With such an original premise, there's no way this story wouldn't appeal to readers. I mean, the power of reading being an actual paranormal mind-power? One that can change the world? Sold! Even being a translation, I was still sucked in at the beginning because it sounded promising. Alas, that passive translated tone and some lacklustre thriller elements started to drain my enjoyment of the book. By the end I wondered if I'd been manipulated at first into thinking this would be a good book. It's not terrible, but I guess I hoped it would be so much more.

Take that initial idea: there's an antiquarian bookshop in Copenhagen owned by an eccentric Italian. He dies in mysterious circumstances, and his estranged lawyer son Jon inherits the lot, not knowing that there's more to those books than meets the eye. His father was part of a big underground society of people who can harness the power of the written word, and the two factions within it are at each others' throats over his death. Initiated slowly by his father's friend Ivensen and assistant Katherina, Jon's soon in over his head.

A couple of things hobbled this for me: the pacing, the predictability, and the romance.

There's plenty of time for the world to develop, and it seems like a book with a naturally slow pace. It takes time to unravel centuries old mysteries. But between the unravelling came long conversations full of exposition. At first it made sense; Jon needed to know things and characters like Ivensen needed to tell him them. But gradually those conversations became more of a storytelling crutch to lean on, diluting the more tense investigation sequences. By the time we meet a conspiracy theorist, even I was rolling my eyes at his clunky explanations.

For such an original idea, it's a shame it rapidly became you average male-led thriller. There's no emotion, no heart, just a man (and his extra POV sidekick) pounding the streets looking for answers. The solution to the mystery and climax felt like it could have been anything else in the paranormal thriller genre, just with books instead of wizards/shifters/whatever

Spoiler

though it's pretty much bookish Illuminati

. It developed so quickly it felt at odds with the rest of the book's pace and felt almost Young Adult in it's predictable nature and silly "Shadow Organization" naming themes. The ending was so rushed, the wrap up an unsatisfying K THNX BYE.

And then there's the romance. Or not, because there is zero emotion. There are a couple of clunky references to the characters eyeballing each other, maybe taking it slowly and then WHAM.

Spoiler

Our leading lady Katherina decides it's naked time. Even though up until this point she's been quiet ad cautious, suddenly she's in love with Jon and wants to have many, many sexy tiemz with him after fulfilling a male shower fantasy. I really didn't like how she was just a prop for Jon - especially towards the end where her function was to remind him to not do bad stuff because subconsciously he remembers their eternal lurve.

It's very male it it's approach to character relationships, shall we say.

Maybe it is a part of when a book's translated it loses something. I often find they seem distant, sometimes using childish phrases that a native English speaker would shy away from. Maybe that's why this just didn't work for me. I was so hopeful at the beginning when the thriller aspect started to take shape, but in the end I felt disappointed.

The funny thing is, for a book about the power of reading, it seems more suited to a far more casual reader. If you're completely new to any kind of thriller, it might appeal more.