Ok, you’re going to need a few things before you even THINK about starting this book. First, you will need to read in an environment that is wholly conducive to COMPLETE concentration. Second, you will need, at a minimum, a writing utensil and a sheet of paper, preferably a grid. Better yet, a digital spreadsheet, with an unlimited number of rows and columns. NOW you can sit down and give it a go. Seriously. Without the aforementioned requirements, there is simply no way to track the myriad characters and intersecting plots. After awhile, I simply gave up trying to remember who killed whom, when and where; who gave birth to whom and when. I just wanted to finish the damn thing.

The writing itself is sound—well-constructed sentences and paragraphs. It’s sad when that is the most positive thing I can offer. The characters are one-dimensional and once established begin to behave in ways that are in direct opposition to their development. The plot has more holes than a sponge, and the suspense is lost in a confusing tangle of relationships. So much of what is here is just a series of extraneous subplots—the book would have fared far better without them.

I had high hopes for this one and am still smarting over the bait and switch of the blurb. Pick another way to spend an afternoon.