Rating: 
Summary: What Do You Know of Newton
Review: "Dark Matter", by Philip Kerr is primarily based upon the person of Sir Isaac Newton, and includes moments with the likes of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Pepys, and Christopher Ellis, all of who lived during late 17th Century London. The book is well written and if the final twenty pages were representative of the entire book, it would have been brilliant.Sir Newton is hardly a historical enigma, so why Mr. Kerr chose to portray him as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character Sherlock Holmes is not only a mystery, it makes little sense. For the Sir Newton of this historical novel bears little resemblance to the Newton that history has recorded and many biographers have documented. And Christopher Wallis bears even less resemblance to the famous Dr. Watson. The novel did not need to lean so heavily upon these other characters to work, and I have no idea why an author of Kerr's talent decided to use them. The background players that give the story its excellent ending are The Knights Templar, and I kept hoping they would play a larger role in the book, for they essentially were the consummation at the book's close. For when the book collects itself and defines itself, it is Christianity and the faith that upholds it that are the real story in this novel. The Knights were a fascinating historical group and they deserved more prominence in the tale. I enjoyed the book but only to a point as I have read biographies of Sir Newton. Kerr's portrayal is so far from the historical personage that it was hard to forget who the real man was, and accept this version of Newton as super sleuth. Newton was a brilliant detective of matters scientific; portraying him as a 17th Century Holmes was too derivative and unworthy of the stature of Sir Newton.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and enjoyable
Review: A very entertaining book that presents Issac Newtown in a different and interesting light. Mystery lovers will enjoy the plot and lovers of historical fiction will be rewarded with a rich tapastry of the era. One might also enjoy Alexander's John Fielding mysteries and Stephenson's Quicksilver.
Rating:
Summary: Decent Novel Makes Fantastic Audio-Book
Review: DARK MATTER by Philip Kerr is a tale of epic opportunity, but meager result. Kerr attempts to flesh-out a dark, brooding mystery in dark, brooding Central London during the dark, brooding 17th century. A reader could get the feeling that Mr. Kerr was trying to set a certain mood... The story observes Sir Isaac Newton through the eyes of his apprentice, Christopher Ellis, both "real" people. Newton is, of course, brilliant but also comes across as quite conceited, unfeeling, and not in the least bit charming. One could hope that the Newton character could be likeable, even in an eccentric manner, but Kerr's Newton gives the reader no reason to cheer, or care. Ellis is his swashbuckling sidekick who's good with a sword and better with the ladies. Yes, Ellis is, in fact, THAT cliched. In both cases, the characters move about London with relatively little believable motivation (Newton: pursuit of counterfeiters; Ellis: pursuit of some "tail"). Even with poetic license on his side, Kerr's revelations into the mind of what could be the world's most brilliant scientist are remarkably shallow and unimaginative. The prose is positively painful. One might imagine Kerr hunched over a thesaurus looking up words that sound old. From the first page, one can tell the reading of DARK MATTER will be an effort: "...a little consideration of heavenly deliverance might have helped me to channel my anger against Papist tyranny instead of the man who had impugned my honour." (And that's not even the whole sentence.) I'll admit the effort was valiant, but it lacks the rhythmic flow of literature of the day, and ends up stilted, staccato, and awkward. The unevenness of his effort is evident, never more dramatically than in the midst of Ellis' flowery description of a particularly attractive (and married) woman, he throws in a comment about her "boobies". Great literature, to be sure. With shallow characters, a mad-lib mystery plot, and over-formal, pretentious prose, DARK MATTER was a major disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: empty calories...
Review: Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton written by Philip Kerr is a brilliant book filled with intrigue and mystery. This is a crime novel set in 1696 England. When reading this book I could see Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson trying to solve this case of counterfeitting or Umberto Eco and his "Name of the Rose" popped into my head as I began reading into the book. This is a book of many levels but a crime-mystery is the best sobiquet I can think of for the sonorous prose. With risk of giving away the story the book has Sir Isaac Newton as the Warden of Royal Mint and he is given the services of young Christopher Ellis as the track down counterfeiters that are trying to weaken a war-weakened economy. But, counterfeiting is only part of the problem as deaths start to occur and the plot thickens. Now, the echelons of power and nobility are suspect, collapse of the economay is now eminent. You will be engrossed in this book till the end as the author takes you on a history tour of England, places you have never been before... truly an innovatively conveyed thriller.
