Lori M. (lormac) reviewed on 4/3/2011 + 120 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Loved this book. Again (a theme in my reviews) I listened to it on CD, and that made all the difference. I had tried to pick it up several times before, but never got beyond the first chapter, but the book on CD had me hooked in the first few minutes. The reader, Peter Riegert, did a great job with voices and the flow of the language - particularly in dialogue. Some of the characters, like Berko Shemets, will live in my memory permanently, and the setting Sitka, Alaska in an alternate world history is thrilling, as are some of the subplots involving chess fanatics, Phillipino doughnuts and an underground tunnel system.
The only thing that lost it the final star is the plot. Set as a murder mystery, the plot gets lost in the sauce, so to speak. By the end of the book, while you know who-dun-it, there are still a number of unanswered questions, which may have been the author's intent, but which still bother me. (Did Mendel perform those miracles or were they legends? What did Elijah know, or was he just a random red herring?)

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details