Review: Blackout

Blackout by Marc Elsberg
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Blackout is one of those books I was rather excited to read, only to be disappointed by the story I was given. Marc Elsberg had a wonderful idea, one that will make people think about the world today, but it did not hit the spot I had been hoping it would. In other words, the potential was there but it failed to deliver.

The story itself was interesting, I cannot deny my interest in the story. I was left wanting to find out more, wanting to see how everything came together, but there was a significant feeling of disinterest towards many things. The story had me, but the other elements let me down.

Take the characters – I didn’t care for any of them. There were quite a few characters within the book I could have come to love, had there been more to them. As it was, characters waded through the story and I never once came to care about any of them. I wanted someone to do something interesting, I wanted something to come out about one of the characters that would have made me obsessed with their characterisation. It’s not that the characters were flat – I simply found myself uncaring, forgetting the names as soon as the book was over.

Another element I found to be lacking – the part to have saddened me the most – is the action scenes. I do not need action throughout, but thrillers need a few hard-hitting scenes. The heart should be pumping, you should be on the edge of your seat, and the pages should be turning. It’s a must for thrillers in my mind. This book, however, never once had my heart pumping. There were plenty of occasions where the scenes could have reached the necessary level, but they never did. Hence, my disappointment.

Despite this, there was some pretty solid research throughout the book. The details given about certain things that occur, and how it links to parts of the real world, were wonderful. It simply wasn’t enough to make me fall in love with the book.

Overall, I’d been hoping for more.

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