The Bookworm

The Bookworm by Mitch Silver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

From the blurb, this book intrigued me. Why would someone let a valuable manuscript fall into Nazi hands? And what did that centuries-old artifact have to do with events going on today? I was eager to read this book and find out how the author answered these questions.
The story started off with a very interesting prologue which set the stage for an exciting story full of secrets and Machiavellian manipulations. Once I was drawn in to Lara's world it was very hard to put the book down.
The author set up a very riveting and compelling story that seemed plausible. The additions of JFK, Ian Fleming, Marlene Dietrich, Winston Churchill, and others was interesting. My favorite parts of the book were the accounts from the Dictaphone cylinders and how Lara put together the clues that she discovered from long-ago.
I did feel as though there were too many "irons in the fire," so to speak. I know that the author needed to bring together several threads of the story to make everything fall into place, but some of those threats were confusing and seemed superfluous. I could have done without the whole national chess champion/weather-girl angle--I think the story could have been much more streamlined without that. Towards the end of the book things began to get confusing for me, and I had a hard time keeping up with who was who, and why certain characters were doing certain things. Threads of the story seemed kind of abandoned, and other threads were picking up way too much steam.
The big climax of the story, occurring during a spectacular fireworks show, reminded me exactly of fireworks. It seemed like EVERYTHING was happening at once, in a huge grand-finale. It was a frenzy of action from all directions and was almost too much. And then the bright lights fizzled out and the story was over. I think just a little more time spent on the denouement would have made a more satisfying ending to the book.
I did enjoy the story and would recommend it. A few things could have made the book even better, however.


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