David Rotenberg

The second book in the Junction Chronicles, A Murder of Crows continues the story of Decker Roberts, acting professor and discerner of truths. Decker is a synaesthete – a person who has with the rare sensory ability to perceive if someone is telling a truth. Though A Murder of Crows does bring Decker’s story further, you can still read this book without having read The Placebo Effect, the first novel in this series.

I enjoyed this novel for its story line as well as the main character. show more I’m a fan of Decker’s wit and his true-to-life persona. The author knows his characters well and writes them with consistency. They are not all good or all bad but a mixture of both. I know I’m reading a good book when a likeable main character admits to an unlikable trait.

The story has twists and turns and enough suspense that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens. In this second novel, there are more explanations of the synesthete ability and what happens when someone is using it - though it could be I just picked up more on the effects of using this sensory ability in this book than I did in the first, nevertheless, it rounds out the story and leaves the reader with the impression that more will be revealed in the next novel.

A Murder of Crows is a polished, well-written novel that explores what happens when a person is born with a gift that can be used for both good and evil. I like to think that if I had this special gift, I would use it only for good, but the temptation to serve one’s heart desire must be great. Decker faces this dilemma and more in this great series. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes a mix of genres. Give it a try! show less

This was a thrilling, exhilarating ride! Rotenberg combines theme, character, and location in a powerful splendour of historical fiction that borders right on the literary sphere. I was very impressed with the book and it has some great writing, parts, and scenes that- all together, make up a comprehensive, decisive victory of reading.

Recommended for those interested in historical and literary fiction.

Long saga about the city and it's opening up to other settlers and the history of China in 19th century through the vehicle of a story of the influence of ancestors and mythology. A really interesting way to thread history through personal stories. Three large books with about 30 chapters each but tightly woven. Good read.

This is a rather long fictional history of China. All in all it was a good story though you have to slog through the first 150 pages to get to any meaty story. So stay the course, and fly through several hundreds of years with chapters that are only 2-3 pages long with forgettable characters until you arrive at the birth of Shanghai and the opium trade.

You will live the lives of two Jewish brothers from Iraq and how they and their offspring build an empire in Shanghai. You will follow a show more fictional compact of four Chinese professions and a relic that foretells of China falling into darkness and of coming into the light, with the book ending with Mao so there is no end in that prophecy. The last 150 pages or so are like the first 100 pages and they seem anti-climatic to me...again with the 1-3 page chapters and names that become confusing at times as generations pass on the same names.

The history as told is probably correct but very sketchy in detail. But then then you go through a couple of thousand years. I never really felt that the city as such changed much as I read it. It certainly does not make me like my WASP heritage to see how Asians were exploited. Except for the first and last 150 pages it was a pretty good read though. show less