Book Review: The Dead Don't Dance

July 31, 2007

I'm glad that I am reading Charles Martin's books backwards in order of publication, because I may not have continued had I started with his first, The Dead Don't Dance. His characters are very likeable (although after reading three Martin books, I see that the protagonist is basically the same guy in all three) and the story itself is sweet, but...there's certainly a reason why he received 86 rejection letters before Thomas Nelson Publishers finally picked this one up. His writing oozes sentimentality and cliches. I said this same thing about Wrapped in Rain: he puts in too many tangential slices that distract the reader from the story without adding anything at all. I was irritated by this and skipped several paragraphs and even pages of stories he should have chopped out. (Don't tell me about pigs! Get back to the story!)

So, this is very light reading; again, great for a day when you need something happy and don't mind some sappiness. Martin is an author who absolutely improves with each book. When Crickets Cry was really excellent, and I look for more good things to come from him.