Picked this up for a plane read, and it was quite suitable for that! The narrative POV is interesting...first person from several different characters with a bit of time shifting...and enables a twisty, dramatic reveal of the basic plot points throughout. I wasn't as surprised by the ending as I wanted to be, and honestly, there are no heroes in any traditional sense. You might think that means the characters are "more real," but in this case, it just means an embrace of flaws that should have been embarrassing, if not criminal. That all said, I kept coming back, chapter after chapter, because I wanted to see how each person would progress. And, as a murder mystery goes, it's a great plane read!
As personal improvement books go, this one is straightforward, broadly applicable, and immediately implementable.
Felt like a slow start, slow burn, at first. But, once I committed to the characters, I was all in. I'm so glad I stuck with it, too! The last sections are poignant, significant. I am not an online or electronic game player, really, and I don't think you need to be to deeply appreciate the plot or characters. I am a Shakespeare fan, and I love the allusions throughout. We are merely players, afterall.
Interesting choice of narrative structure; it took a couple of chapters to understand the flow, but once I got it, I was hooked. In addition to the actual structure of the first third of the book, I think the unreliable narrator voice can also be hard on some readers...you have to accept what you're reading at the moment at face value, but know that the ground may shift underneath you later on. In this specific book...that really works! It adds to the overall reading experience, for sure. Good, solid read I will recommend to others who are willing to work just a bit as a reader.
An excellent addition to the long list of books set during a time when the world was quite mad. Three characters from radically different socio-economic backgrounds survive an intersection of events, deftly interwoven in typical Baldacci style: plausible enough to believe while setting up the mystery/thriller story. This is one of my favorite Baldacci books, now, and represents a maturation of character development to match a history of intricate plots. I specifically applaud the final chapter, an epilogue that nicely (without sentimentality) rounds out the story.
Poignant story told through the primary perspective of two siblings over 50+ years; I read the last two chapters through tears. I quibble with a couple of the author's choices about what to leave out, given the narrative POV, but overall, a compelling story well told. The good and the bad of humanity never cease to amaze me.