Review: Almost
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2013
Towles characters are so alive they almost lift off the pages.  "Eve" picks up where "Rules" finished just as Eve is fleeing New York in 1938.  She's on her way home to Chicago but at the last minute decides to stay on the train and continue on to Hollywood and another adventure begins.  She meets an aging actor at a famous hotel and this gives her the entre she needs to meet other celebrities namely Olivia DeHaviland right as Olivia is about to begin shooting "Gone with the Wind".  Eve is out of her element but true to character soon settles in and makes Hollywood her own.The story is told alternately from Eve's perspective as well as other character's viewpoints.  I loved the inside old Hollywood feel of the book but it lacks focus and the ending peters out.  While the plot is going it easily held my interest and it's every bit as exciting as "Rules of Civility" but the ending stumbles as the story stops abruptly.  Was Amor writing a sequel to "Rules" and his publishers stepped in and hurried him to get something to press?  If so they did him a disservice.  Since I read an advanced e-galley from the publisher I'm hoping this will be altered prior to publication.  Concerning characterization however there's no better writer today than Towles.This review is based on an advanced readers copy supplied by the publisher.(Disclaimer given per FTC requirement.)