L-J's Review of The Brink by Mark Fadden

I joined an online book club and our first meeting will be to discuss The Brink by Mark Fadden.  The author will be at the meeting so I will be sure to write a follow-up to this post about that experience.

The Brink is an action-packed conspiracy-theory novel that is engaging from the beginning.  The first page opens with drama that continues throughout the entire book.  I could not put it down, yet it seemed to never end.  I don't know how Fadden was able to come up with such a crazy, intricately webbed story.  Just when I thought I had something figured out, something else would happen to change everything.  Thus, Fadden makes the reader feel the frustrations and distrust that the main characters feel.  By the end of the book, I didn't trust anything that happened until I had finished reading.  Only then could I be sure what was genuine and what was a ruse.

The Brink reminds me of a cross between a Nelson DeMille novel and the movie National Treasure.  Unfortunately, it is less sophisticated than what DeMille produces and more depressing than National Treasure.  The first 30 pages introduced 27 new characters--that I had to write down to keep track of.  I have enough trouble keeping track of main players, let alone a gazillion other people who may or may not turn out to be important.  There is no doubt in my mind that Fadden wrote this novel in hopes of having it adapted into a movie.  There's not a lot of internal dialogue (which as seen by the Twilight movies does not translate well on film) and the book is maintained through action and dialogue.  I could easily envision this story on the big screen.

What I liked the most were the short chapters and fast-paced action.  I did want to put it down, but with the many interruptions that come with being a mom, I appreciated the organization of the book.  It's definitely a quick read.

NOTE: I had the honor of attending a book club meeting with the author.  Fadden is a pretty cool guy, very energetic, enthusiastic, witty, smart, down-to-earth.  It seems the many characters and the short chapters are the two things he hears about the most.  I agree completely!  Here's a picture of me with Fadden.