In all my years, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that unintentionally mimicked a newspaper or magazine article. I’ve read, and enjoyed (and not enjoyed) fiction books that were intended to be like a non-fictional account, such as Zombie War by Nicholas Ryan (his 3 other zombie books are damned good, too). However, The Gray Ship was just strange, and read the way the first few paragraphs of so many news stories read. You know, where they bring in the human interest? Things like “The captain is seated at the far end of the table. Ashley Patterson runs a tight meeting. She asks questions, listens to the answers, and will not tolerate political sideswiping.” It just seems stiff, rather than flowing, and I kept expecting the meat of the investigative journalism story to show up.
Perhaps you would need to read it yourself to understand. Me, I gave up at 5%, which is a shame, because the premise, namely that a modern day U.S. warship is transported to the 1861, right before the battle of Ft. Sumter, is something that I really love. A good time travel story with history. Oh, well.
Interestingly, this is the third straight book I’ve abandoned. The previous two were at around 50% and 40%, because they just kept plodding on without really going anywhere. Viva la Kindle Unlimited!
I haven’t read that particular book, but I do understand the concept of giving up if the book isn’t worth it. My personal threshold is probably somewhere around 20%. I can tell by then if I have lost the interest to finish. That’s why I like to go the library route (hardcopy or on my Nook) if possible, so I don’t blow full cover price for something that delivers less than it promises. Used bookstores are great, too.
That’s the nice thing about Kindle Unlimited, I can give up later in books without regret. Thougj, I have paid for a few books in the past where I gave up much later. Sometimes things seem to be going along and you get deep in and go “seriously, is this going anywhere?” Or something similar.
Useful info. Lucky me I discovered your site by accident,
and I’m surprised why this twist of fate didn’t happened
in advance! I bookmarked it.