Galveston is a mixed bag - the characters are not complex and the storyline is predictable. I found the reading easy, although the dialogue between and among the characters is somewhat stilted - it just doesn't "feel" believeable or "natural". Often when reading a well-written novel, one forgets that one is reading from the written page and becomes involved in the conversation and activities and scenes of a book. That didn't happen to me while I was reading Galveston, and I was a little disappointed. I liked the story well enough and I learned about a part of the Civil War that most people don't know much about, From that aspect, the book was very enjoyable. All in all, though, I expected more and Galveston came up short.