Slave by Cheryl Brooks

This is a tough book to review. I've been thinking about it a lot and decided not to give a numerical rating. The book has such high points and such low points that it would result in an average rating, and this is anything but an average book.

First, the positives about Slave. It is very original--outstandingly so. It has interesting (though flawed) characters. It has an excellent beginning. The first sentence is, "I found him in the slave market on Orpheseus Prime, and even on such a godforsaken planet as that one, their treatment of him seemed extreme." It moves quickly and never bogs down. It has plenty of surprises and a satisfying conclusion.

But it is a seriously flawed book. One of the largest flaws is the excessive use of exclamation points. Where was the editor? I have never seen a book with more exclamation points and it became quite irritating. I opened two pages at random--one page had 5 and one had 7, and that was not unusual. Another flaw is the "folksy" sayings of the heroine. Folksy might be okay in a minor character, but not in a major one. This is the author's first book and you can tell.

Although the book has a good amount of sex in it, it is more sweet than erotic, even though it is explicit. It is interesting, particularly the alien aspects (although the nose fetish was just bizarre) but not hot. This is not necessarily bad, unless you were expecting a hot and steamy romance.

All in all, it is an intriguing book that would have been very good with some editing, but verges on being unreadable because of serious flaws. I may give the author another try, particularly if I can look through the book first to see if she's cured her addiction to exclamation points.