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Reviews by Julia Murphy

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The Book of Air and Shadows: A Novel
by Michael Gruber
Loved it til I got to the end (8/26/2010)
I really enjoyed the idea of the lost Shakespeare play and the clever way in which it was discovered. I tend to be a fan of literary mysteries, but they are often a little ridiculous (The DaVinci Code) and/or written to an elementary audience (again, The DaVinci Code), but this one was not. I agree with one of the above reviews that Jake's sex life plays a stronger part than necessary to the action and could have been greatly reduced, but overall I really liked everything about it until the end. It fell apart there for me as it became murky as to whether the manuscript was authentic or an elaborate hoax by Mishkin's long-time friend. If indeed it was a hoax, it seems to reflect a disproportionate amount of hate toward Jake, and the expenditure of a great deal more time, energy and cash toward revenge than any sane person would choose to allocate. Oh well, it still kept my attention to the end, which is beginning to be difficult for a book to do these days!
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