"A Book of American Martyrs,": By Joyce Carol Oates

    Yes, of course she can write--amazingly. Yes, she can churn out 800 plus pages in this novel, and--yes--the writing is of the highest caliber.
    But, but, but--- I do not recommend this book. It kept me interested for 400, perhaps 500, pages...but interest waned and waned. Perhaps her fame is such that no editor dares to tell her, "Joyce, this has got to be cut down--these 50 pages should not exceed 20. It will have much more impact if is more compact." And this formula could readily be applied to much of the book. 
    OK, briefly--an abortion doctor is assassinated by a man who believes he is doing it for Jesus: he is eventually executed by lethal injection in a way that goes horribly wrong. The legacy of these deaths is borne by the two families, where the future lives of the daughters of the abortionist and his murderer are affected in major ways. Thoroughly unconvincing is the course of the murderer's daughter's life, which seems to have been chosen simply because the avocation she follows has always interested Oates, has been the basis for an earlier novel, and it allows her to parade her expertise.
    The book is, I must concede, an achievement, but I doubt if you will stay with it longer than about 500 pages.