ARA Review by JRRRjimHARDISON of Smith

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JRRRjimHARDISON
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ARA Review by JRRRjimHARDISON of Smith

Post by JRRRjimHARDISON »

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Smith.]
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4 out of 5 stars
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SMITH by Sam B. Miller II

Smith is a fun, gory, supernatural fantasy/sci-fi thriller that runs shallow but breathlessly fast. The story follows eighteen-year-old Jake Goddard who has been dragged to Israel by his archaeologist father on a quest to find the lost temple of King Solomon. As the story begins, Jake is caught between angry Palestinian gang members, the evil machinations of a mysterious and unscrupulous artifact hunter and his own teen angst. But he quickly tumbles into a secret cavern and makes a discovery that will change his life and possibly the course of history. What Jake finds is King Solomon’s lost Ring of Power—the legendary signet ring that is said to have given Solomon the ability to control the weather, speak to animals, command demons and angels, and ultimately rule the world.

But Jake is not the only one interested in the fate of the ring. Not only are multiple possible bad guys after the magic artifact, the ring itself appears to be controlled by an entity that calls itself Smith. Smith communicates with Jake telepathically, can take over his body to battle his enemies and may or may not be a bloodthirsty, amoral sociopath. Throw into the mix a gorgeous, deadly female commando, Nava Kilman, and non-stop globe-hopping action splashed with buckets of human entrails and you’ve got this enjoyably violent, over-the-top action/adventure tale.

This is not a deep book. If you are looking for deep, look elsewhere. Smith is fast and easy and doesn’t waste a lot of time or thought on being plausible. It seems to follow the rule that if you are moving fast enough, the audience won’t have time to object to anything. It reminded me a bit of the Kool-Aid Man in that it’s loud and bright and gleefully crashes through whatever walls stand in its path. There are amusing twists and turns along the way as secret societies, government agents and myriad professional killers try to get their hands on the ring. The resulting mayhem includes massive shoot-outs, all manner of exploding vehicles and a truly impressive body count.

I enjoyed the plot, the settings and the characters despite their lack of depth. Jake is a shallow but engaging protagonist, stumbling his way to the center of world events and naively wielding the greatest power ever known to man. Or is he actually being artfully puppeted by the entity Smith for its own dark purposes? Half the fun of the book is the interplay between Jake and the “interface” that inhabits his magic ring. Is Smith good? Is Smith evil? Does Smith exist outside of the normal definitions of those words? Only time and the accumulating pile of discarded halves of torn-apart human bodies will tell.

It would be great to be able to give books multiple ratings based on different attributes. If that were possible, I’d give Smith five stars for amusement and action but two stars for its cartoony, even stereotypical characters, settings and plot points. Since I can’t do that, I’m left wrestling with how to split the difference. So, here’s my King Solomon-style decision about how to split the baby. Don’t read Smith if you are looking for a deep, nuanced, plausible story that’s going to leave you thinking. If, however, you don’t mind a book that starts fast, jams its foot down on the accelerator and gleefully turns whoever gets in its way into a red roadkill smear, Smith is for you. With that caveat in place, I give Smith 4 out of 5 stars.

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