I’m on a reading roll. Just finished Hundred-Dollar Baby by Robert Parker. It’s his latest Spenser book and finds the intrepid private investigator trying to help a madam manage her upscale, call-girl business.

Like all of Parker’s books, it’s heavy on dialogue and light on description with very short, easy-to-read chapters. I can read one of his books in about two hours. And still savor every word.

Every time I read a Parker book, I can’t help but marvel at his heavy emphasis on dialogue. That’s really all his books are. We are talking minimal description of everything else — rooms, people, cars, the weather, etc. The most-used word in his books is probably said.

The only other person that I know of who writes in a similar style is James Patterson.

What about you? Which do you prefer — lots of description or lots of dialogue? Inquiring minds want to know …

Finished The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann. It’s the first book in her popular “Troubleshooter” series about U.S. Seals. I got a booklet on the series at the RWA conference this year, so I thought I would check it out.

It’s about Tom Paoletti, a Navy SEAL lieutenant who goes back to his hometown to rest after a severe head injury. Naturally, Dr. Kelly Ashton, the girl he’s always loved, just happens to be in town at the same time …

Overall, a good read. I knew how it was going to end the second I learned that one of the characters had terminal cancer. But Brockmann still made me sniffle a little in the end. My only quibble is that she saved most of the action for the last 10 pages of the book. I would have liked a little more focus on the current military/terrorist hunt and a little less on the war memories of two older characters.

But, if you like a pretty even mix of romance and military action, then you’d probably like this book. 

What about you? What are you reading now? Inquiring minds want to know …

Finished Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. It’s the third book in her “Wallflower” series. This read brings me within striking distance of reading my 800th book by the end of the year. Yeah! 🙂

It’s about Evie, a shy, stammering heiress who’s so desperate to get away from her abusive family that she approaches Sebastian, a roguish lord who’s fallen on hard times, with an offer of marraige. Evie gets Sebastian’s protection, while he gets her considerable fortune. It’s a marriage of convenience, but turns into much more than that …

I have to say that it’s the best of the bunch so far, which surprises me. Sometimes, I find that the more books an author writes in a series, the worse they get. The characters don’t grow and change, the plots mirror each other, and you get the same jokes over and over again.

There is one very popular author in particular who is guilty of all three of these things, and it drives me crazy. Her last four books have all been carbon copies of each other, and I no longer feel a pressing urge to read them as soon as they come out.

As an author of a series of books (who also hopes to write more than one series), I’m concerned about falling into this trap. 

It’s a delicate balance between keeping your writing fresh and interesting, and hitting all the high points that your readers come to expect. I think it helps to write about different characters, like I’m doing in my Bigtime series. But, there are some authors who write about different characters in their series, and their books are pretty much interchangeable.

It’s a slippery slope that I hope I don’t ever start down.

What about you? Do you think series get better or worse with age? Inquiring minds want to know …