City of Shadows: Amazon.ca: Ariana Franklin: Books

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid read but weak in parts, Dec 15 2008

By

Readalot (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Shadows (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book, especially the lead character, but what fell through for me was the disappointing unveiling of the villian. The end of the murder mystery was a letdown in my opinion..like the author had a great idea but just couldn't finish it off.

Villian aside, the ending of the book had a great twist and really threw me for a loop. I don't want to ruin it for anyone but it definitely caught me by surprise.

I quite like this author and recommend her books. She's a wonderful story teller and really brings her lead characters to life.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Weak in the middle, but good overall, May 15 2007

By

Rob Nicol (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City Of Shadows (Paperback)

I like mysteries set in Germany between the wars (e.g. "Rosa" by Rabb and the Berlin Noir trilogy by Kerr) and this is an excellent adaptation of that genre and period. Very readable and engaging from the beginning. The main characters (Schmidt and Solomonova) are well done. There are a couple of great plot twists. My only complaint would be that it lags a bit in the middle and could have been significantly shorter and tighter. Interesting ending...

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars Berlin in the '20s, Sep 8 2010

By

Keith Potter (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: City of Shadows (Mass Market Paperback)

"City of Shadows" is not part of Ariana Franklin's "Mistress of the Art of Death" series.

This is a book about Berlin in the 1920s.

It is a mystery but it is also a portrait of a place and time; Berlin itself becomes as much a character as Esther Solomonova and the rest of the Berliners in the book.

The book starts rather slowly but the characters develop well into people you care about - you want to rush through it to reach the conclusion of the mystery, but you also want to read it slowly to enjoy the development of the characters and the descriptions of a terrible but fascinating time in Germany. You understand why ordinary Germans could vote for Hitler, even as you shiver for what you know is coming.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 6 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 45 reviews 4.3 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Both her books are great..
are great. I think it must be very difficult to write good historical fiction but Franklin has written two excellent books, this one about 20's Berlin and her first about 1100's... Read more

Published on May 2 2010 by Jill Meyer

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Book Fast Read
I tore through this book at lightning speed. I kept wanting to slow down but I'd fallen in love with a woman who had a scar on her cheek - I wanted to know she was ok, that... Read more

Published on Mar 22 2009 by Dave and Joe