Shakespearean Indiana Jones?

The task of making the discovery of a long lost Shakespearean play into a suspenseful and murder filled novel is a tall order. Ms Carrell handles it deftly enough. There is believable enough mystery over Shakespeare generated and the political intrigue that surrounded his plays to even make me want to research some of the scholarship discussed in the book.

The down sides would be the few times that suspension of disbelief was stretched to a snapping point (i.e. character of Athenaide and her "town") and that so much information was imparted that I got lost a few times in it all.

It was fast paced enough to keep my interest going (even though I had a business trip in the middle of reading it.) Overall a good read but don't be expecting high prose. The author knows her Shakespeare and might have lessened all the arguments for and against each possible view or belief surrounding Shakespeare to help the story along a bit more. ( )

The Shakespeare Secret by Jennifer Lee Carrell grabbed me from the get go. It had all the elements I enjoy - suspense, thrills, mystery and how can you go wrong when this is centered around the continued controversy in some circles over the 'true' writer of Shakespeare's plays?

What keeps you turning the pages though is not just that there appears to be a serial killer who is systematically killing everyone who has letters, documents or specific books on Shakespeare that could shed light on the true author, but also the many twists that will keep you changing your mind as to the identity of friends and fiends, victims and villains. Oh...what fun. ( )

This is yet another "Missing Shakespeare Manuscript" storyline. It is well done, and fast paced. Our leading lady takes readers on a journey to find this manuscript. I found it to be well-written, although I did pick out the "villian" the first time he/she arrived. I'm not sure if that is a problem with the story, or if I was feeling especially intuitive that day. Good read. A nice way to pass a lazy weekend. ( )

This book has been described as "The Da Vinci Code meets Shakespeare" and I think that pretty much sums it up. The heroine is a Shakespearean scholar/director who is given a mysterious quest by her old mentor to find a long-lost Shakespeare play. I was only "meh" about this book, I felt there was a bunch of plot holes and the author could only make all the secondary characters suspicious by telling the reader nothing about them. Many times, secondary characters withheld information about themselves that a reasonable person wouldn't, and I think it was just so the author could create the *gasp* twists and turns later. I don't think that is good mystery/thriller writing. The historical mystery was good; the setup of the lost play and who was the Dark Lady and the Golden Youth are explored here. So I would say that Shakespeare buffs will like it but hardcore mystery lovers won't like the confusion. ( )

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