Official Review: Gift of the Gods by Diana Bricknell
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
-
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 2146
- Joined: 13 May 2013, 13:43
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 315
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-scerakor.html
- Latest Review: Gaslighting & Narcissistic Abuse Recovery: by Don Barlow
Official Review: Gift of the Gods by Diana Bricknell
As a child, Lou’s parents brought him to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Although he thoroughly enjoyed most of the exhibits, he was particularly stricken by the Mycenaean gold. When this memorable day was over, Lou told his parents that he intended to own that gold when he grew up. Lou’s parents had no idea just how serious he was about making that dream a reality.
In Gift of the Gods by Diana Bricknell, we follow Lou and his fellow conspirators as they steal and sell the priceless Greek artifacts. We watch slack-jawed as the story proceeds through the heist itself, to the dangerous navigation of the gold’s sale, and the myriad hoops the team needs to jump through to try and get away with their crime. Jumping perspectives between the various conspirators, to the museum curator, and even to the police attempting to track down the criminals, the reader is treated to a multitude of colourful characters.
This great book was like a travel memoir, crime thriller, and a cultural journey rolled up into one neat package. The action surrounding the gold's theft was enough of a story on its own, but the additional attention to detail made the novel even more special. What I liked the most about this book was how the author’s personal knowledge of the locations in the novel, from Athens to Istanbul, came to life in the pages. The reader can easily picture the expanse of white and blue Mykonosian villas overlooking the Aegean Sea. Beyond the descriptions of the various locations, the book even touched on interesting cultural aspects of regions involved.
A couple of small details within the story irked me, however. First, and what I disliked the most about the book, was how smoothly the actual theft occurred. I believe there would have been more hurdles for the duo to encounter when stealing priceless Greek artifacts. In the book, however, this took surprisingly little effort and only a few pages. The last item I’ll mention is the editing. There were a few too many errors, in my opinion, to say that it was well edited. Despite the quantity of errors, the majority of the issues were due to incorrect capitalization, and they didn’t take too much away from the story.
Given the great plot, amazing backdrop, and cultural insights, I am happy to give this book a solid three out of four stars. I took off one small star for the editing and the issues I had with the heist itself. This, however, shouldn’t deter fans of the crime/adventure genres to whom I wholeheartedly recommend this book. If you are a reader that needs constant action or despise idle chitchat in your novels, you may want to stay away from this book.
******
Gift of the Gods
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
- sharon titus
- Posts: 147
- Joined: 31 Jul 2020, 02:18
- Currently Reading: Her Eyes Underwater
- Bookshelf Size: 48
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-sharon-titus.html
- Latest Review: My Only Sunshine by Lou Dischler
- Sakura5
- Posts: 208
- Joined: 19 May 2020, 04:58
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 43
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-sakura5.html
- Latest Review: We are Voulhire: The Knights of Chalethire by Matthew Tysz
-
- Posts: 245
- Joined: 05 Mar 2021, 09:08
- Currently Reading: Grey heart
- Bookshelf Size: 62
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-shillah-a.html
- Latest Review: The Fox by M. N. J. Butler
- Michael Jerry_
- Posts: 549
- Joined: 09 Jan 2021, 02:57
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 81
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-michaeljerry309.html
- Latest Review: A Big Blue Boat by Susea Spray
I’m intrigued and would love to give this one a read
- Michael Jerry_
- Posts: 549
- Joined: 09 Jan 2021, 02:57
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 81
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-michaeljerry309.html
- Latest Review: A Big Blue Boat by Susea Spray
I wish the reviewer didn’t let us know much of what really happened in the book but at the same time what was given is just enough to actually get someone pumped about this book
- Michael Jerry_
- Posts: 549
- Joined: 09 Jan 2021, 02:57
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 81
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-michaeljerry309.html
- Latest Review: A Big Blue Boat by Susea Spray
I wish the reviewer didn’t let us know much of what really happened in the book but at the same time what was given is just enough to actually get someone pumped about this book
- Kenna Ridzi
- Posts: 102
- Joined: 12 Mar 2021, 15:23
- Currently Reading: Iron Gold
- Bookshelf Size: 23
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kenna-ridzi.html
- Latest Review: Waterworks by Jack Winnick
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6637
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
Massimo
- Hunter Tester
- Book of the Month Participant
- Posts: 376
- Joined: 13 Mar 2021, 09:29
- Favorite Book: The Silent Patient
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 155
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-hunter-tester.html
- Latest Review: Whale of Wonder by Marie-Paule Mahoney
- Bookxicillin
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 25 Apr 2021, 09:38
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 14
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookxicillin.html
- Latest Review: Living Strong With Cerebral Palsy by Amanda Forry-Fino
- Suzer6440 xyz
- Posts: 1078
- Joined: 02 Jun 2019, 21:33
- Favorite Book: Pearl River Mansion
- Currently Reading: Five Total Strangers
- Bookshelf Size: 201
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-suzer6440-xyz.html
- Latest Review: The Maestro Monologue by Rob White
- dickweed
- Posts: 27
- Joined: 28 Jul 2020, 12:32
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 21
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dickweed.html
- Latest Review: Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E Tavel, MD
Well said, I just hope I could write like her --- Bricknell. Thanks and more power.sharon titus wrote: ↑13 Apr 2021, 06:31 The book sounds amazing, I'll add it to my shelf. Great review. Thank you for your hard work.
-
- Posts: 151
- Joined: 12 Apr 2021, 12:23
- Currently Reading: Shatter Me
- Bookshelf Size: 32
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-hogwarts03.html
- Latest Review: Reconfigurement by E. Alan Fleischauer
-
- Posts: 90
- Joined: 24 Jan 2021, 16:58
- Currently Reading: Worldlines
- Bookshelf Size: 28
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-oluwalonimi29.html
- Latest Review: Radioland by m.e. Elzey
Welldone