When is it a wallbanger?

How many chances do you give a book that is disappointing you? At what point do you give up completely and toss the sucker? Do you finish every book you start? How long do you give it?

Does it change if the author is one of your favorites vs. an author who is new to you? Do you give a book more chances if it’s getting a lot of buzz, or is by an established author than you do if it’s a debut by an unknown?

I’m currently struggling through a book by a rising midlist author. I’m on page 125, and my throwing arm has been twitching for the last few chapters. The writing has some rough spots, the dialogue seems forced in places, the plot needs a jump start, and the coincidences are almost more than a girl can take. The characterizations of the secondary character “friends” change from page to page depending on how they should reflect upon the protags (i.e., in one scene, the best friend is this ditzy wild child with a ne’er do well husband and wearing worn, holey clothing who doesn’t seem to care for appearances, and two chapters down the road the friend is a fun-loving, stylish fashionista that “turns heads” in a fashionable bistro and has a successful home and love life). In the last scene I read, one of the characters is breaking into the villain’s office in search of secret files. She knows the villain is a total neat freak who would notice if “even one sheet of paper was shifted” and so is extra careful in her snooping. Even when she hears his car pull up, she spends a good half a page making sure everything is in place and just the way she left it. However, in the midst of all this careful, fear-driven straightening up, we are told that “without thinking, she tossed her tissue in the empty wastebasket” and then she goes back to making sure nothing else has been touched!

Okay, leaving aside the character’s blatant TSTL tendencies, that was a damn clumsy way for the author to point out that the villain is most definiltey going to discover the snooping. I’m not a mystery reader, and I don’t pick up on “clues” when reading books (you’re talking to the girl who was surprised when Mr. Darcy proposed, m’kay?), but this clue wasn’t the slightest bit subtle, and it stuck out like a whitehead on a teen’s forehead. Have her forget to clean up something, have her not remember whether the chair was pushed in or pulled out, have her accidentally leave footprints on the floor — but in the midst making sure that everything is where it’s supposed to be, she “doesn’t think”?

Sorry. Not buying it. This might be the dealbreaker for me. How long do you give a book? How many chances does it get?