Review: Started off strong
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 16, 2012
This author has a good writing style, and does a good job capturing feelings and conflicts (for example, the problem with the vineyard and the contention it raises between Sally and her husband) or Adam's childhood and the problems he is experiencing.However, some plot elements fall apart. Ted putting together the pieces of the supposedly nefarious plot just... didn't jibe with me. It happened too quickly and rather unconvincingly, as well as sending his wife to spy on Adam. There was also the plot with the reporter, which I doubt any reputable newspaper would ever publish. Then you have ab extra plot with Kurdish rebels which would have been better left out altogether because it did not add to the story. Another thing that really bothered me was that after Adam left Ardlethan, he didn't try to contact Caren.I really wanted to like this book, and the writing style is nice, aside a few typos. Some of the scenes are also very well-written and realistic. But the jumble of plot points and inconsistencies made it harder to read as I got further along, especially when we got to the train in danger. I forced myself to finish this because I had already gotten so far. I'm still thinking, why the heck didn't Adam get in touch with Caren earlier??? Then the very ending was so sudden that I flipped through the remaining pages to see if there was more, but there was not. If the story and plot points were tighter and more reasonable, I would have been happy to give this a higher rating.