GoodReads meta-data is 270 pages rated 3.81 by 73 litizens.
GoodReads meta-data is 270 pages rated 3.81 by 73 litizens.
Genre: krimi.
DNA: Italy via Newark.
Verdict: Travelogue.
Tagline: Archaeology 101.
At about the 40% mark on the Kindle I gave up. It is continuous description of menus, hotel rooms, clothes, etc.
As for the Etruscan dig what we get is Archeology 101 definitions, not any texture of the work. There are pages and pages of exposition like that which follows.
‘I found it in a midden.’
‘What’s a midden?’
‘A midden is….’
‘Why were you looking in it?’
‘I am a physical archeologist.’
‘What is a physical archeologist?’
‘One who studies objects.’
‘What objects?’
‘Anything and everything we can find.’
‘Why?’
‘To learn out how people lived.’
‘Why?’
‘To understand the past.’
‘Why?’
…. and so it goes.
Such dialogue occupies page after page, but does nothing to set a scene at the dig. Nor does it develop character or advance the plot.
We know there is a big hole with scaffolding but none of this is made relevant. Nor is it fully described despite all the pedantry. Rather the emphasis is on the pointless dialogue. I say pointless because there is so much of it, very little of it is relevant to the plot, if there is one.
We have investigators from three countries who spend more time explaining to each other their terminology as above. We also get backstories about how they met previously, descriptions of their clothes, and menu deliberations. Much of the latter.
Even more distracting are the flashbacks from the ancient past about the origins of the Etruscans on the Anatolian upland. I skipped these.
Needless to say, some Good Readers found this book gripping. It takes all kinds, evidently, but I don’t know why. It is part of series for such readers. Dick has other connections, Paris and Vienna, and more besides.