Possession

Rating:
Summary: Seven Years to Sequel
Review: The history of this book must be more interesting than the book, itself. Possession is actually the second half of a single novel, that begins with Obsession. Obsession, as the copyright page shows, was first published in 1996. Possession, according to its copyright page, was first published this month (December 2003). Since Obsession ends, not even with a cliffhanger, but simply an abrupt break in the middle of its story's action and plot - and nowhere indicates that a sequel is coming - reading it can only have been a baffling experience, at best, to those who first discovered it on its original publication. It appears - and, frankly, reads - as if the author waited seven years, before coming up with the conclusion to her own two-part story.

The first book, Obsession, actually reads better, and has good structure, plot timing, and suspense. Morgan immediately throws too many similar characters at the reader to cleanly delineate, which is a bit of a problem, but surmountable. The characters are likeable and credible, with even the principal villain sympathetically drawn.

Unfortunately, out of the blue, the book simply ends after about 335 pp, with nothing resolved and the action in full swing, and not even a publisher's blurb like "Watch for Part II Next Month!" There's an ad on the inside front cover for Morgan's Possession, but it doesn't indicate it as a sequel to the book the reader holds in his hands.

Possession, after Obsession's pretty rip-roaring and engaging start, is lame, tame, and terribly contrived. Too many plot improbabilities are thrown at the reader, and in too short a time, to be believed. The characters begin acting as inconsistently as those in soap-operas. The ending is rushed into a mere handful of pages, after literally an entire novel's worth of severely padded chapters so redundant that they can be flipped through in minutes without missing anything of substance.

Ultimately, buying into either book is simply a waste of time, a marketing ploy intended to sell more copies, at the expense of any potential product of worth. This "serial novel" game, an insulting trick from its inception - and continuation, involving many talented authors who should be ashamed of themselves, Stephen King, John Saul, Robert R. McCammon and Tamara Thorne among them - is trash at its worst, even when the finished product is worth the time and effort, which Obsession and Possession aren't.

I do have to say that Morgan does have a talent for establishing a plot and composing sympathetic characters, which I hope manifests itself in future in novels of greater note than this one - er, two - I mean...oh, forget it.

Rating:
Summary: A fabulous book!!
Review: This book was so good it was hard to put down!! It was well written and had an unusual subject matter......kind of like a supernatural mystery. I definitely recommend that you read the companion novel, Obsession first, so that you'll have a better grasp of what's going on and the necessary backround information on the characters. This is now one of my favorite authors!!