Michael Best

This one grabbed me from the start.

I found this to be a touch ponderous.

I have loved some of his other works, so I was surprised that I found this a little turgid at times. It was still interesting enough that I will seek out a copy of volume 2.

For some reason this book did not work for me. It is full of historical detail, yet it never grabbed and I found my reading grinding to a halt, with a reluctance to pick up the book.

I found it to be a slightly unsatisfactory mix of well drawn conflict scenes, sentimental family melodrama and heavy symbolism.

I found this to be a wonderful read even if, by the final third, I had realised that I was struggling to keep up with the weirdness of things on the micro and macro scale.

I really enjoyed this tale from start to finish. It is not Conan Doyle but, for me, it is something as good (even better?).

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

A bit of a mixed bag for me, with two stories I really liked. I fear the cultural gap was too big for me to understand all Ms Chang was saying.

Somewhat enjoyable but there is only so much nonsense I can take.

Disappointingly cliche filled and increasingly dull book by someone who clearly has a way with words.

A very interesting and informative read, if not quite what I was expecting.

My mistake was to expect a book based upon the author's experiences at sea. In fact, the book is more a series of chapters on aspects of the merchant navy e.g piracy, environmental impact, employment pratices etc, with her spell on board a large shipping container ship merely the framework.

So this has taken an awfully long time to come to my attention but I am glad it made it.

Generously optimistic in its outlook perhaps, but I really enjoyed reading it.

DNF - gave up after more than 300 pages in. It is, in effect, no more than a series of barely connected short stories of very mixed quality.

My experience was not helped by the very poor editing of my e-book version.

An interesting start promised much but then fails to deliver and eventually becomes a complete disappointment. The structure of the book also adds to a piecemeal feeling.

My second Maigret and I fear Simenon's style may not be for me.

Although I have given this 3 stars, the truth is it took me quite a long time to get through the book and I am not tempted to read any more in the series. It is decently written, if a little cliched, but it never grabbed or enthralled me.

I wasn't sure about this, but got it cheap. I raced through it. A really good read.

I will assume that I needed to know far more about Columbian history for this story to have grabbed me.

As it is, it became rather tedious with a central author who seemed incredbily self-centred in his assessment of other's behaviours.

Probably no more than a 2.5.

I have absolutely loved some of le Carre's books, but this felt unnecessarily drawn out for the simplicity of the actual plot.

Well, not actually about Erlendur.

This feels as though the author wanted to get inside the head of one of his side characters - Erlendur's colleague Sigurdur Oli.

Not the best in the series, but it drew me in.

I was hoping for something well written and thought provoking, however this just reads like an average YAF book but with sex scenes and swearing. I really did not enjoy it.

Critical reviews meant that I came to this book with high expectations. Unfortunately, for me the ‘family melodrama' style the author has chosen did not satisfy. It proved something of a chore to complete.

It was my first and, I suspect, my last Sarah Dunant novel.

A solid piece of writing, but nothing more.

A bit of a nothing story really.

I was left asking ‘why?”. Why the denouement, why did I bother reading the book?