For anyone who has just finished Tolstoy and is numbed by the thought of starting Jules Vern this is the in between read for you. It allows the brain to set to idle and to recover in a light but not fluffy way. The author has unusually more than the usual amount of main characters and does a great job fleshing them out, most books have one or two and peripheral characters coming and going. This lends itself to a somewhat slow start but boy when they click into gear about halfway through its edge of the seat stuff. It's easy to see from the authors bio that she has drawn on her life's experiences and though a work of fiction I'm sure she had a wry smile when she penned the final words THE END