Reviews for Sour Rain

The average rating for Sour Rain based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-11-09 00:00:00 Rozetta Bridgforth Sour Rain portrays the exciting early-statehood of Alaska. Though the state still promises adventure for many of us, it must have been wild in its first years. Organized crime did not respect the new state. In fact, it had the advantage because of Alaska's start-up problems. Most people had only limited experience with starting a new state. It's also an untold story because the world at that time was preoccupied with the Viet Nam War. It seemed that few cared about Alaska crime in the 1960s. Those extreme circumstances demanded extreme law enforcement tactics. It was a bare-knuckled fight with only sketchy legal and technical processes for the police. It was uncivilized by our 21st Century standards. The deception from the incestuous corruption of key Alaska officials demanded clever action by the Sour Rain good guys. The political corruption in Juneau that was cleaned out recently by Governor Sarah Palin might have had its roots in that Alaska era of forty years ago. Outsiders in Sour Rain played a huge part in fighting that corruption just as did the political outsiders with the upstart Palin, who defeated the existing political organization. That's an amazing pattern. The most interesting aspect, however, is that Sour Rain was written and published just before Sarah Palin became governor. This novel was a precursor to what really happened in Alaska in the last couple of years. It's a fascinating coincidence and an interesting story. Aron Best Sellers

Review # 2 was written on 2014-11-08 00:00:00 Brad Lott I have read 4 Wilkie Collins novels before this one (The Woman in White, The Moonstone, No Name and Armadale). I enjoyed them all particularly No Name. However, this one was frankly a dose of melodramatic tosh!! What on earth was the author thinking of when he started the book? Initially it had the feel of an adventure mystery with lost jewels, a wronged father and sailors in distant parts and yet it found its way into tedious domesticity in suburban London!!! In a sympathetic vein I could try to see the novel through the eyes of a victorian reader of the late 1880s and be sensationalised by the scandal of divorce and the impropriety of the characters but even then the book's characters are insensible puppets performing to Collins' mad whims. I suppose in serial form it might have been a different read and it is possible his readers would have been happy with a lightweight piece of family romance/scandal but I expected a bit more. There is a real inconsistency in the writing. Some passages, particularly setting up scenes or introducing new characters, compare well with the best of his writing but there are chunks of writing that fall well below his usual standard. The plot is woeful, heavily dependent on coincidence and frankly as convoluted as they get....but all for very little meaningful purpose!! The novel does serve to highlight the views of the late victorian period and the ridiculous attitudes to women, infidelity, marriage, divorce, religion and class. Collins also uses the book to have a pop at the USA and the topical controversy over copyright. I understand that Collins wrote this in 1885 some 4 years before his death. He was heavily addicted to Laudanum and was in poor health so this probably explains the inconsistency and faults in the novel. As for the Evil Genius....what a ridiculously bad title!!!