Ryan C. Thomas won over more than one reader with his gut-wrenching debut novel, The Summer I Died. It was mean and almost ridiculously violent, but Ryan took the time to create well-drawn characters and a nice mood for the story before the horror came into the story. While no masterpiece, The Summer I Died showed a young writer with a lot of potential.
Ryan's next novel, forthcoming from Cohort Press, is called Ratings Game. It is a strikingly different work than The Summer I Died and I would have never guessed that the same writer penned both novels.
Ratings Game is a satire. It is a farce and it almost seems to be preposterous. Until I consider the daily news and those that are behind it. Then I think that Ratings Game might not be too far from reality. Ratings Game is the kind of book where certain readers are undoubtedly going to criticize for being too unbelievable. But that's the point, I think. The people in the story are funny and memorable and the behind the scenes at the TV stations come across as credible and suitably cynical.
Most of us have heard talk about how people would kill to get better ratings on TV. In Ryan C. Thomas's Ratings Game, two New York City anchor-men do just that. They begin a game of killing to raise their individuals ratings, upping the stakes with each gruesome story they report. The city is enthralled and the ratings soar.
I had a great time with Ratings Game. It's sharp and ingenious and a whole lot of fun. It also shows Ryan C. Thomas as not a writer to watch, but one that has already hit a stride that most others at their own game should envy.
Ryan's next novel, forthcoming from Cohort Press, is called Ratings Game. It is a strikingly different work than The Summer I Died and I would have never guessed that the same writer penned both novels.
Ratings Game is a satire. It is a farce and it almost seems to be preposterous. Until I consider the daily news and those that are behind it. Then I think that Ratings Game might not be too far from reality. Ratings Game is the kind of book where certain readers are undoubtedly going to criticize for being too unbelievable. But that's the point, I think. The people in the story are funny and memorable and the behind the scenes at the TV stations come across as credible and suitably cynical.
Most of us have heard talk about how people would kill to get better ratings on TV. In Ryan C. Thomas's Ratings Game, two New York City anchor-men do just that. They begin a game of killing to raise their individuals ratings, upping the stakes with each gruesome story they report. The city is enthralled and the ratings soar.
I had a great time with Ratings Game. It's sharp and ingenious and a whole lot of fun. It also shows Ryan C. Thomas as not a writer to watch, but one that has already hit a stride that most others at their own game should envy.
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