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The Dinosaur Feather (2008)

by S.J. Gazan(Favorite Author)

3.39 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1623650674 (ISBN13: 9781623650674)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Quercus

review 1: Started off great. Ended kind of BLAH. Horrible evil flamboyant gay man! Budding romance between unsympathetic and harsh protagonist Anna Bella Nor and Detectice Soren! There were parts of this book that were outstanding- the science part is actually pretty enjoyable considering Gazans education on the subject and the density of arguments made. Anna is so privilege and unlikable that she transcends that barrier to being truly sympathetic. So yeah- detailed and complex and excellent at points, but utterly problematic and predictable in others.
review 2: I, too, was lead to this book by NPR'S Maureen Corrigan. I loved the Millennium mysteries, and was not immediately put off by the scientific topic. I was prepared for a thrilling read.I couldn't wait to finish t... morehis book. Not out of a sense of a great read, but more of a college assignment where, by the end, I could care less about the characters. The story p-l-o-d-s. Too many details, too many back stories, too many unfinished stories, even when it comes to the main characters. Anna Bella Nor is defending her Ph.D thesis in two weeks, and God forbid the death of one of her thesis advisors, or the death of another close friend and colleague, should interfere. Why she even chose this as her topic, when the professor has only had TWO (including herself) doctoral candidates in 25 years is a mystery as well. Anna Bella is not only (as described) unlovable, but not even likable--angry, snd blaming everyone but herself for the problems in her life. I wish the author might have given some consideration to giving her just one positive quality. Soren Maurhauge is a detective with his own set of issues and demons. His character development, at least, follows a reasonably steady line as he tries to investigate the first, then the second murder. He is drawn to Anna Bella (surprise, surprise) even though she annoys him, but he is frustrated by his inability to solve this murder; appparently, this is the first time this has happened to him, although he is a veteran detective. I am sorry, but a long-time police detective with no unsolved cases is simply NOT believable to anyone who has a relative involved in criminal investigations.The author does provide an interesting observation of the competitive nature of scientific investigation and publishing. This look into academia was one of the more consistently interesting parts of the book for this reader.Strangely enough, I had guessed the killers in advance of the end. The mystery had been spoiled for me by the inclusion of too many clues and stories, possibly meant to divert the reader. Additionally, if you are going to include a deeply scientific storyline in general fiction, it would be helpful to make it easier for the layperson reader to follow. Even my Kindle was stuck trying to define some of the terms in the book, making some of the concepts more convoluted than necessary. I can forgive the errors in translation, but someone should have reduced this novel by at least one hundred pages. This is tragic, because what could have been a really great book, with a great introduction of characters, is hobbled by what looks like an attempt to lead into that second novel. less

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