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A review by _cecilie_
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is a novel, I was told. But is it a novel? I beg to differ - albeit begging reluctantly and differing pettily. On the surface it is exactly what it tells you it is: A retelling about what is known today as the Great Train Robbery and boy, was I excited to read this. Heists? On trains? Based on a true story? Are you kidding me, this is great!
But then the book starts with an introduction on the 'civilization' of big cities in Victorian England and I was like, fair enough, this isn't terribly exciting to me personally because I know most of this already but ok. But then it begins and it recounts and explains and presents and expounds what happened, who was involved, their life stories, where it happened, what happened around the same time even if it's irrelevant to the story itself and all in great detail. And I like the details just fine but this is not a novelization of a true crime train heist. It's the train heist presented as true crime non-fiction but with new, imaginary details and some dialogues sprinkled in. The audiobook especially reads like a student presentation, on an interesting topic for sure, but it's still a presentation and not a story.
The only aspect that made me feel something was the ending because I really wanted to know what happened to the people involved, and it was well satisfying for sure. But all in all, the book is not fun enough to really be engaging and it's not factual enough to excuse its lack of fun. But it's quite alright.
But then the book starts with an introduction on the 'civilization' of big cities in Victorian England and I was like, fair enough, this isn't terribly exciting to me personally because I know most of this already but ok. But then it begins and it recounts and explains and presents and expounds what happened, who was involved, their life stories, where it happened, what happened around the same time even if it's irrelevant to the story itself and all in great detail. And I like the details just fine but this is not a novelization of a true crime train heist. It's the train heist presented as true crime non-fiction but with new, imaginary details and some dialogues sprinkled in. The audiobook especially reads like a student presentation, on an interesting topic for sure, but it's still a presentation and not a story.
The only aspect that made me feel something was the ending because I really wanted to know what happened to the people involved, and it was well satisfying for sure. But all in all, the book is not fun enough to really be engaging and it's not factual enough to excuse its lack of fun. But it's quite alright.