I must admit, before picking this book up I'd never read Jodi Picoult before. I knew she was wildly popular, prolific and highly-praised for her work, and people had been recommending her to me for years, so I thought I'd finally take the plunge.

Was it worth it?

Well, yes and no. Firstly, there's no doubt about it: Salem Falls is a fast-paced page-turner with more twists and turns than a rollercoaster ride. Nor is Picoult shy of dealing with those contentious topics - rape, incest, the shortcomings of the legal system - that fluffier fiction will not touch. And there's a strong moral here, namely that we shouldn't pre-judge people until we know the facts. Besides, this is good entertainment value, with a cleverly-constructed plot; it's well-written for the most part, and if you're looking for a relatively undemanding read this could be for you.

But ... somehow, I'm just underwhelmed. I prefer my novels to have a bit of depth, and this, for all its glittering lights and colours, just seemed to be all surface. I mean, some of these characters are so flat! One-dimensional, walking, talking marionettes, they seem to exist solely to flesh out Picoult's narrative. Take our hero, Jack St Bride - is this character one of the most shameful examples of authorial wish-fulfillment ever? He's so incredibly handsome that just about every woman he encounters falls madly in love with him. He's strong - but gentle. He's intelligent - but sensitive. He's the best teacher ever. He rescues helpless damsels from oversexed footballers. He comforts a grieving mother. Oh, and he's rich too. In fact, he quickly comes to resemble a sort of modern-day secular saint: think Princess Diana with a Y-chromosome. Does this man have any flaws at all? Well, he gets a bit annoyed at being falsely accused all the time. In fact, he almost gets angry on one occasion. Wow - that's depth for you.

Besides, all these characters are so moronically stupid! Addie, despite a painful past involving a rape, wastes no time in falling for a complete stranger, despite the fact that he's very clearly hiding some dark secret. Teenage girls respond to Jack's rejection by making false accusations against him, apparently unaware of or indifferent to the hornets' nest this will stir up. Same teenage girls deliberately take a massive overdose of poison during their Wiccan ceremonies, oblivious to the fact that, as they're in the middle of the woods, there'll be no medical help forthcoming if it all goes horribly wrong. Even Jack (who's meant to be really clever, apparently because he's good at a TV trivia quiz) can't work out that some relationships with teenage girls, while not sexual, may nevertheless be inappropriate. I mean, driving an underage girl off to get birth control pills?! (Oh, and by the way, Einstein - if you're a convicted sex offender, it's probably not a good idea to hang around near school sports fields accosting teenage girls.)

So ... meh. It wasn't that bad, and it wasn't that great either. Oh, and another thing - the much-lauded final twist can be seen coming a mile away, so don't get too excited about that, either.