Director Ito, Why Don’t You Believe Him?

80 pages in, and the story is already beginning to unravel. Director Ito’s character makes no sense. She rushes to the scene of the crime, looking for Robert Langdon, but does not actually know about the crime. And no one thinks this is strange. No one asks for an explanation for why she is there, or why she seems completely uninterested in solving the crime. She mentions, for unknown reasons, that she is intent on helping the confessed perpetrator of the crime to find the portal. She challenges Langdon every step of the way.

Her character is functioning as an obstacle for Langdon to overcome, an obstacle formed by the very institution that is supposed to be helping. She is no different from a skeptical police chief or a by the book investigator who keeps impeding the protagonist. As an added bonus, the questioning of Langdon serves as a way to convey more information to the reader.

It is all so transparently inane. Is it so hard to come up with thoughtful characters and compelling story arcs? If Dan Brown were a masseuse, he would have ball-peen hammers for hands.

Pages read: 81
Pages To Go: 428

Check out Decater's new novel, available now at Amazon. Plus, don't forget his earlier books: Ahab's Adventures in Wonderland and Picasso Painted Dinosaurs.