Shadow of a Broken Man

Mongo #1

by George C. Chesbro

Meet Dr. Robert Frederickson, or "Mongo" to his friends. He's a former circus tumbler, black belt in karate, doctor of Criminology, and professor at a New York City university. And he's quite an unusual fellow as well, not only because he's a private investigator but also because he's a dwarf... When Mongo is asked to investigate a new building that has been hailed as a triumph of design, it seems like a relatively simple matter. The only strange thing is that the building's design matches the style of a famous architect who died years before. When Mongo begins to explore the possibility that the architect may not have died at all, his case becomes more complex. CIA agents, British spies, United Nations delegates and Russian torturers all begin to converge on Mongo, some willing to do anything to learn what he knows, others willing to kill Mongo to protect their secrets.Shadow of a Broken Man is the first in a series of Mongo adventures. Filled with intrigue and fantastic twists and turns, it's a delightful introduction to a terrific series. Mongo is a appealing character who's every bit as fascinating as the cases he investigates. Fans of the Espionage thrillers and hard-boiled detectives will find much to enjoy in this suspenseful outing.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Science Fiction, Noir, Ebooks, Urban Fantasy

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

George C. Chesbro was an American author of detective fiction. His most notable works feature Dr. Robert "Mongo the Magnificent" Fredrickson, a private detective with dwarfism. He also wrote the novelization of The Golden Child, a movie of the same name starring Eddie Murphy.

Chesbro was born in Washington, D.C. He worked as a special education teacher at Pearl River and later at rockland Psychiatric Center, where he worked with trouble teens. Chebro was married and had one daughter and two step-daughters.

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book better the first time I read it (25 years ago), but I still very much admire the hero: Robert Frederickson, Phd., doctor of criminology, private detective, karate black belt, former circus acrobat . . and dwarf. "Mongo the Magnificent" (his nom de cirque) encounters bizarre crimes often linked with the occult, and this tale--involving paranormal powers at the United Nations--is no exception.

This novel has a lot of action and not much atmosphere--just the reverse of my taste. Still, it pleased me enough that I am sure I will read more Mongo adventures in the future.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now its been a while since I have been so quickly and deeply hooked in a book like this so I cannot express my delight and enjoyment at reading Shadow of a broken man. I must say its been a while since I have read over 200 pages in an evening.

So why the total abandonment of time and responsibilities to read this book - and thats a good question I have been pondering.

I think the first is the characters in general - (we will get on to the hero of the story in a second). To me they are not just well rounded and so clearly described but in their own senses they are utter caricatures of themselves. From the mountainous enermy agent to the over the top boisterous foreigner and the shifty and untrustworthy and creepy government agent - they all seem all the more real for being just a little too dramatic.

And then there is the good Doctor himself - so utterly fantastic but by the end of the story so totally believable. What I think I like about him so much is that from his write up on the book cover (and on this site) he sounds so over the top - world famous acrobat, doctor criminology and private detective not to mention black belt in Karate. However all these skills (and I am sure as the series progress there will be more added to it) are not over played or made to be excuses for cheap jokes or plot devices. In fact the whole character of Mongo the Magnificent is rather down played which I think shows the restraint and maturity of the author.

And then there is the story - yes it is rather dated now having been written in 70s but to be honest once you get in to the story it becomes superficial and is quickly over looked and forgotten. I will not say too much of the story as I do not do spoilers but I will say that the impossible situation is resolved quite satisfactorily and hints at future stories which will be just as imaginative and thrilling.

Now I saw this book being referenced many times with glowing reviews and comments which usually makes me rather hesitant and suspicious but not in this case. ONCE I had found my copy I can see that the praise is most certainly worth it and yes I will try my best to read the rest of the series.

[Still · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this novel in paperback format in July of 1978 -the month and year that it came out. Subsequently purchased other entries in the series but put them aside.

Mongo is a dwarf criminologist who does part time work as a private investigator. He spent years working for a circus as a tumbler and acrobat. He has a black belt in karate. He's a brilliant character and a very tough customer but quite civilized.

"Some years ago a psychiatrist had told me that finding out things other people didn't want known was my way of trying to stay even with a society filled with people bigger than I was. The remark was meant to startle, to provoke insight, and eventually to alter my behavior.

Instead, I'd simply found that I thoroughly agreed with him, and had gone out after a private investigator's license."

