This book marked the first dud I’ve read in quite a while. I had heard good things about it, but unfortunately I found a lot to dislike.
I’d like to write some of the good points to start, as a way to balance all the bad ones, but there’s really nothing to highlight for me. In the beginning my hopes and the anticipation of a mystery were enough to get me through the first few chapters, but from there my frustration and disappointment just started to build.
The book kind of reminded me of the DaVinci Code – the prose was stilted and seemed to be more about telling you things rather than showing them. I thought there should have been more elegant ways to introduce back story – but the author couldn’t be bothered to search for them. The plot moves forward and the characters are one dimensional and the surprises are telegraphed from the beginning and I could go on and on.
The best part of reading this book is that it showed me examples of writers shouldn’t do, and it made me notice what other writers do well: create dialogue and pacing that carry the reader along without them necessarily noticing.
So I’ll put down the hammer and walk away from this book – I’m sure whatever I read next will be better.
I haven’t chosen my next book, but I am reading The Wok by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt in the background while waiting for the next big book to drop in my lap.
