While a novel like Dr.
Haggard’s Disease, by no means a slam dunk, did have some memorable moments, a
by the numbers novel like Blame by Michelle Huneven does not. I didn’t hate the
way I hated Noughties, it is just very bland and forgettable, especially a few
months after reading it. It offers no real lasting experience, and it is not
just the time that has passed since finishing it that makes it such for me.
Even after I had finished it I was just eager to get onto to the next book I
was reading. It offers a cool plot and plenty of loose ends within the first
100 or so pages that I was excited to tie up over the next two hundred, but it
was a serious let down when I found out how everything was connected, and was
just glad it wasn’t a longer book. It has a very outlandish premise centering
on Patsy Maclemoore, a history professor at the local college who seems to be
the definition of what it means to be a functioning alcoholic, who manages to
keep her job despite waking up in the drunk tank on numerous weekends. After
one of these run-ins, she finds out that she has killed a mother and daughter.
Guilt-ridden, she goes to jail, gets sober, and when she is released, she makes
amends and settles into an off-balance, but rewarding marriage. Then she finds
out that she may not have been responsible for the deaths of the mother and
daughter. It is less interesting than it sounds. Even the scenes in prison,
which I have a shameless soft spot for in books, was very boring. It all adds
up to a conclusion that was a let down, with many things being addressed
separately having little to do with each other. If you got time to kill, it’s
worth a shot, but there are better books to read if your time is precious.
Rating: 2/5
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