Avatar

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: Leisure books has an nasty habit of turning out really good books and really bad ones. The fact that both types usually sport great cover art and a quote of praise from a supposedly "legitimate" author does not make it easy to tell which books should be read and which ones should be passed by. Avatar, a book with absolutely no redeeming qualities, should be sealed in a radioactive vault where it can do no damage to the world at large.

Avatar is sloppily written, poorly plotted, and, worst of all, misogynistic. The novel, which could have been a short story, never successfully resolves any of its central conflicts. Most annoying is that the author never seems certain what he wants his characters to do, where they should go, or how they should interact. Chapter after chapter plods by without any character development, plot movement, or cheap scares. Every few pages I found my brain refusing to process any more of Avatar's horrid prose. The book jacket cla! ims that it's author is a man of many trades. Please, Mr. Beman go back to what you were doing before writing.