We can be friends, but not because of the book...

So, you know, in the Christmas spirit I am going to give this author the benefit of the doubt. When I first finished the book I wanted to punch him.. but upon further reflection, I think I actually did enjoy the book... so here is my second completely armature book review...

Ok, so for The Book of Air and Shadows (by Michael Gruber), I don't quite know what to say.

I guess, strictly speaking, I did like it... However, I am not sure I'd give it a ringing endorsement. It is certainly interesting. There are a lot of cool facts woven seamlessly into the story (unlike the book the Tenth Circle which seemed like the author pulled random things...comics, Dante, Alaska, and date rape to be exact...out of a hat and then tried to figure out how to fit them in to the story)... The plot is fairly compelling. Also, the narrative is constructed in a really interesting way. One narrator is writing his death bed confessions (as he thinks he is about to be killed) and the other is a limited third person omniscient narrator. The two alternate telling the story and eventually, their paths overlap.

The basic gist is that it is a mystery revolving around an old manuscript written by a man who spied on William Shakespeare. It may or may not lead to an unpublished play about Mary Queen of Scots. So, like I said, you learn some pretty cool things about old manuscripts and Shakespeare, etc.

In the end, the resolution to the mystery is a little... bizarre. There were bad guys, guys who worked for the bad guys...some were bad and some were good in the end... good guys who seemed bad and vice versa. In the end, I don't think I even cared who was who.

For the main romantic couple, things just seemed to fall a little too easily into place at the end. Not that I object to happy endings, but some of the stuff that happened seemed random and completely unimportant to the plot. The resolution was also really hasty, which felt strange at the end of a nearly 600 page book.
Also, most of the characters were unpleasant people. Really, I didn't find any of the particularly likable... some were simply more tolerable than others.

So, I don't know if I would run out and get it, but if you happen across it at the library... maybe give it a try.