Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Sad to say I thought this book, which I'd very much looked forward to reading, was terrible: murky and shallow. The identity of the dark leather-face 'mystery man', around which much of the presumed suspense revolves (and which takes the writer 350-odd gruelling pages to divulge), was only too obvious from the word 'go'. One of the main reasons I kept reading was that I assumed my initial guess was too simple and that I must therefore be wrong. So I was left feeling cheated and annoyed. The writing is indeed (as one critic described it) 'florid'. Though at times self-consciously clever, it's melodramatic, at times gruesome, contrived, and devoid of joy, enshrouding the reader in an oppressive atmosphere. When I finished the book I felt depleted and only too relieved to emerge at last into the light of day.