Status Updates From The Cradle Conspiracy (Card...

The story takes off like a rocket.

Good action sequence beginning with the flash flood till the end, somewhat ruined by continued references to the torture and fear /claustrophobia. Whip appeared about 40 times. Prison, dungeon, or torture ~22 times. Bellevaux 13 times. Many references to his "old man" committing suicide. Rhyme: "Ashes, ashes, they all fall down" 4 times.

First love scene. Nice. BUT STOP. Let's flash over to the villains right now. And let's even bring up some more damn drippy thoughts about his past torture.

Cozy cave. Rain falling. Necking. Kissing. STOP. Let's talk again about my baggage. My PTSD. (yeah, right. And what guy talks so much about his demons? They hold it in. Is this the tenth maudlin scene-breaker?

I thought we'd get solid action with good guys vs bad at old mine shaft, but the pace was broken up by maudlin scene with Noah giving a memento of the past to Daniel. The actual action only lasted 3 minutes, from rifle shot to getaway. As soon as the action ended, another maudlin moment, between Raven and Daniel.

Either write PLOT or write a self-help manual. Getting tired of all the deviations from the action to dwell on Daniel's mental problems fand his father's suicide. What kind of hero is this? Maudlin. Also, tired of child abuse issues in Perini's plots. Also, I don't want to hear again about Chris's abusive dad, his childhood beatings, etc. Why can't miltiary RS writers write STORY?