Review: Holdup

Holdup by Terry Fields

Other books by Author: After the Death of Anna Gonzales; My Father's Son

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Description: It was just another ordinary Saturday night for the teens working at Burger Heaven until everything changed in an instant. Suddenly, there were guns drawn, a quick exit denied, and threats made. And when the evening ended, neither the robbers’ nor the hostages’ lives would ever be the same. Holdup is a novel in four parts. Parts One and Two explore each person’s life before they are all thrown together in this most unexpected and frightening evening. Part Three allows the reader to live through the experience of the robbery itself, and Part Four reveals the unexpected and surprising effects of that night’s chance encounter one year later .

Review: I really wanted to like this book, but I didn't. I didn't really care what happened to any of the characters, and they all seemed really flat to me. The only one I could maybe relate to is Joe, (which is such a plain name. I come from a small island where every other boy is named Joe. Maybe that's what the author was trying to get out, he's an 'average joe') who gets compared to a blank, white wall. And he tries to get rid of that boring reputation by trying to impress a girl, by lying to her. He tells her about this cool truck he has, and he invites himself over her house to show her. However, the truck is not even his. Later, in an attempt to borrow his cousins car, he has to give him tickets for a concert. But he has no money! So he pretends to be poor and begs for money on the side of the street. And then this cool older guy comes over in his truck, asking Joe to pretend to rob a restaurant with him. But it's gonna be a real holdup, unknowing to Joe.

My favorite character was the 'cool older guy' named Dylan. He feels he's this child genius, and he's really cocky and thinks he's smarter than all adults. The reason I liked him was because he had come cool quotes in the book. And he quoted figures like Napoleon and Shakespeare. That is all. He was always putting down the human race, saying how stupid and unreliable we are. I didn't like that.

I did not care for any of the hostages. You had Alex, who was like a pervert, and hit on the other girls who worked there; Theresa, who's this vegan, great body, super healthy girl working in a fast food place. She made it seem like she was above everyone because she didn't eat meat; Sara, who said like every sentence. It was annoying; and Jordan, who takes on the role of Manager for the night. None of them interested me.

I feel like if this was a longer book, I would have liked it more. It was only 158 pages, and I felt the whole set-up of the robbery was rushed. If it was longer, it could have maybe went into greater detail about the characters, and made them more interesting. I liked the premise of the book, but it just didn't follow through.

"I’m always too scared, too safe, to have any real fun. Why can’t I do this?"

Holdup; Terri Fields