Rating:
Summary: The model for Sherlock Holmes
Review: I have only read this book in German, where it is called Newton's Schatten (Newton's Shadow) and can't answer for the English edition, but I really enjoyed this novel very much. It is a mystery very much in the same tradition as The Name of the Rose, only a little more accessible. I also read An Instanz of the Fingerpost and did not like that nearly as much as this one. I loved Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy - possibly the hardboiled best detective stories written since Chandler - and I would say that this is his best book in a long time. Kerr seems to be suggesting almost that Newton was a model for Sherlock Holmes: after all, he invented the same scientific method beloved of Holmes; and in this he is most persuasive. If I have a criticism it is that the style seems occasionally too authentically 17th century. But that may be the German of course. (Generally speaking it is a most elegantly written story.) Otherwise it is a first class novel, really, and I shall be giving the book to many friends this Christmas. Wunderbar.
Rating:
Summary: A mystery novel with a difference: a brain
Review: I've read Richard Westfall's bio of Newton - a real monster - and I thought Kerr got him pretty well right. The point is that Newton was a very hard man to get to know, a real mystery. One of these other reviews grumbles that Kerr's portrait of Newton is less than inaccurate. Which part? Newton not being a heretic? He was. Newton not being an alchemist? He was. Newton not believing in the divinity of Jesus Christ? He didn't. Newton not working at the Royal Mint? He did. Newton caring very little for other people? He didn't. Newton being obsessed with empirical method? He was. If anything I got a better impression of Newton the man, than was to be found in Westfall's bio. Frankly if I had a criticism of this book it is that it seemed a little too accurate, sometimes at the expense of making the hero - Newton - seem rather unheroic. I guess this is what happens when you spend so much time with math. It turns you into a cold fish. The other reviewers got it right. This is a classic mystery novel. Best of all, it's beautifully written and easy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Issac Newton the Sleuth
Review: London at the turn of the century, 17th, that is, is a place of intrigue and mystery. Will the recoinage fail and cause England to be destroyed by France and the Catholics? The mystery is deepened with each new murder, but, is Issas Newton, and his faithful sidekick, up to solving the case? Read on, and learn. This book was a little tedious, but it had its moments.
Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE BOOK - Pedantic Ramblings of Offensive Arrogance
Review: Philip Kerr tries to write in seventeenth century formal English but it only makes him sound arrogant and it distracts the reader from the existing weak plot line. Dark Matter was a terrible book. The characters were underdeveloped, the plot line weak and unrealistic, and the writing obnoxious. In Dark Matter Kerr's writing is extremely jumbled. His style bothers and irritates the reader more than conveys any sort of message or story. If you want to read a historical fiction, look for any other author. Kerr uses vivid sex scenes gratuitously and pointlessly. It is a completely inaccurate account of Newton's life other than the basic fact that he worked at the Tower of London. (Historians agree that Newton was psychotic, which this book does not convey.) Kerr should be forbidden from forever writing again.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting...but had some shortcomings
Review: The book, Dark Matter: The Privet Life of Sir. Isaac Newton was a very interesting book. I read through the first 250 odd pages with excitement and enjoyment. However, once the book reached page 300, it felt like the author realized he had to finish it and then quickly tied up all the lose ends almost to neatly. My other main problem with the book is something, which I encounter with the vast majority of modern fiction, and that is sex. There seems to be this idea that a book must have at least one scene during which people must engage in the act, now I understand that on occasion this is important to the plot or the character development, however, must we actually be subjected to a detailed analysis of the actions preformed? This book would have been better, and the characters as well developed had we not been 'privileged' to their sexual activities. Still on the whole, it was an enjoyable book, with strong characters, and an interesting plot.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting...but had some shortcomings
Review: The book, Dark Matter: The Privet Life of Sir. Isaac Newton was a very interesting book. I read through the first 250 odd pages with excitement and enjoyment. However, once the book reached page 300, it felt like the author realized he had to finish it and then quickly tied up all the lose ends almost to neatly. My other main problem with the book is something, which I encounter with the vast majority of modern fiction, and that is sex. There seems to be this idea that a book must have at least one scene during which people must engage in the act, now I understand that on occasion this is important to the plot or the character development, however, must we actually be subjected to a detailed analysis of the actions preformed? This book would have been better, and the characters as well developed had we not been 'privileged' to their sexual activities. Still on the whole, it was an enjoyable book, with strong characters, and an interesting plot.
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