review – Beware of Monsters

John Wick 2 Invite

A few weeks ago, I received an unusual invitation: would I like to attend the John Wick: Chapter 2 World Premiere in Los Angeles? The answer, obviously, was: Hell yes! I loved John Wick, and have been a longtime fan of Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, and Ian McShane, not to mention the director of both films, Chad Stahelski (who you can see beside me in this photo from a meeting before the premiere).

Chad Stahelski and Jeremy Robinson

I’ll be honest up front. I’m a little biased. My connection to the director, appreciation for the actors, and red carpet (it was black) treatment make my opinions suspect. But I’m a long-time action movie junkie, I write some of the fastest-paced novels there are (so I have a rep to protect), and I am generally an honest guy. If the movie sucked, I’d tell you.

Reading a novel is, for many (myself included), a personal experience.

We get lost in a story, experience pain, loss, anger and victory along with characters that we (hopefully) come to care about, as though they were real. And when that experience ends, we miss our new friends and want their fictional lives to continue. Like, now. With the characters and plot still fresh in our minds we *might* tell a friend about it. You know the one. That rare breed who reads novels as voraciously as you do. And then…

Nothing.

The subject might come up again six months later, when your reader friend finally gets around to reading the novel, but your excitement is waning because you’re still waiting for a sequel that may or may not be on the way. A year passes. Then two. What is taking the author so frikkin’ long to write the next book?! It was amazing. How could there not already be a sequel?

Eventually you decide to take matters into your own hands and e-mail that author. He/she probably won’t reply (I will), but maybe your e-mail will spur them into action.

I get these e-mails. A lot. For Jane Harper. For Refuge. For Flood Rising. I even get them for books that were never meant to have sequels. And my response is always something like this: (Insert book title) needs to sell better before I spend a LOT of time and money writing and publishing a sequel. The best way you can make that happen is to post a review on Amazon.