I've enjoyed Mezrich's non-fiction (Accidental Billionaires is superb), so I was interested in seeing what his first novel might be like. It's quite a fun action-adventure, with a Dan Brown/Indiana Jones feel to it. It was strange that his fictional characters are not as well-rounded or realized on the page as are his non-fiction subjects.

If you're looking for something entertaining, then give this a try. I do think, though, that authors such as Matthew Reilly and James Rollins are better, and their novels are more substantial and sort-of in the same genre.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

When the reclusive mathematician Jeremy Grady is murdered, it’s up to his estranged brother Jack to find out why. His search leads him on a far-flung journey - from Brazil, India, Peru, and beyond - as he unravels the mystery that links the Seven Wonders of the World, and discovers that Jeremy may have hit upon something that has been concealed for centuries. With the help of scientist Sloane Costa, they discover a conspiracy to hide a roadmap to the Garden of Eden - and the truth behind a mythological ancient culture.

Well, this was just disappointing. I have long been a fan of this historic secrets, conspiracies, intrigue and action style book, but this one was just guilty of trying too hard to be something it didn't really need to be.

The only real upside for me were the locations. There was some magnificent places and descriptions in this book - I guess you could say he got that right, at least.

However, the list of issues for me were pretty long: the desire to fill the book with random historical facts was distracting; a "villain" that was pretty lame, at best; two-dimenional characters that never seem to connect to the story in any real way (except for the dead brother - go figure!); and, finally, there were numerous grammar or word-choice issues: that just throws me out of the story so much I get disconnected from what is going on.

Overall, a great concept that was let down by execution. There are many other authors who do this kind of thing far better.


Paul
ARH