Customer Reviews: Read 84 more reviews...
 The Book of Boredom and Dread July 21, 2008
What a waste of money and time! I did finish the book but it was torturous. I dreaded reading it but made myself complete it. Never again will I do that! I found the characters to be unbelievable and irritating. This book put me to sleep many times. My advice to anyone thinking of buying this book is a resounding NO! If you still aren't quite sure, at least go the library, check it out and save your money!
A review of the first 56 pages July 18, 2008
That's because I only managed to slog my way through that many. Phooey on this book. Another author who is paid by the word, not the idea or story telling abilities. Way too many digressions (even the narrator admits to that), and the old manuscript in olde English was a trial as well.
Life's too short to spend on books like this.
 Could have been good... July 7, 2008
After finally finishing this messy, plodding, self-conscious book, I read reviews by others, including the biggies...Washington Post, etc. It seems that everyone else loved this book that, for me, fell so far short of air and shadows that I was tempted to skip the ending and move on to something better. The topic is compelling. I'm a fan of the literary thriller in general and this could have been really good; that is, if you took out all the dull character studies where, I swear, I could hear Michael Gruber thinking of ways to sound intellectual and profound. It was Dan Brown with a broader vocabulary and a bigger ego. Yuck. A waste of a good idea.
PLEASE don't waste your time July 1, 2008
This book was pretty close to awful. I bought it because there were so many good reviews. One review said it was better than The DaVinci Code which I thought was just okay, so I was really excited about reading this. I was extremely disappointed. This novel is so contrived and cliched that I could only make it through 100 pages. That was as much of my life as I wanted to waste. Just to be sure I hadn't passed up a slow-starting gem I also read the last few pages and found that the conclusion was predictable and wholly uninteresting. None of the characters were engaging and it felt like Gruber was just spitting out every style of writing he could think of.
The book is basically divided into 3 sections which alternate in the hopes of building tension (in reality it only builds frustration). One section is written basically in the present, but with first person past tense (the character is remembering how his involvement in the "mystery" started). Then the second section takes place in the recent past but is written in third person present. Finally, the third section is actually a manuscript written by a man on his death bed to his wife (may sound interesting, but it isn't). To add to all this fluff the character that is relating his involvement occasionally slips into stream of consciousness writing (no, nothing like Faulkner). He also recalls events and then says that that isn't actually what happened because he is writing from memory and memories are really just fabrications.
I wish my memory of this book wasn't so vivid because then I could fabricate memories of a more enjoyable experience...like sticking my hand in a meat grinder.
 Hang on to the End for a Wild Ride with Michael Gruber June 20, 2008
If you're hoping for another DaVinci Code, this won't be the Holy Grail for you, but you won't be able to resist the power and humor of the narration in this book! The narrator is an attorney, and with apologies to any attorneys who will read this review, you will no doubt recognize yourself or a colleague or two here. At the very least, you'll easily follow his logic and motivation and perhaps stay one step ahead of the rest of us, who after thinking they've found in him some redeeming quality, mostly just want to smack him! As I said, my apology.... That repeated, the plot involves the discovery of a clue to a lost manuscript by Shakespeare, wrapped in murder, but possibly cloaked in a brilliant hoax. Lots of red herrings here. Lots of air and shadows too. Gruber takes the reader from the streets of New York to the inner sanctums of British and American academics who have their own hierarchies and petty intrigues. The man has certainly done his historical homework and you'll be the wiser for it. All of the characters are complex and memorable but have to watch their backs right up to to the very last sentence of the very last page. This one is a great summer read that you're sure to share with friends.
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