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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Despite some interesting characters and occasionally rich and lovely language, this book was irretrieveably brought down by a frankly silly plot. One reviewer accurately described it as a penny dreadful-type story. For a time I thought the writer might be using the old-fashioned style to write a clever book, but the last few chapters fatally undermined that hope. I have heard that later on the series improves, but I can't see sticking it out.
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After a long hiatus, the author gives us a book with interesting characters, a great plot, and fine sense of historical time and place, drowning in too many words. At 900 pages this book is merely okay, but at 400-500 it would have been great.
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Within the the first pages, reading a fairly standard scene about two cops ahaving their breakfast interrupted by a call to a crime scene, I could tell that this book would be distinguished by the quality of the writing. Holden takes a gripping, but fairly standard plot, and wraps it with a meditation on family and friendship, cowardice and courage. He gives his character an extraordinary voice, and uses nuances of language and style to give the story a depth and subtlety rarely seen in thrillers.
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