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A review by popcorndiva
Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
3.0
3 Stars
Disclaimer: the back cover of this book is slightly misleading. From the synopsis and being the first book in the series, you would expect that this book would explore some of Gideon's childhood and past and focus on the story of him avenging his father's death, as mentioned on the back cover. However, there is no background exploration here and the tale of retribution for his father is finished in the first 50 pages. That's when things take an unexpected turn. The story then turns to Gideon working as a rogue agent on a top secret mission that he is highly unqualified for. I didn't mind the turn of events, it's just not what I expected from the cover flap.
Overall, this was a decent book that focused on fast paced action, but lacked significant character development. The chapters were very short, roughly 3-5 pages per chapter, which helped keep the pace moving quickly. The story was simple despite the number of twists that the authors used. However, the simple story line and the constant action made it incredibly hard to put this book down. I was engrossed in what would happen next and how everything would tie together.
My two biggest critiques of this book were the complete suspension of belief that you needed to believe what was happening and the lack of character development. As many other reviewers have mentioned, this book was a little bit preposterous. Gideon seems to have no flaws that prevent him from accomplishing his mission and even when it seems like he is about to fail, something magically falls into place that saves him. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally fine with a certain degree of implausibility, however nothing about this book was believable. Also, most of the characters were just there - no one stood out as particularly special or interesting. Every character was basic and essentially was just included to serve a purpose (usually saving Gideon's ass out of nowhere or showing how irresistible he is to the only two woman main/side characters he encounters in the book), but no character had a true arc.
But! That won't stop me from reading more in the series at some point. I have also read Tyrannosaur Canyon by these authors and I really do like the stories they have to tell, even if they aren't the most well crafted or believable. I'd also like to check out the Pendergast series. I have seen many other reviews highly recommended it.
If you like other works by these authors, if you want a quick and easy read, or even if you're just considering reading this I would say to go for it. What this book lacks in depth, it makes up for in action. I'll definitely be checking out the next book in the series from the library at some point soon.
Disclaimer: the back cover of this book is slightly misleading. From the synopsis and being the first book in the series, you would expect that this book would explore some of Gideon's childhood and past and focus on the story of him avenging his father's death, as mentioned on the back cover. However, there is no background exploration here and the tale of retribution for his father is finished in the first 50 pages. That's when things take an unexpected turn. The story then turns to Gideon working as a rogue agent on a top secret mission that he is highly unqualified for. I didn't mind the turn of events, it's just not what I expected from the cover flap.
Overall, this was a decent book that focused on fast paced action, but lacked significant character development. The chapters were very short, roughly 3-5 pages per chapter, which helped keep the pace moving quickly. The story was simple despite the number of twists that the authors used. However, the simple story line and the constant action made it incredibly hard to put this book down. I was engrossed in what would happen next and how everything would tie together.
My two biggest critiques of this book were the complete suspension of belief that you needed to believe what was happening and the lack of character development. As many other reviewers have mentioned, this book was a little bit preposterous. Gideon seems to have no flaws that prevent him from accomplishing his mission and even when it seems like he is about to fail, something magically falls into place that saves him. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally fine with a certain degree of implausibility, however nothing about this book was believable. Also, most of the characters were just there - no one stood out as particularly special or interesting. Every character was basic and essentially was just included to serve a purpose (usually saving Gideon's ass out of nowhere or showing how irresistible he is to the only two woman main/side characters he encounters in the book), but no character had a true arc.
But! That won't stop me from reading more in the series at some point. I have also read Tyrannosaur Canyon by these authors and I really do like the stories they have to tell, even if they aren't the most well crafted or believable. I'd also like to check out the Pendergast series. I have seen many other reviews highly recommended it.
If you like other works by these authors, if you want a quick and easy read, or even if you're just considering reading this I would say to go for it. What this book lacks in depth, it makes up for in action. I'll definitely be checking out the next book in the series from the library at some point soon.