Fragment-Warren Fahy
The synopsis of this book makes it sound like a fun adventure/thriller novel. It follows a cast and crew of people (scientists, specifically) on the reality show Sealife. While filming, the ship receives a distress call from a little-known island and they check it out. Adventure (as well as the discovery of some very unusual creatures) ensues.
I had been excited about this book ever since it was first released in hardcover/ trade paperback. I'm always opened to a new adventure novel. So I was thrilled to find it in mass market paperback. Boy was I disappointed.
This book got a review from James Rollins, which suggested it was going to be good. For anyone who doesn't know who James Rollins is, he's written a decent number of adventure novels that involve science and weird creatures (at least in his older works). I trust that if he liked the book, it's worth reading. Next time I'll be more careful.
Here's the thing about adventure novels that Rollins does well and Fahy forgot. You absolutely need the adventure elements, but you also need appealing characters. I did not like or care about any of the characters (human or creature) in Fragment. I got the feeling that if the human characters never showed up and the entire novel was about the creatures, it would have the same affect. I ended up skipping all the parts about the scientists and their drama, which was unfortunately the majority of the novel.
On a related character development fail, there was a romantic relationship between two scientists (Nell Duckworth and Geoffrey Binswanger). I'm not a fan of romance in novels to begin with, but I'll accept relationships that are developed and make sense. Theirs did not. The one part of the novel where I remotely liked any of the human characters was towards the middle when Nell said something like "I don't think I'll ever be anyone's girlfriend. I don't understand that ritual." So at the end we see her in a relationship? No thanks.
The only thing I appreciated about the novel was after the story concluded, there were pages of sketches of the animals on the island. Some books describe the animals in detail but you never understand what the author was envisioning. Well, in this novel it wasn't left up to your imagination and that was okay.
For my final recommendation, I'd say to avoid buying this book. Check it out from a library, borrow it from a friend, read it in the bookstore and return it to the shelf, but don't buy it. Books aren't supposed to make you want to skip around to the end.