Shadows of the Stone Benders (The Anlon Cully Chronicles)

It's very rare for me to fail to finish a book, but the writing of this one annoyed me to the point where I just could not continue. There are a few hallmarks of an inexperienced writer to which Mr. Donaghue unfortunately falls victim. One is a tendency to over-describe. While it is important to set the scene, it needs to be done in a more naturally flowing manner. The other is a pattern or tic of behavior, which in Mr. Donaghue's case has everyone winking all the time. How often do people really wink at each other anymore? There are other, more believable, ways to indicate a tongue-in-cheek attitude. At most, one might have one character with the habit of winking; more than that just looks like lazy writing and is quite irritating. Another is using the same description over and over to denote a character, even when it's quite clear to whom he's referring, e.g., "the burly hooded man." All in all, it felt too sophomoric. The two stars are because I really tried to persevere to see where the story would go. Perhaps I'll pick this up again one of these days, but with all the superbly written books waiting for me, I don't see it happening.

I was excited to begin the book after reading the description and I wasn't excited again until it was over. There are books that you pick up to read at every opportunity. This is not one of them. I couldn't believe I still hadn't finished it over a week after starting. Can I say what the problem was? Not really. I just never felt invested in the characters or the story. Too much time spent being cutesy about the three main characters (like referring to Pebbles as PYT - pretty young thing)? Maybe. Very little time spent on searching for the stones? Maybe. Too little excitement and interaction with the Stone Benders? I don't know. I can say that I certainly have no interest in the sequel. It was a chore to finish the first one.

Mr. Donoghue starts out with an interesting idea - an ancient, highly advanced race has left clues to their existence in stones imbued with mysterious properties. Unfortunately, he proceeds to write the wrong story! Following Uncle Devlin as he races around the world, uncovering clues to find the stones would have been a fun ride. Listening to Anlon, Pebbles and Jennifer discuss the stones over wine and margaritas.....boring.There is FAR too much talking and not enough doing. All the action comes to characters in the form of various shady bad guys. Anlon and his friends are completely reactive instead of proactive. The dialog is clunky and the characters shallow. Jennifer, the detective who keeps forgetting basic detective procedure, Pebbles with her dark secret (which actually isn't very dark) and Anlon, the genius inventor who seems to have trouble putting two and two together. Any hint of tension between Jennifer and Pebbles is quickly erased and we know where the relationship between Anlon and Pebbles is going from about chapter 5. The author relies on the characters inexplicably deciding to "wait until the morning" to investigate or not following up on interesting facts they uncover in order to generate tension. It just doesn't work.Having said all that, I do think the author has potential if he can find himself a good editor. I give him credit for a good idea but he really needed help tightening the story and working the dialog. I won't be reading the rest of the series but I might check back with Mr. Donoghue after another few books to see how (and if) his style has developed.

Donoghue is clearly ill-informed about the craft of fiction writing. He acknowledges three persons who "edited" his manuscript, but none of them did a creditable job. This novel is very difficult to read: inappropriate punctuation gets in the way (e.g.,Interior monologue enclosed in quotes.); way to much time spent on vaguely related back story; frequent unreasoning shifts of point of view, often in the midst of a scene. Unneeded shifts between past and past perfect tense create confusion for the reader.All of that said, Donoghue's plot is fascinating and, if better crafted, this novel could have been a good one.

I quite enjoyed this book but I doubt if I will read any more of the series. I found it very hard (impossible?) to relate to the characters, or even to properly visualise them. I did not believe in them and that spoiled an otherwise quite good story. Faced with the unbelievable, most of the bit players simply did not bat an eyebrow. The main characters expressed surprise, but..... Regularly, just when characters were on the cusp, they decided to leave it until later while they had a beer or a nap! It may be that the characters develop in the sequels, but, unfortunately, I will never find out.

I think any author who gets 516 reviews, good or bad must be worth reading and in this case I have to agree. Yes, there are some weak points, but overall the story line is good.I would have preferred to be able to go 'on site' more, I became somewhat claustrophobic being inside the house so much but, then again, I did appreciate good grammar (despite it being American grammar), it made reading a pleasure.I wasn't sure I would go on to get the next two books but I find I have bought the second one, so I must be more intrigued than I expected to be.Yes, definitely worth reading.

Pretty good story line, my first read of this author. Will read more of his.

A fast riveting story. The main characters are well formed and likable. The use of stones is an amazing concept. I can't wait to read more from this series.