The Grand Complication: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Fun but No Payoff
Review: This novel is right up my alley. It is the story of young librarian, Alexander Short, caught up in a search for a timepiece to complete a collection owned by a wealthy eccentric, Henry James Jesson III. Books, library searches, heraldry, theft, adventure and a wife who is constantly trying to seduce her husband. Who could ask for more?

And, indeed, this is a fun little book. I am particularly fond of the scenes set in the New York Public Library with its resources and its cast of interesting characters. I also find the search for the timepiece to be an interesting one with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

My only complaint about this book is the payoff. There really isn't one. I found that the book just kind of fizzled out in the last few pages. I have not read Kurzweil's first novel, A Case of Curiosities. I wish I had. I get the impression it might throw some light on this novel. Still, as it is, it's a quick novel and well worth a read.