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Lost Empress, The (2014)

by Steve Robinson(Favorite Author)

4.11 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

149154919X (ISBN13: 9781491549193)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Brilliance Audio

series

Genealogical Crime Mystery

review 1: This wasn't a horrible story. It had an interesting plot and I liked how the two story lines came together to explain the mystery. BUT the characters weren't that interesting, and the protagonist was kind of lame. He came off flat to me.The writing itself was pretty weak. Too much telling, not much showing. The full names of the main characters names were repeated WAY too often. If you think your reader needs that reminder multiple times, you aren't writing a compelling page turner.Worst of all was the ending. Can we say CLICHE? Having the bad guy TELL the good guy his/her EVIL plot, detail by detail before the good guy is 'dealt' with is so B movie bad. I'm sure there could have been a more clever way to go about it.This is the third or fourth book about this character. I... more don't think I will bother picking up the earlier works.
review 2: THE LOST EMPRESS is a beguiling book which manages to pull the reader into a world that should not be as fascinating as the author makes it our to be. Of course the past is, in so many ways, a mystery to those living now, but Mr. Robinson manages to bring life to both the present and the past. Mixing the story of present day genealogical investigator Jefferson (JT) Tayte with that of Alice Stillwell who died when the Empress of Ireland sank in 1914 worked well, bring life to both sides of the story. JT, on the trail of a grandmother who was supposedly born almost a dozen years after the liner’s sinking, soon discovers that he may actually be looking at a cover-up, false birth records, and a tale that is deadly to those who not only acted in it, but to those trying to unravel it. The trail leads JT to stately manor homes in England, brisk nobility who wish to keep the past buried, and at least one person who is willing to kill to stop the investigation. Toss in a batch of WWI German spies and the mix truly becomes spicy. I found the unusual occupation of the lead intriguing and fresh, the writing fast paced and the twists in logic just on the side of the line between the believable and what lays beyond. An enjoyable read that kept me fascinated from start to finish. I won this book through Goodreads. less

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