A Review of the Reviews

We have received piles of feedback on Threads West and thank you for all of it. Nine hundred and ninety five (995) comments and reviews have been received or posted/printed. Of these, one hundred fifty two have been publicly posted in various locations, eight are from national reviewers, fourteen are from blog reviewers, (some large, some small). Nine are reviews that have appeared in print media including regional newspapers, and five are from #1 national or international best-selling authors in the form of endorsements The book also enjoys two national awards, Best Western/Runner-up Best Romance of 2010—USA Book News Awards—certainly “reviews” in their own right.

All this response is humbling and appreciated. We learn something from each and every thought whether the input is fact-based or feeling oriented. Good, bad, or somewhere in between, regardless of length or brevity, all are instructive. Threads West, An American Saga is after all our collective story.

I was struck by several realizations in perusing these reviews from all around the country and foreign lands. The breakdown of accolades versus disparaging, (five-star versus one star) was enlightening. I found it fascinating that some reviewers who review books on a regular basis seem to look down their noses at readers who infrequently post reviews or are posting their very first on line thoughts on a book. Many folks view the romance in Threads West as “exquisite sensuality” or “brilliant sexuality” and key to plot and character development. Some others consider it “too much” or “harsh” and “inserted for no reason.” Some readers believe the character development “the best they have ever read.” There are those who believe the characters “shallow.”

I was curious, so I looked at the reviews on other books. I found much the same patterns hold true for any volume. There were one star ratings on versions of the Bible, Lonesome Dove, some of Louis L’Amour’s works, and stories by big-name authors like Grisham, Patterson, and others. There were also many four and five-star reviews of those books, the better ones obviously having many more rounds of applause than others. Many “multiple book” reviewers who ostensibly read this book or other novels (which I’ve read and they have reviewed) seemed to get basic facts wrong on Threads West or other books—where characters are from, what their background is, time frames, even misprinting out of context excerpts from Threads West or other books. Fortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule but nonetheless it happens often enough to merit notice. Some folks seem to have a predisposition which they actually post in advance. If they think they will like a book, they do. If they are pre-disposed to not liking a novel, or genre they won’t.

We spent a bit of time lassoing all the input and putting it in separate corrals. This included reviews, endorsements, and private comments we’ve received from people who for whatever reason either asked that their comments are remain private or did not post them publicly. We put together a little chart for our own edification. I found it interesting enough to share it with you!

The moral of the story? You can’t please all the folks all the time. There does not appear to be a book without detractors or enthusiastic fans. Most reviews are very honest, some have ulterior motive. Reviews, good and bad, all hold some intrigue, but in the end it looks like to me that the preponderance of opinion by the majority of people is the best guideline.