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Title: Departure from Great Writing
Review: As a big fan of Preston/Child, I was looking forward to reading this book. I wish I had not. After savoring so many previous efforts, "Book of the Dead" is like reading a bad novel by an acolyte author. It is everything previous Preston/Child novels are not - predictable, formulaic and uninspired. Sure, there are occasional flashes of technical and storytelling brilliance, but they are few and far between. I suspect this gifted writing duo was pressured into writing faster than they prefer, were too busy doing other things, or have grown weary of their characters. Let's hope future books return to the suspense, subtlety and craftsmanship for which Preston/Child are rightly praised.
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