The Book of Air and Shadows - Couverture souple

Gruber, Michael

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0007251904 ISBN 13 : 9780007251902

Editeur : HarperCollins, 2007

Synopsis

A clever, pacey thriller set around the search for a lost Shakespearean play. Tap-tapping the keys and out come the words on this little screen, and who will read them I hardly know. I could be dead by the time anyone actually gets to read them, as dead as, say, Tolstoy. Or Shakespeare. Does it matter, when you read, if the person who wrote still lives? These are the words of Jake Mishkin, whose seemingly innocent job as an intellectual property lawyer has put him at the centre of a deadly conspiracy and hunt to find a priceless treasure connected to William Shakespeare. As he awaits a killer-or killers-unknown, Jake writes an account of the events that led to this deadly endgame, a frantic chase that began when a fire in an antiquarian bookstore revealed the hiding place of letters containing a shocking secret, concealed for four hundred years. In a frantic race from New York to England and Switzerland, Jake finds himself matching wits with a shadowy figure who seems to anticipate his every move. What at first seems like a thrilling puzzle waiting to be deciphered soon turns into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, where no one -- not family, not friends, not lovers -- is to be trusted. Moving between twenty-first-century America and seventeenth-century England, 'The Book of Air and Shadows'is a modern thriller that brilliantly re-creates William Shakespeare's life at the turn of the seventeenth century and combines an ingenious and intricately layered plot with a devastating portrait of a contemporary man on the brink of self-discovery ...or self-destruction.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Tap-tapping the keys and out come the words on this little screen, and who will read them I hardly know. I could be dead by the time anyone actually gets to read them, as dead as, say, Tolstoy. Or Shakespeare. Does it matter, when you read, if the person who wrote still lives?

These are the words of Jake Mishkin, whose seemingly innocent job as an intellectual property lawyer has put him at the center of a deadly conspiracy and a chase to find a priceless treasure involving William Shakespeare. As he awaits a killer—or killers—unknown, Jake writes an account of the events that led to this deadly endgame, a frantic chase that began when a fire in an antiquarian bookstore revealed the hiding place of letters containing a shocking secret, concealed for four hundred years. In a frantic race from New York to England and Switzerland, Jake finds himself matching wits with a shadowy figure who seems to anticipate his every move. What at first seems like a thrilling puzzle waiting to be deciphered soon turns into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, where no one—not family, not friends, not lovers—is to be trusted.

Moving between twenty-first-century America and seventeenth-century England, The Book of Air and Shadows is a modern thriller that brilliantly re-creates William Shakespeare's life at the turn of the seventeenth century and combines an ingenious and intricately layered plot with a devastating portrait of a contemporary man on the brink of self-discovery . . . or self-destruction.

Revue de presse :

“Few thrillers will surpass [this book] when it comes to energetic writing, compellingly flawed characters, literary scholarship and mathematical conundrums.” (USA Today)

“A smart thriller. Gruber’s themes may be lofty but his people are fully fleshed. An engaging adventure.” (Boston Globe)

“If you love books, make room on the shelf for a new guilty pleasure.” (Washington Post)

“An intricately crafted and literate work (that) should give the (thriller) genre a good shake.” (Denver Post)

“Fearless, intricate and intelligent. Stylish and confident prose. Dialogue that respects a reader’s intelligence. A smart and original plot.” (Seattle Times)

“A dead genius, a sleuthing couple with romantic chemistry, and some bad guys...it’s a fun party.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“Very good...ingenious and suspenseful.” (Maclean's)

“Entertaining. A wild ride.” (Charlotte Observer, Best Books of Summer)

“Smart and irreverent.” (Arizona Republic)

“(An) intoxicating mix of fact, fiction, secret codes and ancient conspiracies...well-written and cleverly told. A terrific thriller.” (Edmonton Journal (Canada))

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: HarperCollins
• Date d'édition: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0007251904
• ISBN 13: 9780007251902
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 576