Why I Put Down a Novel

I start many novels; I finish few. After years of writing, editing, and evaluating works of fiction, I have reader ADD. I read mostly crime/mystery/suspense and some sci-fi, but here’s what makes me put down a book:

• Slow start with too much day-in-the-life detail or too much backstory (I like it when a novel makes me think Oh shit in the first few pages)
• Protagonists who do stupid things (especially before I start to like them)
• Stories that jump back and forth in time for no good reason
• Characters who have cutsie names or are obsessed with their pets (Sorry!)
• Detailed gratuitous graphic violence
• Detailed graphic sex scenes (They’re all gratuitous unless you write erotica)
• Characters who bicker with their siblings or spouses (I’ve seen a lot of this lately!)
• Too many characters introduced in the first few pages with no real explanation of who they are
• Pages and pages with no dialogue
• Protagonists who engage in immoral acts, like harming an innocent person (I need at least one person to root for)
• Long, meandering side stories that take me out of the main plot
• Serial killers (No offense if you write them, I’m just burnt out)

What makes you put down a book?