Nobody reads a book to get to the middle.
The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book.
I read all the time... I read a lot of history books.
Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.
Stephen King. Now I'm not crazy about him, but he's a great a writer.
Victor Saville was bad news because he wanted money just to do one big picture.