Shirley Criscione

Although I struggled with the writing in the beginning, I found myself enjoying the author's style more and more as I read on. I definitely did not lose interest in the story. It held my attention the whole way through. The character development of the main characters was excellent. I loved the juxstaposition of the Renaissance man character - Weiss - and the Everyman character - Joshi. They were excellent foils for each other and Cockell developed them so well that you felt you knew them. I really liked how the author unfolded the mysteries in the story line. We learned a little bit at a time. I liked how the author used his knowledge of art, music and literature and wove the information into the book. I like it when an author can hold my interest with descriptions, analyses and interesting tidbits. I think it adds so much to a book, going beyond the story line. A great read!