After two great books in a row I guess it is likely that there’ll be a downturn. This book starts with a nice idea for a story – but seems to be in a hurry. When I found that the story is related to the Bosnian/Serbian war I was interested, but in the end the little bit of knowledge I got from this book seemed hardly worth the time to read it.
I don’t know anything about the author, but this particular book played out like a thriller/action novel. The writer keeps the pace brisk but in doing that sacrifices a lot of subtlety and nuance. The bad guys are irretrievably bad, the good guys wear clean white hats. Because of this simplistic treatment there were almost no surprises and I found myself laying out the entire plot of the book within a few chapters.
This kind of writing might be fine for a quick read on an airplane going somewhere, but after the last two books I read focused on reflection and carefully thought out prose, this one landed awkwardly.
Next I am reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley.
