Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Serials and Scenarios - Snitch


Click on the book to be whisked over to Amazon where you can find out a whole lot of information about Rene Gutteridge's newest release.
You can visit Rene by clicking, too.
And, of course, you can come on over on Friday to get a peek into her mind. Since she's already spilled her guts on the Scoop (book one of Occupational Hazards) tour, I had to come up with some more odd questions for her to answer.
My Review:
As much as I hate to admit this...I just figured out the whole Occupational Hazards series premise. Old school meets new school meets homeschool.

As in book one, Scoop, there is an older character who discovers that he may be an old dog that can learn a trick or two from a young pup. The young pup discovers the old dog survived to an age where he can taste retirement because he was smart enough to learn the game and wise enough to play by the rules.

Then we have the Hazards.

Mack Hazard stirs up under-cover work like Hayden upended the television newsroom in Scoop.

The homeschool uber-focused intelligence with the classic innocence born from limited socialization to the Christian faith that is refreshingly and foreignly foundational, shapes the Hazards into anomalies - attractive ones - but challenging and uncomfortable.

Gutteridge's humor is on display in her subtle descriptions and characterizations. Kyle -- the pastor on sabbatical with the Miami Vice dreams. Jesse -- the classic rebel cop -- with a few twists and snippets of his past come back to haunt him.

Nan and Ron, Laura and Dozer -- all characters that are real enough that you grow to care.

The story line is fast moving and well-developed.

I liked Scoop and Snitch is even better. Snitch can be read without Scoop, they stand alone, but the series will no doubt scatter bits of characterization for each sibling throughout.

If like Gutteridge, you're going to like this series. If you haven't tried her yet, give her a shot (pun intended, of course.)