When do you not finish a book?

Following on from something I wrote yesterday and also something I saw on Twitter earlier - when do you not finish a book?

I am an avid reader and have a book on the go constantly but I think I can count on one hand the amount of books that I have note finished. They have to be really bad for me not to get to the end. The ones I can remember are:

Dan Brown: Angels and Demons.
I had really enjoyed The Da Vinci Code and just as the above hit the big screen I thought I would read the book first. I have to say that I got the very last pages before I gave up so I did read the majority of the story. I think I had even got to the part where I found out who was responsible and the end was just going on and on and on so I shut the book and it's not been opened again since.

Mark Billingham: Death Message
I was very disappointed in this book and in Mark himself. I was due to attend a crime writing workshop hosted by Mark Billingham so I thought I would try out one of his books as I'd never read any before. This one was in the library and looked very good so I tried it, and I'm afraid I didn't like it. I got half way through and I already knew who had committed the crime and the rest of the book was spent chasing this guy around London (I think as I didn't finish this one either). I was bored, there was no mystery left in the story.

And, when I went to the workshop, Mark told everyone not to reveal who the killer was too early on in the book as you need to build suspense! I will remember that to this day and I'm glad I read it because now I know what not to do. I tried reading another one of his books after the workshop but I got a far as the second chapter and just couldn't stomach it. Which is a shame because I really liked the person behind the books and learnt a lot from his workshop.

Patricia Cornwell: Scarpetta
I have a passion for forensic crime, I love CSI and have watched nearly all of Bones. Kathy Reichs is my favourite author and I've nearly read all of her books too so I thought I would try something related to keep me going when I've finished all of Kathy's books. Scarpetta was in a buy one get one free offer a while back so I bought myself a copy and got stuck in.

Whether I wasn't in the mood or what but I just couldn't get in to it. The words wouldn't go in and even now I couldn't tell you what it was about. All I remember is a control room of some sort but that's about it. Maybe the story didn't appeal, I'm not sure but I really didn't enjoy it. I put it down after 2 thirds of the way through knowing I was getting nothing out of it. Which again is a shame because she has written so many good books. However I will try another of her books at some point - maybe from the library so I don't get stuck with a copy if I don't like it.


Barbara Vine: A Fatal Inversion
I was recommended this book as my other half had seen the TV series and loved it. He had read reviews and said that the book was meant to be even better than the TV series, so I was expecting great things. It wasn't to be. It was very long and drawn out and took ages to get to the point. There were lots of characters and I kept having to refer to the back to remember who was who. Also it kept skipping between the past and present and it was very difficult to determine which time zone I was in. I was desperate to find out who did it so started to skim read. In the end I gave up and had to watch the TV series to find out who did it and I have to say the TV series was very good, but the book was no where near that good, I'm sorry.

So there are my four novels of recent years that I have note finished. I would love to hear about your experiences and why you didn't get to finish the book!