One Fine Day You're Gonna Die (Rapid Reads: Charlie D #2) by Gail Bowen

 

Summary:

 

Charlie D is back doing his late-night radio call-in show. It's Halloween--The Day of the Dead. Not a day filled with good memories for Charlie, but the show must go on. His studio guest this evening is Dr. Robin Harris, an arrogant and ambitious "expert in the arts of dying and grieving," who also seems to be auditioning for her own radio talk show. Charlie and Dr. Harris do not hit it off. Things go from bad to worse when the doctor's ex-lover, Gabe, goes on air to announce that he's about to end his life. Dr. Harris is entirely unsympathetic until she learns that Gabe also has her daughter Kali and plans to poison her too. It will take all of Charlie D's on-air skills to save both Gabe and Kali.

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 93 pages (Paperback)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Available Formats: Print/E-book

Publication Date: October 1st 2010 by Raven Books

 

A few years back I picked up the first book in this series Love You to Death because when Mr. Turning the Pages and I first started dating I kind of went into a big reading slump that lasted months and that one helped get me out of the slump. A few years went by and in May of this year I realized there were two more books in this series and One Fine Day You're Gonna Die looked good and I wanted to read more about the protagonist Charlie D so I had to read it.

 

I wasn't expecting a lot from this novella because as much as I enjoyed the first book in the series it was only a three star read for me and this one turned out to be not as good as the first.. While I was happy to revisit Charlie D I found myself to be a little let down by the fact that we didn't learn anything more about him as a character. I was hoping that despite the crime aspect of the story that more of his past would be revealed but I was sorely disappointed.

 

The plot line of this one just didn't seem to flow together as well as the one in the first novella in the series. While I was reading it I often found my mind wandering and I would struggle to stay focused on the story. I think much of this was because the characters were so one dimensional. There was very little character development and with a lackadaisical plot line things just didn't mesh well. I found all the characters to be rather annoying because they weren't explained enough. I understand that with a novella things have to be condensed but this one seemed as though everything of importance relating to the story line had be edited out and we were left with a shell of a book.

 

I was unconvinced by Dr. Harris. I've might my fair share of narcissistic doctors but this lady really took the cake. Everything was about her even other people's grief and she tried to tell them that people put them through grief and can basically turn that off by moving on as if it was the simplest thing  in the bloody world. She made me so angry and every time she became the focus of the book I cringed. Even the fact that the man kidnapped her daughter it didn't seem to shake her all that much and I found that to be so wrong I just wanted to reach through the book and strangle her.

 

I also was unconvinced by the idea of Gabe kidnapping the doctor's daughter just because she slighted him. This was supposed to be a crime novella and most of the book wasn't even about the crime and it seemed like the author just kind of let things slide a little too much and then was rushing to bring the story together but for me it simply did not work.

 

Overall, I found that One Fine Day You're Gonna Die was a bit of a disappointment. When I finished the book I originally gave it 3 stars because it didn't seem so bad. But, as I started writing this review and really analyzing the book and how I felt about it I think it deserves a much lower rating. I just expected more from it and for it to be on par with the first book in the series. However, just because I didn't enjoy this one it does not mean I will not be picking up book three to read soon just to see how things progress with Charlie D and I also plan on picking up another of the author's other books to try out as well.

 

I would recommend this to fans of novellas who are looking for a darker sort of read perhaps for a day at the beach or for someone trying to get into the genre or back into reading. Reading the first book isn't necessary to read One Fine Day You're Gonna Die but I do recommend it so you get a bit of a feel for Charlie D. 

 

 

I read this book for the following reading challenges:

 

2013 150+ Reading Challenge

2013 Mystery/Crime Reading Challenge

 

Not For Me!
★

 

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