Per my review at http://baltimorereads.wordpress.com/2... 
 This past summer, I read the first book in a while that truly pulled at my heartstrings - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - which I intend to review for Baltimore Reads once I have the chance to reread it. Since reading The Book Thief, I have wanted to check out Zusak's other books and was fortunate to come across a copy of I Am The Messenger, his 2002 novel following nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy on his journey through a number of tasks assigned to him by an anonymous person via playing cards. The plot sounded intriguing and original on its own, but it was the impression that Zusak had cast on me through The Book Thief that had me reading I Am The Messenger right away, in the hopes that I would find something close to what I had found before. 
 In I Am The Messenger, Ed, a teenager with no direction or goal in life, finds himself in the midst of a game that is much bigger than himself. He mysteriously begins receiving aces in the mail, each suit giving clues to tasks Ed must perform. The aces begin showing up after Ed inadvertently foils a bank robbery and becomes somewhat of a town hero. At first Ed approaches the tasks warily and doesn't quite understand why he has been chosen, but as the novel progresses Ed's devotion to the tasks intensifies. They become somewhat of a lifeline for Ed, a means to finding out who he truly is and where he should be going in life. 
 I wanted to like I Am The Messenger so bad. I wanted to embrace Zusak's interesting style complete with short sentences and phrases that sometimes literally stop your heart with their power. But for some reason, his methods failed in this particular story. He was trying to hit readers over the head with his words, rather than let them sink in on their own. There was an obvious earnestness in his writing; he was attempting to produce something extremely touching and shocking, but it came across as desperate and forced. 
 My main problem with the book was that big moments and realizations occurred way too easily. When Ed receives the first ace, there isn't even a moment of confusion for him. He just knows that someone has sent him this playing card with three names on it so that he will go help these particular people. Countless times Ed has these epiphanies where rather than developing that plot more Zusak simply has Ed intuitively decide what he is supposed to be doing. I understand that sometimes we all have moments in our lives where we have a feeling that we have to be somewhere or do something, but it seemed like a bit of a cop out when Ed was having this experience every few pages. 
 I also found it difficult to connect with many of the characters in the novel. Ed was endearing as the narrator, but his friends and family were very shallow and underdeveloped. Audrey, Ed's love interest, comes off as self-centered and a tease. I found myself hoping the novel would end with him realizing she wasn't worth it. Ed's friend Ritchie is meant to be a supporting character, but he is held back in the storyline for so long that by the time his moment arrives it is hard to be concerned about the outcome. The one character that ended up having an intriguing and touching storyline was Marv, but he didn't come into his own until the final pages. 
 Maybe I shouldn't have gone into I Am The Messenger expecting anything remotely as good as The Book Thief. Zusak had three years in between this 2002 book and The Book Thief (2005) to expand upon his writing skills. To compare an author's works when they are constantly perfecting and building upon their past pieces isn't fair. But I couldn't help but have such high expectations, and I Am The Messenger certainly didn't meet them. I commend Zusak for his creativity, but moments of truly good writing are rare and the characters fall flat in this particular novel.