Melody Murray's Books

The story of Stafford's grueling journey on foot is begging to be told. By someone other than Stafford. He needed a ghost writer. Or a team of iron-stomached editors. Stafford just plain can't write worth a damn.His journey is a fascinating one- but he rarely pulls his head out of his ass long enough to tell the reader anything about the wildlife, the people he meets, or even the scenery. We spend a lot of time inside his head, which is a dank and dolorous place. Stafford is clinically depressed for much of the trek, and when he's not, he's quarreling and quibbling with his staff. He reminds me curiously of Ayla from [b:The Clan of the Cave Bear|1295|The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children, #1)|Jean M. Auel|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1324059993s/1295.jpg|1584694]- the star turns are done by Stafford. All the best ideas are his. There's some what I saw as self-serving justification very early on, when he falls out with his initial partner- and that set the tone for me. I didn't like his authorial voice from page one. The, um, the photos are interesting. There, I've said something nice.