The Bad Book in a Series

I made a promise at the LA Times Festival of Books that the next time I was part of Weekly Geeks, I would post earlier.  I think this qualifies.

The topic this week is that book in a series you just don't like.  Do you stop the series after one bad book?  Do you put the book down and pick the next one in the series up?  That kind of thing.

As you might have noticed, I am a series reader, so this would almost be right up by ally.  Almost.

Most series I read, I enjoy all the books.  Occasionally, I'll run across one or two books that aren't up to par, but the next one will restore my faith in the series.  And even then, I still enjoyed the weaker entry.

The exception to that is James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series.  The last good book was 4th of July.  Yet I am stopping by the library to pick up the latest tonight.  Why?  Because they are fast reads, so I don't feel like I am wasting a lot of my time.  And, since I am borrowing them instead of buying them, I'm not wasting any money.

The problem I have is that once I start something, I have to know how it ends.  Hence why I am still watching Heroes when the rest of the sane world has given up on it.  (Please, NBC, put me out of my misery and cancel it!)  Even if I start a book, and I'm not enjoying it, I must finish it or else it will drive me crazy.  And I can't just skip to the end, either.  I do find myself skimming a bit to finish faster, but that's about it.

Now, when it comes to a new series, I am getting pickier.  If the first book doesn't show a lot of promise, I don't tend to pick up book two.  I have enough books on my to be read pile that I don't need to add books in a series that doesn't interest me.

So if you are an author I like, I'll give you a couple of bad books before I consider cutting you from my list.  However, if you are a new to me author, better bring you A game or I won't read you again.