Carl’s Reviews > Bel Canto > Status Update

“There’s good news” and “nothing could be trouble at this point” (ch.5): as the hostage crisis grinds with no end in sight, Patchett seems to have intentionally diluted the sense of conflict and danger. Given our sympathy with the innocent hostages, this should be a good thing, but it also risks a devolution into banal tedium. Would it be immoral for a reader to hope for just a wee bit of violence?