Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were a reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

Last time we saw Quaid get attacked (and given black and blue balls) by his not-wife and dragged off after having to decide which lie of his life is actually technically true.

How was your day?

Chapter 19: Escape

The chapter beings with a line from the end of the previous chapter as it starts at the end of Lori’s call for Richter to come up. I think it works here. Back in the hotel, Quaid begins to recover and of course he starts checking out Lori’s legs as he tries to get his wits back about him. (Say what you will about Sharon Stone’s acting, even today she’s got a good set of legs.) Then someone comes out of the elevator, bullets flying.

Piers Anthony: Then, as his gaze made it to her face…

Me: I’m surprised he made it up there before the fight was over.

It’s Melina, and we get a catfight, followed by another mild deviation, and one that I think works better for the scene. In the movie, Quaid drops his “consider this a divorce” line after shooting Lori. Here he says it before. If you’re going to use a cool line, make sure the baddie gets to hear it.

Richter’s response…let’s be honest, it’s not that different from the first time we saw him chase Quaid. Anthony also threw in a paragraph where Richter talks about how much he liked her smile, and of course throws in that she’s great in bed. I gave up wondering how long it had been since Anthony had been with a woman before writing this adaptation before we hit chapter 10.

Benny cuts off Richter and Helm and rescue Quaid. Here’s a spoiler for someone who hasn’t seen the original movie or read this adaptation. Benny is Cohaagen’s agent and I’ll get into the full extent of his mission when we’re forced to get there. I have to wonder if Cohaagen himself sent Benny in because a dead Hauser/Quaid won’t be of any use to his Rube Goldberg-style plan for the rebels. I’m still wondering why Richter was even kept on this assignment. How stupid is Cohaagen? Actually, we’ll find out in a few chapters. Next time it’s back to the brothel, where there are a few surprises that I CAN discuss on a mostly-PG blog.

Next Time: Kuato

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