Ed Protzel

I couldn't finish it. I can finish almost anything, and particularly given that I had committed to review the book for the Early Reviewer program I had planned to slog through, but I just couldn't do it. I had expected to really like this book, as it sounded to be in the same vein as Tom Robbins...absurd and nerdy, bringing in esoteric history and travel linked with a crazy adventure. It even started off at a fast pace, with a shooting and risky escape within the first 10 pages. But despite the action in the content, it moved slowly, with sluggish writing and uninteresting characters, and despite the theoretically intriguing plot line, I had no interest in seeing how it turned out. I read exceptionally fast, yet after only getting three quarters of the way through after a year, I finally had to throw in the towel.… (lisätietoja)

When Miriam Solomon, the love of David Greenberg’s life, phones him at his antiquities gallery in St. Louis, the black hole at the center of his heart shudders. Twenty years earlier, Miriam had inexplicably run off to Israel with his best friend, Solly, a brilliant but nerdy young scientist. Now she tells David that Solly has committed suicide and she needs his aid on a secret research project Solly left unfinished: to acquire the one remaining nail from the crucifixion of Jesus. Is she telling the truth? And why does that nail have such significance?… (lisätietoja)

I liked the premise well enough - underground research to clone famous people from history. David Greenberg, however, is a rather unlikely action hero and seems awfully reliant on dumb luck to stay alive than an innate talent for heroism. He is also oddly ambivalent about his fate - maybe it's a Jewish thing, but I found it to be an interesting part of his persona. This appears to be the first book in a series - it'll be interesting to see if the author expands on the premise mentioned above or whether something altogether different.… (lisätietoja)