Title: Some wonderful moments, weak story, bad ending, disappoints.
Product review: I had hoped for much better. I read Bonfire, and enjoyed it, but felt that story had some weaknesses. This story is far, far worse. However, there are some sublime reading moments within (the quail plantation dinner, Martha's interactions with Ray, the jail tv room, the workout session at the bank). But you work much too hard laboring through the rest of it. This needed better editing. Wolfe should have negotiated for six more months to cut it back some, tighten the whole thing and come up with a plausible ending. The ending screams "Deadline Panic." Read the first half of the book, read about Conrad in jail and avoid the last few chapters. I imagine that Wolfe, if given the chance, could still make this into something most of us would enjoy, but as written the book is bloated, directionless and ultimately forgettable.
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