Marc Estes

There's much to like about this story of an average guy, Andrew, who suddenly becomes involved in a clue solving contest to win an inheritance and take his seat at the head of the shadowy organisation of the Vendicatori, but at the same time, I was constantly wanting more of some bits and less of others.
I wanted to know more about the organisation, more about Andrew's 'nemesis' Robert, and more about the rules of the game they found themselves in. There was a slight lack of depth to the characters' actions because of this, but if you take it all at face value and just go along for the ride, then the book is very enjoyable.
The author is an extremely capable writer, whose style fits the genre perfectly, and the reader is swept along and constantly wanting to know what happens next. The sub-story of Andrew's family back home and his sister preparing for her wedding is a great device to give balance to the story; and to highlight the underlying general theme of family, but I felt there was far too much of the sub-story, and therefore too little of 'the action' and the competition at hand.
As this is the first book in a series, presumably some of the questions I was left with will come to be answered.
All in all, if you're a fan of conspiratorial adventure books, in the vain of Dan Brown and Clive Cussler, then I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It's an easily read, mostly fast paced book which I could easily see being turned into a movie. And maybe the author's much more clever than I think- seeing as I'm left wanting to know more, and will therefore be wanting to read the next in the series!(… (more)