This was a quick, fun read. It is my first book by this author, and hopefully their other books are as well-written.
The story is fast-paced and reminded me a lot of the old TV show Lost – several characters with deep backstories revealed in flashbacks, struggling to survive in a very demanding location. The author did a great job of cutting the fat and leaving just the lean meat of the story so I was turning pages like an airport thriller.
But although there are a lot of stressful situations for the characters, there is also a lot of history and I felt like the book set in the 1960’s really captured world events that were happening at the time.
On the downside I thought the ending of the story worked a little hard to tie up all the loose ends quickly and almost anti-climatically. There were also times that I could see the author sort of forcing in contemporary social issues (American racism, women’s empowerment) into this fictional 1960’s world – and it stuck out to me as throwing a bone to the modern reader. Not a big deal, but it did catch my attention.
Overall a great book: fun to read, good characters, a believable exciting story in a unique location, and well researched on top of that.
Next I’m reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles.
