Marc Mauney – Google

Bad beyond belief. Billy Crystal as director and main character is ridiculously bad. Cliche after cliche. It is laughable when he keeps saying to the possessed little boy, "I here for you. I'll protect you." If Billy Cystal were my therapist, I'd leap out a third story window just to get away from him. He is boring at best, but typically an absolutely odious wet noodle of a character. The dialogue is cringe worthy, and the acting smarmy (particularly Billy Crystal) at best. This is a stain on Appple TV. I was fast forwarding through episodes 4 and 5 just to be done with this travesty.

Pathetic, unlikeable and unbelievable characters doing ridiculous things. This novel is pure lazy crap, driven by plot rather than character. I feel sorry for the reader. This is melodramatic nonsense. What I find most irritating are the gobs of glowing reviews. Reviews used to distinguish the junk from the brilliant, from authors like Michael Connolly, Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn, etc. No longer.

One of the best crime thrillers ever produced. Phenomenal acting particularly by Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman. The writing is smart and detailed. The plot is intricate and the characters are well developed. The Seattle mayoral race is overdone, more akin to a governor race than mayoral. Mayors and city counsels can do little to improve cities; however, and unfortunately, they have caused them a great deal of damage through over taxation, lax criminal prosecution and the decimation and demoralization of policing. Nevertheless, the way the election is woven into the plot is brilliant.

This novel is initially well written and captivating. Unfortunately, approximately halfway through, it starts to veer into the ridiculous. The author starts manipulating the characters like marionettes to do and say things completely out of character in order to advance the plot. The husband and wife flip-flop between hysteria and bedrock rationality in seconds. The husband is at once a compassionate father and a despicable sociopath. The wife is an intolerable naive hysterical victim then strong, loving mother and wife. I could go on and on.... I sense that the author is actually quite talented, but alas, lazy. Screen play???