Michael Best

It took me a good one third of the book to get in to the style and rhythm of the writing, but I was then hooked. Very powerful.

I really enjoyed Part One of this book but Part Two was such a slog.

Gave up after 30% - so much time spent trying to understand the Scots spoken that I was beginning to hate the book.

Though I much preferred the earlier sections of this story, and the end seemed a little rush, I did enjoy it a lot.

Nearly a 1. There were parts of this book I rather liked but, overall, I thought it was something of a mess which increasingy fell apart.

Disappointing. Nothing attracts me to read anymore of this author's works.

A horrifying revelation of the role of crime in modern southern Italy. However, I really struggled with the writing style (albeit, in translation) and the scattergun way of telling the tale.

Things are not good when reviewing the metadata on one's music collection too often proved more attractive than picking up this book for its next chapter.

Probably a 3.5. I loved the writing but, from about ⅔ into the book, I was desperately hoping it was not going to finish in the contrived way I saw it going - it did.

Probably a 2.5 for me.

It is an easy read but not at all subtle or deep.

DNF. The attempt to write in a dialect made “translation” too difficult to continue.

Perhaps it is the passage of time, perhaps that I am not American but this book failed to draw me in. I enjoyed reading it, but I felt a little removed from everything.

I found this to be a bundle of ideas in a rather one-dimensional story.

The first part in a series, for which I have no desire to investigate further.

Possibly a 2.5.
Though I generally love Dickens, I did find this overlong for the actual tale, and very heavy handed - very ‘black and white' characters.
Much as with Hard Times, he seemed to cudgel me with his opinions.

This started out well but became rather too silly, incredible and shallow for me. There was not enough in this to encourage me to read any others in the series.

An enjoyable sci-fi thriller. A bit more “shoot-em” action as the plot progresses than I wanted, which moved it from a 4 to a 3 star. That said, I think I will look for the next in the series.

For such a short story, it was a struggle to complete.

The style of writing is too heavy handed for me.

The writing was very good, but the story did not grab me like Harris at his best.

Would I have behaved better? Horribly disquieting.

A noir novella, which I really enjoyed.

Probably a 3.5.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. The ending was a little predictable, but still quite satisfying.

Comparisons to Philip K Dick seem way off to me. However, it did remind me of some Poul Anderson books I read many years ago.

It was nice to read a modern SF story that was not a sprawling mess, a techno-babble piece of emptiness, or merely a computer game on a page.

Interesting start became a bit predictable and overwrought.

Disappointing.

I liked the start, but my hope that I had come upon a good, new sci-fi writer soon dissipated. There were some interesting, if not novel, ideas but the writing was shallow.

A fascinating read even if, at times, it left one utterly bewildered by some of the entries. Mind you, I guess current events show people will readily not let facts get in the way of self-delusion.

Probably a 3.5.

The tale is frightening, the telling of it a touch messy at times. The jargon - frustrating.

I liked it but something about the style, I think, stopped me from really enjoying this book.

It felt like it wanted to be a Chandler or Hammett, but the pacing was a bit off.