![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This was 2007's second Shakespearean thriller, along with Interred With Their Bones.
( A point-by-point comparison, a few spoilers but nothing major, based on my somewhat fallible memory. )
Jake Mishkin is not a very nice man. He can't stop chasing tail to save his marriage. And when a valuable manuscript comes into his posession, he may not even be able to stop chasing tail to save his own life.
Albert Crosetti has two loves - the cinema, and the other employee of the bookstore where he works, a beautiful but mysterious woman named Carolyn. He's a stand-up guy, but he's still living with his mom and hasn't had a date in... well, actually he's never had a date.
A long-dead soldier named Richard Bracegirdle may hold the key to a treasure that could make both of them rich forever, and his last letter has come into their hands. But the only other person who knew about this has been found tortured to death. Who are the bad guys? Who is hiding secrets? And does the treasure even exist?
( A quote I liked. )
This book is riveting. I also found the sequence of events plausible, and the characters very human. The manuscript passages are believable as well (and Dick Bracegirdle isn't any nicer than Jake Mishkin, and he's a lot less smart to boot). Overall I found this a very enjoyable read, and recommend it to fans of Shakespeare, historical novels, and The Da Vinci Code. Four stars.
( A point-by-point comparison, a few spoilers but nothing major, based on my somewhat fallible memory. )
Jake Mishkin is not a very nice man. He can't stop chasing tail to save his marriage. And when a valuable manuscript comes into his posession, he may not even be able to stop chasing tail to save his own life.
Albert Crosetti has two loves - the cinema, and the other employee of the bookstore where he works, a beautiful but mysterious woman named Carolyn. He's a stand-up guy, but he's still living with his mom and hasn't had a date in... well, actually he's never had a date.
A long-dead soldier named Richard Bracegirdle may hold the key to a treasure that could make both of them rich forever, and his last letter has come into their hands. But the only other person who knew about this has been found tortured to death. Who are the bad guys? Who is hiding secrets? And does the treasure even exist?
( A quote I liked. )
This book is riveting. I also found the sequence of events plausible, and the characters very human. The manuscript passages are believable as well (and Dick Bracegirdle isn't any nicer than Jake Mishkin, and he's a lot less smart to boot). Overall I found this a very enjoyable read, and recommend it to fans of Shakespeare, historical novels, and The Da Vinci Code. Four stars.