Down to the Wire - David Rosenfelt

Down to the Wire

In the past month, Kevin and I have spent almost 50 hours in the car. A series of family crises have had us driving all over the Midwest. We've caught up on all of our podcasts (we're avid podcast listeners) and argued about the best Christmas music.  Per usual, I also snagged a book at the last minute before one of the trips.

I've talked about this before. Audiobooks we listen to together really have one requirement: be riveting enough to keep Kevin's attention. At this point, I just go straight for the most popular, currently available thrillers on our library's website. 

Thus, the story of how we listened to David Rosenfelt's Down to the Wire. 

I have never read anything by Rosenfelt before, so I was definitely flying blind. The publisher's description made it seem exciting enough to keep my dear husband interested:

"A reporter for the Bergen News, Chris Turley could never measure up to his father. Edward Turley, a combination of Bob Woodward and Ernie Pyle, was one of the last great investigative reporters and a difficult man to impress. While stuck covering press conferences and town hall meetings, Chris, his father’s legend in mind, has always dreamed of his own Pulitzer, however unlikely it seems. 

"Then one day while he’s waiting to meet a source, a giant explosion takes out half of an office building next door. Shocked into action, Chris saves five people from the burning building. His firsthand account in the next day’s paper makes him a hero and a celebrity.

"And that’s not all. The source’s next tip delivers a second headline-grabber of a story for Chris, and suddenly his career is looking a lot more like his dad’s. But then it seems this anonymous source has had a plan for Chris all along, and his luck for being in the right place at the right time is not a coincidence at all. What seemed like a reporter’s dream quickly becomes an inescapable nightmare.

"Down to the Wire, David Rosenfelt’s shocking new thriller about an ordinary man who gets exactly what he’s always wanted at a price he can never pay, is an intense thrill ride that will have readers racing through the pages right up to the end."

That's pretty much all you need to know about the plot without giving away spoilers. And, seriously, what good is a thriller if you know the ending? Especially one where the writing is, well, just ok.

I know I have been getting totally spoiled on all my classics lately. Getting more serious about the blog has, if not made me more selective, at least made me more attune to writing level. I won't go on a rant about that now. Just wait until my post on Alligiant, Veronica Roth's latest.

All that to say, Rosenfelt wrote a typical thriller. The book is about, literally, explosions, not characters. Michael Hurley would be ashamed. It worked great for its purpose. Kevin enjoyed it and I had some fun guessing the plot twists. Ultimately, though, it was a very predictable, shallow novel. If that's your thing, though, or you have lots of driving hours to pass, give it a go. You may enjoy it for just what it is.

Pages: 294

Date Completed: November 28, 2013