Review: 2.5 - 3 stars
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2013
###############spoilers@@@@@@@@@@@@@@I hesitated in purchasing this book after reading the sample. I have read a few books where the main character goes on a holiday and what you get is a tourism brochure and very little story. I made the decision to buy the book because it was a good length and the 'dark' past sounded interesting.To recap the story Jeff goes on a solo holiday after breaking up with his partner. He meets Cleve and Jeff agrees to pay Cleve as a tour guide. So yes, you get the scenery, the description of the people and the shops, accommodation and the food/drink selection as Cleve shows Jeff around. This lasts for half the book. I found the first half quite slow but still ok, at times I thought it was going to be a tourism brochure but it just held back from that.About half way into the book we get the sudden mention of a 'dark and mysterious' person from Cleve's past. A little bit of excitement happens and they end up travelling to a new location - so again we get the descriptions of the people/shops/accommodation/food/drink etc every time they move to a new place. By the time I got to the end I just couldn't summon up enough enthusiasm to be excited about the drama.I finished the book but I was conflicted on how to rate it. I decided to leave it for a day before I submitted my review as i could not decide if I enjoyed it or not. A day later I still can't decide but I do know that I will not be reading it again and I will be deleting it from my kindle.So, I will bring it down to ... was it worth $6.99? My answer is ... no. It wasn't a tourism brochure but for me there was just too much description of the locations so I got quite bored ... by the time the drama reached full excitment ... I couldn't have cared. The book was really well written and it almost made me fall in love with the locations.