Comment

Jan 18, 2012LT rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Ms. Bowen's accurate observations on the small city of Regina and its institutions (sometimes magically transported to Saskatoon or vice versa) chime with my sentimental recollections of Saskatchewan, and have made me a loyal reader of the Joanne Kilbourn series. My affection for Bowen remains undiminished, even though she long ago ceased to give plausible reasons as to why pleasant everywoman Kilbourn is surrounded by murders that confound her at every age and stage of her life. Despite this history of good will, I don't like Bowen's novella Love You to Death. I don’t like the set-up, a radio call show on which the DJ chatters about his existential dilemmas, provides thematically appropriate music, and invites comfort, comment, or desperate musings from his listeners. (Strangely enough, there are never any ad breaks.) I don't like the main character, Charlie D, who is narcissistic, dull, and the opposite of nuanced. I especially don't like Charlie D's amateurish attempts to play God with his anguished listeners. Specifically, his habit of exceeding his competency and disregarding appropriate boundaries to "reach out" to his audience offend me. (Please, Charlie D, at a minimum, take a basic course in suicide intervention.) The Rapid Reads series may be intended as the adult companion to the high-interest, low-vocabulary books that lure recalcitrant/challenged students into the world of reading. This is a worthwhile concept, but I suspect that many readers will fling Bowen's novella aside upon being presented with one implausible scenario after another. Possibly because Bowen has so little time in which to tell her tale, Love You to Death comes off as a superficial, sensational drama not particularly rooted in time or place (except that in 2012, most port-wine stains can be removed through laser treatment). Note to library on the Item Details: "Charlie D radio broadcaster" is male, not female, and "listeners", not "listens", are being murdered.