I finished this book several days ago and am just now blogging it, a much longer turn-around time than I have done in the past and would like to do in the future. Part of this is the hectic nature of the last few days of school (I'm a middle school teacher), and part of it is due to the fact that I just am not excited about this book. Again, apologies to Steven James, you've at least finished and published a novel which is way more than I've done, but I didn't think this book was any good. It was one of my "quick grab a book before the library closes, any book, just grab a book!" books. Not a great technique, apparently.
For those who have not yet read Placebo
Placebo is a thriller/crime novel/medical drama. It follows Jevin Banks, our protagonist, a former escape artist/stage magician who now creates debunking shows for TV. It seems to be pretty obvious that Jevin's show is based on Penn and Teller's Bullshit, which is one of my favorite shows. I thought that was pretty cool, but it also got my hopes up that this would be a real anthem for skepticism, but by about halfway through I realized it was anything but. Anyway, I think Jevin was written as a Houdini/wannabe Penn Jillette hybrid. I don't buy it. Penn is one of my idols; I've read his book, I've seen every episode of Bullshit, I listen to his podcast, I've even seen his stage show in Vegas and met him afterwards. You, Jevin Banks, are no Penn Jillette. But that's okay, it's not like Steven James ever said he was Penn Jillette, so I can let that slide. Jevin is his own character.
Here is what I will not let slide: The blurb about his book proclaims it is "rooted in groundbreaking science and inspired by actual medical research." Well I'm sorry, but if you claim the book is inspired by actual medical research, I damn well except to see a work cited page. Spoiler alert (not really): there is no work cited page.
Wait, wait, let's back up to a synopsis. The book opens as Jevin Banks watches the bodies of his wife and young twin sons be pulled out of the water. As it turns out, his wife had purposely driven off the pier in an obvious effort to kill herself and her sons. This leaves Jevin devastated and would have been a really interesting thing in and of itself, but wait, it's about to get muddled up in our "real medical research" (cough snort cough). As a result of this personal tragedy, Jevin quits his stage show and starts his "expose" TV show. This is where the action really starts: Jevin, along with his beautiful assistant Charlene, his whacky conspiracy theorist friend Xavier, and his homeschool mom/ uber-hacker helper Fionna (along with her four precocious children), set out to debunk some unbelievable research about quantum entanglement and realize that the researchers might actually be on to something...and that a very dangerous plot is brewing. The plot is so bizarre that I can't even really explain the rest cohesively. Just know that the other cast of characters involves a psychopathic doctor, another psychopathic doctor, a psychopathic freelance assassin, a voodoo priestess (perhaps also a psychopath), two stony special-forces twins who can kill people with their minds (quite definitely psychopaths) , yet another psycopathic doctor, a non-psycopathic doctor, the Undersecretary of Defense, and the god damn president of the United States (why not throw POTUS into this cluster eff?).
Don't worry, I think I have some more rants left in me. Remember when I said that I wasn't ready to accept it was based in real medical research without a work cited page? Well, that real medical research seems to be all about quantum physics. I've seen a lot of documentaries about quantum mechanics, as well as read some popular science books about it. It's an interest of mine. And one quote always seems to surface: If you think you understand quantum physics, you don't understand quantum physics. And this is obviously the case with the author. When the best scientific minds in the world can barely understand quantum physics and its implications, how can we expect a novelist to? It reads like make believe, because it pretty much is. To quote Penn Jillette: real medical research "my aching ass."
Okay. Done. For now.
Recommended?
No. Don't even bother.
Tips
Find a better book to read. (Ouch, harsh. I know, I know, I'm sorry. I just felt that this book was really a waste of time and I resent it for that).
For those who have read Placebo
Yeah yeah spoiler alert, here, I'll throw you a bone:
Penn says, "Spoiler alert! And also don't think
this Jevin Banks dude is anything like me,
because he totally isn't."
So, my comrades who have also read this book, what do you think? Am I being too harsh? Not harsh enough? Did I miss something and you're sitting there shaking your head and thinking, "poor girl, it must be rough to be that dense"?
I'd like to take a moment to talk about Riah. First of all I didn't know how to pronounce her name. Was it Rye-uh or Ree-uh? But that's really not important. What is important is...she proclaims to be a psychopath. Is she? I think it's safe to assume that Steven James is not a psychopath. So, as a non-psycopath, it must be hard to write in first person as a psychopath. It read like he was trying too hard to prove that he had done his research and knew about psychopathy. Or maybe, maybe, and I'm hoping this is the case...Riah was written in such a way as to lead us to believe she wasn't a true psychopath after all, but rather someone who had been wounded beyond feeling by her father's abuse. What do you think?
I'll admit the rapid switches in point of view bothered me. I honestly don't mind POV switches and, to some extent, use that technique in the novel I am working on. But when they are sometimes literally every sentence it gets daunting. I get that James was trying to create suspense and maybe do something "arty." But it fell flat to me.
Also. Our ending. Was it a nice bookend that Jevin ended up in a submerged car? Yes, I thought it was a nice touch. I thought the rest was absolutely lame. Trying to save the president? Really? How cliche. I think I actually wrote a story about trying to save the president when I was in, like, third grade. And what about that sniper on the roof? Why did that plotline just go away?
I'm sorry guys, for all the negativity. I really am. But I just did not like this book. To me, it was juvenile and pedestrian. It showed no craft or art. I would have enjoyed it so much more if it was just about Jevin trying to come to terms with his family tragedy. The rest, like Jevin's stage show, seemed like slight-of-hand and illusion, trying to cover up that there was nothing real about this book.
So, discussion questions!!! Please comment with appropriate spoiler tags, thanks!
-Did you like this book? Why or why not?
-Do you think Riah was actually a psychopath?
-How did you feel about the POV switches?
-It seems like this is the first book in a series about Jevin Banks. Would you read any more of them? Or is Jevin Banks (and Steven James) crossed off your to-read list?
-What did you think were the most absurd plot points? The man in Maine? The voodoo priestess? Let me know!
As always, thanks for reading!
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