The Final Faberge: A Novel of Suspense

Rating:
Summary: Best in Swan's Jack Oxby series
Review: No question, The Final Faberge is Thomas Swan's best in his Jack Oxby series. The storyline moves from the dramatic assasination of Rasputin, to today, following the change in ownership of the last Imperial Egg designed and produced by Peter Carl Faberge's workshops. The settings are authentic, particularly the scenes set in St. Petersburg and Uzbekistan.

Rating:
Summary: This is not a mystery.
Review: This book is not a mystery story. It is a thriller. Don't expect to be challenged to figure out who the bad guys are, you are told who they are immediately. Not that this approach is wrong, there are plenty of good stories that don't make you guess.

The main problem with this book is that there is no logic behind the action. The main bad guy has no motive for his actions. Impossible coincidences are routine. Plot points are dropped never to be seen again. (What is the significance of the gems in the egg?) The conclusion makes no sense.

On the other hand, a friend I lent the book to said she liked it. Turn off your mind and you might too.

Rating:
Summary: This is not a mystery.
Review: This book is not a mystery story. It is a thriller. Don't expect to be challenged to figure out who the bad guys are, you are told who they are immediately. Not that this approach is wrong, there are plenty of good stories that don't make you guess.

The main problem with this book is that there is no logic behind the action. The main bad guy has no motive for his actions. Impossible coincidences are routine. Plot points are dropped never to be seen again. (What is the significance of the gems in the egg?) The conclusion makes no sense.

On the other hand, a friend I lent the book to said she liked it. Turn off your mind and you might too.

Rating:
Summary: Why I will not read this book
Review: When the President of the Unites States was William Jefferson . . .

Who is that? Oh, that must be Mr. Clinton! -- Exactly.

Without the last name it's hard to recognize who you're talking about.

Now, who is the Great Duke Dmitri Pavlovich? A person with that title is a member of the Emperor's family. A brother or a cousin of the Czar himself. In our case, he is a cousin of Czar Nicolas II. So his last name is Romanov, and full name would be the Great Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov. Pavlovich is a patronymic. To use it as a family name is the same as to use middle name instead of a last name.

Unfortunately, Thomas Swan doesn't know that. He calls Dmitry Romanov just "Pavlovich." Theoretically, it's nothing wrong to call someone by one's patronymic, but not it a that context.

I understand this has nothing to do with the main subject of his book. But if author doesn't care about such an obvious detail, I can't believe him in the rest.

Sorry.