Fans of trashy romance novels are sure to find Kristin Hannah's 12th and latest work, Night Road, a treat. For more discerning readers, stay well away.
Hannah has churned out a ridiculous story of teenage romance, which is full to the brim with unlikely behaviour and irritating characters, most of whom suffer from a severe lack of imagination and clarity on page.
Social outcasts Lexi and Mia make friends at high school. They become best friends, only to be "torn apart" by typical teenage behaviour, sickeningly overemphasised and angst-ridden throughout the book.
Mia's mother, Jude, is possibly the most irritating character, described as a "helicopter mum", hovering near her children, wondering if she is too overprotective and deliberating over which college her children should go to.
If you don't give up reading before 140 pages, you will realise some action does develop, but this might be too late in the day for most readers.
Should Lexi kiss Zach, her best friend's twin brother? What will happen to their friendship? How hurt will Mia be? Does the reader actually care? Not after 140 pages of this mind-numbing banter, no.
The action that does eventually happen turns up in the form of a very obvious alcohol-related moral tale, played out in Night Road like a bad sitcom.
The increased predictability of events after the first 140 pages of tedious drivel is disappointing — and that is followed only by a sickly sweet ending.
One night will change the lives of the teenagers for ever — as with so many books, short stories, dramas and films — near the end of their summer holidays.
"In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget … or the courage to forgive."
Which of the unlikely teens will actually stay alive long enough to attend their own graduation at the end of the summer?
Hannah packs sentences with too many adjectives, trying to enhance the description of every single word. Trying to cram so much information into one sentence, however, does not create any illusion of style.
How blonde the girls' hair is or what print the smocked blouse is or how much her mouth resembles a pink bow will not ultimately make much difference to how badly the novel is written.
Any semblance of style is possibly what this work of teen fiction most lacks.
Having said that, characterisation of the mother, Jude Farraday, does engage to some extent, particularly when Hannah deals with the topic of grief.
Perhaps the mother figure is the character with which the author most associates or empathises with.
Grief in Night Road is presented in its most raw state; no holds barred.
The book "captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope", Hannah's official site reads.
But while the former has been undertaken extremely well, the author falls back on old heels for the latter, returning to the cheesy, trashy writing that pervades throughout the novel.
If you walk past this title at airport bookshops, you won't be missing out on anything. It holds no literary merit.
But then again, everyone likes a happy ending; perhaps this explains why the author is a New York Times bestseller.
Night Road - By Kristin Hannah, Pan Macmillan, 400 pages, $27.99
