Click here to read reviewer Carolynn Evans' take on The Choice.
His books have sold over 50 million copies around the world and his previous three releases -
Dear John, True Believer, and the sequel,
At First Sight, soared to #1 on all the bestseller lists. Those three sold over
a million copies each and in total, his writings have been read by over 50 million people (or 50 million copies sold, to be more accurate).
There is a simplicity and directness to his writing that - obviously - has an international appeal. And while his work may not have the profound depth and vision of writers like Michael Chabon and Richard Ford, the writing finds its way into your system.
Here, as the title implies, Travis Parker has come to a crossroads. He has been blessed with close friends and a satisfying job. So, when he meets neighbor Gabby Holland, new boundaries are presented and new frontiers are implied. There is drama and tension and the promise of new and potentially forbidden elements. And this is good. It's just
that none of these moments and very little of the writing really knocks you out.
Here, 168 pages in, Gabby confides in herself:
"She was drawn to Travis; she couldn't deny that. It wasn't just that he was handsome and that he made her feel desirable. It had something to do with his natural exuberance and the way he'd made her feel a prt of it; it was the fact that he had lived a life that seemed so different from hers, yet they still spoke the same language, a familiarity that belied the short period they had known each other. She'd never met someone like him before."
It's functional but not fantastic or unique or original in placing the words in a woman's mind of how she feels about a man. It doesn't make you want to re-read the passage because it's heartbreakingly wonderful or just simply, different.
You can probably run through these pages in a couple days. You'll have fun while you enter Sparks' world, and though you may not be awed by the level of the prose, you might be inclined to say "Ahhh" about it.