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3.12 AVERAGE
3.12 AVERAGE
‘Suppose, he said, that I discovered a manuscript of a literary work, a lost literary work. Who would own the rights to it? I said, that would depend.’
I was searching for ‘an academic thriller’ to meet a particular reading challenge prompt when I stumbled across this novel. I was intrigued and picked it up.
Meet Jake Mishkin, an intellectual property lawyer, and Albert Crosetti, an aspiring filmmaker and antiquarian bookseller. Their worlds are turned upside down when a fire breaks out in an antiquarian bookstore. As the damage is assessed, correspondence from Richard Bracegirdle, an English spy and soldier from the 17th century, is discovered within another book. The correspondence contains a couple of the letters, written by Bracegirdle to his wife as he was dying in 1642. The letters contain contemporary references to Shakespeare (who died in 1616) and seem to indicate the existence of a play by him. The clue to the location of the play may well be contained in the other correspondence by Bracegirdle, which is encrypted.
Yes, even I can imagine how valuable such a manuscript would be.
The novel shifts between 21st century America and 17th century England, recreating William Shakespeare’s life at the turn of the 17th century and the quest by Mishkin and Crosetti in the 21st century to try to find the manuscript. Who can they trust?
There’s more to the story than this, but I cannot write more without introducing spoilers. There’s plenty of action, a deal of complexity, and several flawed characters.
Yes, I enjoyed it.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I got bored with the story and the dual stories felt fragmented.
Whilst the plot line itself was fairly interesting, I was incredibly disappointed with the writing style. It took away from the novel and made reading it less enjoyable
Mystery/thriller about a lost Shakespeare play. Very engrossing.
I expected more from this book, based on the dust jacket description and rave reviews of Gruber's writing. Many characters were unlikeable and some unbelieveable. Often, I had the impression that something happened, I just wasn't sure what. I wouldn't say that the plot was too complicated, I'd say it wasn't clear enough. There were parts that dragged, and in the end I was just glad to be done with it. In the end, I'm glad that I only paid $1 for this as a used book. If it were a film, it'd be in the category "rent only if you've seen everything else and are really bored."
This doesn't hold up well compared to the other Shakespeare related thriller I've read. There are three perspectives and I couldn't be bothered to read the one written in olde English. It also felt too long. I started skimming by the last 100-150 pages.
I am enjoying it, but I will finish this review when I finish it.
Only finished because I have to read it to lead the book club. I hated the main characters and couldn't get into the olde-timey language that about 1/4 of the novel is written in. It seemed like a very male-centric fantasy book where the men are schlubs yet they always get the girl. When the mystery came together I did enjoy how it all fit but the last 20 pages couldn't make up for how much I disliked the rest of it.
This book has a very slow start, establishing character and associations that, in the end, confuse some of the events at the end of the book. The twists in the plot are sometimes a bit harsh and unbelievable. If the screenwriter Crosetti had come in the last 10 pages and said this was all one of his scripts, I wouldn't have been surprise. I did enjoy reading the last 200 pages, but I can't put it on my top favorites list. Maybe I'm too much of a pure thriller fan.