1 out of 4 stars
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Drive Me, written by Scott Welsh, tells the tale of the fledgling inventor Jeremiah in his quest to create a flying car. He’s supported by his best friend Mike, a bright and charismatic individual who, despite being in a wheelchair, acts as a pillar to the community. Sadly, he also faces a large obstacle: the greedy Ted Fulton has lent money to Jeremiah with nefarious intentions. Will Jeremiah and his friends overcome Ted’s schemes and pave the way for flying vehicles?
Unfortunately, even though the characters in this novel are based on the author and his acquaintances, they’re the weakest aspect. Mike is supposed to be an inspiration to everyone, but he doesn’t do or say anything particularly inspiring (not even during a flashback). There’s also Jeremiah, who says he has a problem sticking to his plans, but we never see this struggle. Indeed, it’s quite the opposite, as the man won’t even let murder get in the way of his project. There’s a reason why “show, don’t tell” is a golden rule in storytelling: we find it harder to relate to a story or character without experiencing the events ourselves.
The worst character by far, however, is Ted. He takes away any semblance of realism from the story by acting as a cartoonish villain who can get away with anything. He goes around beating people up, committing murder in broad daylight, and even exploding places without batting an eye. It’s hard to take anything seriously when a character can order the police around just because of his moderate wealth.
Drive Me’s plot is fairly basic, but it could’ve worked well with better planning and execution. The portions about Jeremiah desperately trying to bring his ideas to fruition and his budding relationship with Ted’s ex-wife Elizabeth are interesting enough on their own. Indeed, removing Ted from the story or at least significantly diminishing his role would get rid of lots of problems. Add some character development on top of that, and you might end up with a pretty good novel.
The book needs extensive editing. I found nine errors before even reaching the second chapter, alongside several awkward and confusing sentences like “It secured him of being popular, even at ten you think of attention.” There’s also no transition between scenes: in one paragraph you’re following a character, and in the next, you find yourself in a completely different scene.
Profanities are thrown around left and right, often to an excessive degree. Ted barely has any lines of dialogue in which he’s not cursing, making him even more of a caricature. There aren’t explicit sex scenes or graphic violence, but the vulgar language makes the novel unsuitable for younger audiences.
I admire the author for writing a book in honor of a great friend and publishing it to the world; it’s an endeavor that takes effort and courage. That said, the novel is simply not at a level I would recommend to anyone, featuring weak characters, an unbelievable setting, confusing writing, and several grammatical and typographical errors. For these reasons, I rate Drive Me 1 out of 4 stars.
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Drive Me
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