This book was bought from a Friends of the Library sale shelf in Fort Bend County or at the Houston, Texas Public Library sale.

A trade with Libre-Muncher. Enjoy!

I am very slow in getting this posted because I have been traveling. That does not mean that I do not appreciate this (and two other) book(s) that were sent to me by MyssCyn in an uneven swap favoring me. MyssCyn sent me three books in exchange for the one that I sent to her, First Family (BCID: 648-7159282). I wish to thank her for her generosity and for her example of Book Crossing in its truest sense.

I will read this (and the other two) and get them on their way to other readers who cross my path.

Thank you again MyssCyn.

I really regret putting in a bad review for a book, especially one which was written by one of my favorite authors. My problem, however is the genre of the book, not the writing ability of the author. I guess that I am just not a fan of science fiction, though there have been a few SF books that I really did like. I have read four of Mr. Carr’s books (three fiction and one non-fiction) which were all wonderful. I was grabbed by The Alienist and its follow-on book, The Angel of Darkness. His book, The Italian Secretary which was commissioned by the family of Arthur Conan Doyle as a “new” Sherlock Holmes tale was wonderful as well. None of these were SciFi though.

His non-fiction book, The Lessons of Terror contained information and research that probably did give Mr. Carr some ideas on the writing of this book.

I will delve into my feelings only shortly since I know that there are a lot of science fiction readers who enjoy the stories and I certainly do not want to insult any of them with my prejudiced opinions. BUT my feelings, when reading those (and this) books are of impatience since the author must spend an inordinate amount of time in explaining the special conditions which allow the amazing machines, alien life-forms, hyper-velocity travel to make the plots believable. I will stop now before I engage in some sort of rant.

I do hope that whoever finds this book is a science fiction fan and will find the story enjoyable. Given all of that, the wonderful writing talent of Caleb Carr is delightfully demonstrated in this book. I look forward to reading more of his books in the future.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I left this book in the Visitor's Center at the top of Sandia Crest. I left it in the waiting room on one of the benches on the north side of the room under the window facing the High Finance Restaurant. This is the place where people wait out of the wind for the next aerial tram back to the bottom.

I didn't actually find it in the city but rather at the top of the Sandia Mountains. Someone rode the tram up to the top (10,378 ft above sea level) and left it there.

CAUGHT IN ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO USA