I was really hoping to like this...I haven't read this author before, but
the idea behind it was so good, so intriguing, that I had to read it....But this book turned out to be utterly horrific....terribly written, with far too many characters! And The Police Commissario, Dante (the cousin of the "Hero", Nick) was undeservedly given a starring role...I think we actually got more from his POV than the from either of the other so called main characters...and to be honest he was an inept cop with little to no interest in solving his case!
and there was so so so much about the Palio, (the horse race) ....apparently watching and rooting for your neighborhood's horse, was more important than chasing after a murderer...who you know,is KILLING people.
There were also a number of descriptions of popular Italian haunts similar to a travel guide,...which would have been rather nice, if they fit in more...Every local was described, even ones where nothing happened in the story!
oh and those main characters! Their story, you know the one, the one that was supposed to be told (at least according to the summary) well it was hardly addressed....most of the book is about the horse race, the murder (and how much the Cop in charge didn't seem to care about doing his job) and Faith, the heroine coming into her own as a mathematician with her colleagues at their conference...
I think I started out liking the heroine and hating the hero, by the end, it was reversed...and there wasn't really and ending for them...some implications, but no real moment that felt like the end...It was more like, Miss Jennings realized that once the murder was found out, she had to draw the story to a close as soon as possible.
We also didn't get enough of Nick, the H, which I thought was unfortunate as he was the most interesting character...or could have been...he's been called a dumb jock by pretty much everyone excluding the heroine (of course), and I'd have liked to see him fight the label.
I'll admit, I will give her another chance, but not until I can the taste of this one out.
the idea behind it was so good, so intriguing, that I had to read it....But this book turned out to be utterly horrific....terribly written, with far too many characters! And The Police Commissario, Dante (the cousin of the "Hero", Nick) was undeservedly given a starring role...I think we actually got more from his POV than the from either of the other so called main characters...and to be honest he was an inept cop with little to no interest in solving his case!
and there was so so so much about the Palio, (the horse race) ....apparently watching and rooting for your neighborhood's horse, was more important than chasing after a murderer...who you know,is KILLING people.
There were also a number of descriptions of popular Italian haunts similar to a travel guide,...which would have been rather nice, if they fit in more...Every local was described, even ones where nothing happened in the story!
oh and those main characters! Their story, you know the one, the one that was supposed to be told (at least according to the summary) well it was hardly addressed....most of the book is about the horse race, the murder (and how much the Cop in charge didn't seem to care about doing his job) and Faith, the heroine coming into her own as a mathematician with her colleagues at their conference...
I think I started out liking the heroine and hating the hero, by the end, it was reversed...and there wasn't really and ending for them...some implications, but no real moment that felt like the end...It was more like, Miss Jennings realized that once the murder was found out, she had to draw the story to a close as soon as possible.
We also didn't get enough of Nick, the H, which I thought was unfortunate as he was the most interesting character...or could have been...he's been called a dumb jock by pretty much everyone excluding the heroine (of course), and I'd have liked to see him fight the label.
I'll admit, I will give her another chance, but not until I can the taste of this one out.
