Vincent,
I hope you do finish it, and I hope the rest of the book is more enjoyable and useful to you.
Everyone else,
Thanks for the constructive criticism. I've already made some changes due to messages I've received from readers, so it's always helpful to me. Of course I won't agree with every problem that readers have, but it's good to know about these issues so I can make corrections, clarifications or changes. Thanks.
As for the free chapter on The River that a poster referred to, it can be found here:
A preview chapter: The River
It is in an adobe acrobat format online, that means some may have trouble viewing it.