First and
foremost, I’ve got to say that the novel looks like a door stopper. It’s over 900 pages, but
contrary to other big books, this one goes by real quick. It’s all about horses
and sex, rich folks and sex. Did I say
sex? The author spends as much time
dwelling on this as explaining the ABCs of show jumping, which is fun but less
stimulating, if you get my drift. I
mean, I was ready to light up a cigarette every time super stud Rupert
Campbell-Black’s prowess as a ladies man came to an end. Oh, make no mistake, the guy’s a big douchebag,
but what a piece of man candy he is; and he becomes somewhat less arrogant as
you go along. All thanks to the author’s
keen ability to juggle him and other colorful characters through their wicked
ways which lead them to the Los Angeles Olympics for the final showdown.
Truth be told,
Rupert Campbell-Black isn’t as much the lead character as he is part of an
ensemble team that starts with good guy Jake Lovell who’s on a quest to steal
the spotlight from Black. Of
course the novel has a few flaws, the biggest it being somewhat predictable,
like (BIG SPOILER AHEAD) having their team win the big championship in the end,
for instance. I mean, duh. But overall it is a great
reading experience that has an impressive enough plot, strong characterization
and a cheeky sense of humour only the British can excel at. I’ll definitely move on to Cooper's second
novel. Let’s just hope that my review of
it will appear sooner this time around.
Until next
time—Martin
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| US paperback cover |
