This is the fourth book in the Robert Langdon series and Brown’s sixth novel. As with the others, this is exactly what it sets out to be: a page turning action and adventure novel that although not a literary wonder Inferno does make you wonder about major societal and environmental issues. The entire story takes place in less than 24 hours with flashbacks to two days before.
The only other Robert Langdon novel I’ve read since starting this blog is the third installment The Lost Symbol. I’ve read all of Brown’s books and enjoy them for what they are and don’t judge them harshly like it seems most people do. I remember reading The Da Vinci Code the summer between high school and college and immediately going out to find copies of Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress and Deception Point. (Call it my hipster moment, but I read it BEFORE it took off.)
I didn’t have any expectations going in and overall I enjoyed it. It could’ve been better but it could also have been a lot worse. This was the last galley/ARC of my year and it was an endearing quick read. I received a copy from the publisher in return for my honest response; no compensation was received.
How do I approach this book? I want to be honest, but I don’t want to be too over the top in either direction. I received a copy of Marionette via the author, who is a great blogging buddy, and this is my honest response and I received no compensation for my response.
What a brief and moving novella. I’m not sure what spurred me on to request it (probably the military aspect – I grew up in a military town), as I’ve tried to limit the number of ARC, and even more so romance based ARCs, that I request, but it was a quick and enthralling read. I could easily see Valante creating a longer novel with greater detail, but this novella worked well enough for me as it was.
Now this is how you write a romance novel! There was one line that captured this for me, “A first kiss was usually a one-way ticket to a one-night stand or an awkward exit, but this one . . . I didn’t know where anything was going now.”