Mir gefiel an dem Buch v.a. der Anfang. Dass ein junger, schlecht bezahlter Lektor durch puren Zufall 17 Millionen Euro erbt, ist zwar recht konstruiert. Aber mir gefiel es, wie die Geschichte angelegt wurde, das gab durchaus Stoff zum Nachdenken und war spannend. Auch das Zusammentreffen von Andy und Jeanine war sehr vielversprechend. Da war ich dann fast etwas enttäuscht, als die Geschichte des Erblassers sich mehr und mehr in eine recht deutliche Schwarz-Weiß-Malerei entwickelte. Die Handlung in Armenien war sehr interessant. Insgesamt aber lief alles darauf hinaus, dass ein junger Mann von einem falschen Freund und einer falschen Frau komplett ausgenutzt und fertig gemacht wurde. Nicht schön, aber fast etwas zu einfach. Dennoch ist es ein empfehlenswertes Buch, das man gut lesen kann. ( )

I loved this book, and would have given it five stars, had it not been for the unwieldy opening and the sometimes juddery prose which left me wondering who was speaking and/or where we'd jumped to. Nevertheless, NS is clearly a master storyteller, who writes with great slight of hand, so that I continually found myself thinking, oh yes, of course! Chock full of ideas and historical insights. I'm only sorry I wasn't able to read it all in one go, as it is the sort of books that probably rewards the reader who can give it her full attention.
( )

The storyline is fairly simple. It is about a man, Andy, who leaves his uninspired job at a self help publishing house late to attend his late teachers funeral. However, he eventually realises that he is in the wrong chapel, but then does not leave.

Later, he finds out that he is one of the people to inherit Christopher Madigan’s estate, simply because he attended the funeral. That simple act causes him to become a millionaire many times over, a fact that goes to his head, as he enjoys holidays and cars. Andy is though becoming increasingly curious about the man who provided his inheritance.

I did not like the character of Andy although I understand though the point the author is trying to make about how money changes us and perhaps steers us from who we are to who we believe we aspire to be. I felt that Andy was a weak man and for me his character drifted. He became selfish and openly lies to the daughter of Christopher, simply because he liked her.

The story of Christopher was more engaging, but for me this book didn't work and I think it could have been developed more, and there were many storyline opportunities missed. ( )

Didn't finish this - after reading another review that said the second half was better, perhaps I should have, but it was overdue at the library - oh well. It began with a good idea for a plot with unexpected millions being bequethed to anyone who showed up at a funeral. Pity is was Nick - most unlikeable loser - especially when he went out of his way to lie profusely to the daughter of the deceased because he fancied her, and he was horrible to his mate too, and another girlfiend that he paid off and dropped off at a station. I do hope his character improved but I was tired of reading about him. ( )

I saw Inheritance in the bookstore and was intrigued by the black and white cover (who says cover art doesn’t play a role?) and the blurb on the back looked pretty good too. What made me put it back was the price. Fortunately, the ebook version was much cheaper and I sacrificed the lovely cover art for more book-buying money.

Although the author is based in the UK, Inheritance has a link with Australians (and particularly West Australians). It opens to a young man searching for iron ore deposits out from Marble Bar and has several chapters describing Perth very realistically (although I hope the bushfire part doesn’t come true).

After the mysterious miner in the prologue, we meet Andy who has a dead end job at a self-help publishing house and who runs very late for his late teacher’s funeral. Unfortunately for Andy, he has the wrong funeral but doesn’t leave. Later, he finds that he is one of the people who inherit Christopher Madigan’s estate, simply because he attended the funeral. He is now a millionaire many times over.

Of course it goes to Andy’s head- women, cars, holidays- but he is increasingly intrigued to find out about his mysterious benefactor. We then move into Christopher’s backstory and find out about his life.

I found Christopher a more engaging character than Andy, who seems a bit driftless and lacking. The ending is a little ambiguous but I can’t think of any other conclusion.
Inheritance dragged for me at times (mainly Andy’s story- I felt the teacher and book link was a bit underdeveloped) but the backstory of Christopher was interesting, maybe because of the Australian link. Probably not the best book I’ve read, but interesting enough and I like the interweaving of stories. ( )