Customer Reviews

Flesh and Metal

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I was interested in this as a Bargain Book because it takes place in North Dakota, and because the book's author is a teacher at Moorhead State. I almost couldn't finish the book because of the haphazard narrative style; the tenses shift from past to present without warning -- or without reason, and that habit the author has of interjecting dialogue without cues is absolutely maddening. I have never seen anything like that before: Jake blah blah blah and "Suddenly says something." That particular device was so irritating I almost couldn't focus on the plot.

It was a good story but I really wish it had been told in a more straightforward manner.

My lack of interest in this book stems from the fact that nothing really happens. The character of Luella is a nagging witch who constantly gets pissed at Jake because he doesn't act or respond to her the way she would like him to. Ten years after losing his wife, Jake is a quiet, reserved man still in mourning, and Luella is always screaming at him to let go of the past (not exactly an endearing character you want to relate to). I reluctantly finished the book just to see how it would end. Maybe some people can dig enough to find a deeper meaning to this book, but to me it is just what it seems on the surface--a novel about insurance fraud.