Review: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line

Title: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line
Author: Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham
Publisher: Random House
Published: March 25th 2014
Series: Veronica Mars #1
How I Served It: Audiobook (Read by Kristen Bell)
How I Got It: Purchased (Barnes and Noble)

"The first book in an original mystery series featuring twenty-eight-year-old Veronica Mars, back in action after the events of Veronica Mars: The Movie. 

With the help of old friends—Logan Echolls, Mac Mackenzie, Wallace Fennel, and even Dick Casablancas—Veronica is ready to take on Neptune's darkest cases with her trademark sass and smarts." -- Goodreads


So, maybe it's a bad sign or a bad showing of my loyalty to the franchise or whatever, but my hopes for this book were not especially high.  I just didn't see how a book could live up to the show (and I loved the show, and the movie too - LoVe was/is/always will be my OTP).  Even with Rob Thomas behind the wheel I just wasn't sure how good it could possibly be.  I think I was actually thinking in terms of how bad it was going to be.


Let's be straight, this is NOT Veronica Mars the TV show.  There is no Jason Dohring. In fact, Logan is barely in this, which bounces from a little to a lot disappointing.  That said, this is by no means bad.  In fact, I thought it was really good for what it was.  I listened to the audiobook which was read by Kristen Bell, and I think that helped make it feel more real to me.  Otherwise I think I would have had a hard time adjusting to accepting that this story is really what happens after the movie and not just someones very well-written fan fiction.  I really hope she does the second one too - it really added to the noir feeling legitimately hearing everything in Veronica's voice... plus it was super amusing listening to Bell's attempts at putting on her costars' voices.


The plot of The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, with all of its twists and turns reminded me why I used to love the show so much.  Yeah, it was missing the episode-by-episode mini-stories, but as a whole I feel like this book was an entire season's story arc.  Thomas has a real knack for leading a reader/viewer in one direction and then spinning you around and showing you what the real villain was doing behind your back when you thought he was just like, chilling and making lemonade in the corner.

Spoilers start here! The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line focuses around two supposed abductions of spring break party-ers in Neptune.  I thought it was a little odd that we'd never heard about Spring Break being a super party time in Neptune before, but I was willing to roll with it.  I thought it was cool just how many possible suspects Thomas presented and discredited.  The fact that the two kidnappings originally appear linked and then are show to be an isolated incident and a copycat crime was such a typical Veronica Mars twist, I was mad I didn't see it coming.  I mean, once they introduced Tanner as a bit of an odd duck and Aurora as a wild child, it should have been obvious.  Maybe the fact that this twist took until almost the end to set in is a credit to how long it's been since I watched the show... or maybe it's still a credit to how good Thomas is at constructing believable mysteries.

What I've always loved about this series is it's ability to mix humor with drama, and this doesn't fall short.  Yeah, some of the twists, such as the re-emergence of Veronica's recovering alcoholic mother, felt a little like a soap opera... but I still loved them.  I thought the introduction of Aurora (technically Veronica's step-sister I guess?) as a sort of alternate Veronica was brilliant.  Aurora is everything Veronica could/would have turned into if Keith wasn't so awesome.  It really tied in to her internal debate about who she really was and whether or not she was making a huge mistake in being true to herself.

I thought the way Keith reacted to Veronica's choice to stay in Neptune and be a private detective was handled pretty well.  There's no way any father would be cool with his daughter essentially discarding her Stamford/Columbia degrees to be a Private Eye.  I do feel like he came around pretty quickly, but that suits his character and their relationship.  I wonder, moving forward in the series, if Thomas will create inner-office tension, or if this is all that we'll hear on the matter.  Knowing Thomas, I doubt he'll let them off that easy.

Speaking of letting relationships off easy... where was Logan?  I mean, I get that this book series is not just a Veronica-Logan fan-fiction.  I especially get, and appreciate, that this book in particular was about Veronica cementing who she was more than who they were... and  I loved the little details thrown in about how she was driving his car and how mad he'd be when he found out about the shenanigans she was getting up to... but I wish we could have seen his reactions to her more reckless choices.  Those types of choices were the reason the couple didn't last on the show (</3), and I want to know how/if this dynamic has changed.  I hope he's more vocal in the sequel...

The Final Noodle: Five Spoons Up
For a book about a TV show, this exceeds all expectations.  It doesn't drag, it doesn't feel stilted.  Yeah, there's a bit of an adjustment curve to get used to the different format (again, the audiobook definitely is the way to go), but I think it's worth it. I' m excited for the next one :).

Always,
Vicky