All in all, this is an action-packed book that reads incredibly quickly (start early in the day, because if you start in bed, you won't sleep until you're done), but with an ultimately unsatisfying conclusion. There isn't much to the book; if you want something that makes you think, try Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", which requires quite a bit of outside research. Despite my gripes, this is truly an exciting book, and with a little more work and experience, I can definitely see Rucka becoming a premier thriller writer, moreso than he already is.
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