"Lippit rose, put his hands in his pockets, and walked to the window. He didn't turn around when he spoke. 'We've prepared a psychological profile on you, Dr. Frederickson. It's sketchy because of the limited time we've had, but it's fascinating nonetheless. Your karate, your Ph. D., your obvious need to achieve. You're agressive, Occasionally hostile, but I suppose that's understandable. You have the mind of a giant trapped in a dwarf's body. A pity.' "

"His voice had dropped a half octave, the whisper of silk across a knife blade."

He's hired to determine if a dead man -a genius architect named "Rafferty- faked his alleged death five years earlier.
Along the way dead bodies pile up, assassins from at least four major countries (France, England, Russia, and America) are stalking Mongo's every move. They want to find out what Mongo discovers in his investigation so that if "Rafferty" is in fact still alive, they want to be the first to apprehend him.

Why?

"Rafferty had, in effect, died twice. About five years earlier, he'd been involved in an automobile accident that had killed all the occupants of the other car. It had taken three firemen half a day to pry Rafferty out of the crushed-metal puzzlework. He'd been pronounced dead at the scene, but someone had detected a sign of life just as they were about to plastic-bag him. They rushed him off to a hospital and he survived, thanks to what were modestly referred to as a series of medical miracles and a steel plate to replace the portion of his skull that had been pulverized.

The effort had been largely wasted. Five or six months later he'd fallen off a catwalk into an open smelting furnace in a metallurgical laboratory he maintained in New York City. That kind of death is permanent ..."

A couple of disappearances, a murder or two later, Mongo finds himself being beaten and drugged and interrogated. Then Mongo is horribly tortured for hours by a sadistic Russian agent.
That's where the book eases into a marvelous tale of the paranormal which makes this book such a compelling read.

"I wheeled and froze. The man filling the doorway was huge - well over six feet and better than two hundred and seventy-five pounds, all resting on ridiculously small feet. There was nothing ridiculous about the machine pistol in his right hand. His eyes were like twin moons, pale and lifeless, suspended in an unbelievably ugly, pockmarked face: a large, mashed nose sat in the middle of that face like a broken rocket drifting off to nowhere. The trackers had been tracked, and I doubted that the Russian was looking for information."

For years producers in Hollywood have sought to adapt this novel to film. Peter Dinklage ("Tyrion Lannister" in HBO's GAME OF THRONES) has expressed interest in playing "Mongo" in a movie or series of films.
It would be a very interesting movie to see.

God knows, the book is damn near perfect.

Highest Recommendation!

[🐴 🍖]

ok but if your protagonist is an ex-acrobat little person criminology professor with a kung fu black belt AND the solution to the mystery involves telekinesis, i would prefer for tongue to be somewhere in the neighborhood of cheek. ironically the deadly seriousness made this one impossible to take seriously

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Supernatural/espionage/hardboiled mashup that’s first in the Mongo the Magnificent series. Mongo's chasing an architect who may have faked his death to elude the Feds.

TL;DR Description

40-year old first in series about a: New York City (NYC), PhD criminologist, PI, karate black belt, and world-class acrobat. He's also a dwarf. Despite the quirky protagonist the author writes a very Ross Macdonald by the numbers mystery that develops into a Cold War espionage story with supernatural content. Atmosphere was very period, but not-quite-right. Story was a workmanlike effort, that’s mildly humorous in places. Unfortunately, the author squandered the opportunity to better explore Mongo’s disability.

REVIEW
My dead tree copy was a slim 256-pages with an original US 1977 copyright. My 1999 re-issue by Apache Beach had a peculiar Helvetica-like (?) small point typeface. I read the first half of the book in one sitting. The second half went more slowly as the ending became obvious.

George C. Chesbro was an American author of detective fiction. He wrote almost thirty (30) books including three (3) series between the mid-1970’s and early 2000’s. This was the first book in his most popular Mongo the Magnificent series. There are fifteen (15) books in that series. This was also the first book of that author’s that I’ve read. Chesbro passed in 2008.

The Mongo the Magnificent series was briefly considered as a vehicle for dwarf film actor Peter Dinklage. This was before his fame from acting in the Game of Thrones (2011-2019) television mini-series.

This was Chesbro’s first novel. At this point he might be a journeyman writer. The story was written very much in the style of Ross Macdonald. Word usage was good and consistent in tone. My edition was well edited. I found only one copy error. There were occasional technical vocabulary errors. Descriptive prose was better than dialog, it being brief and conveying the right imagery. Dialog was overly long, including many paragraph length utterances. Narrative could be humorous in places, with the first half of the book being funnier than the second. I laughed at calling The Lincoln Tunnel the “stone umbilical to New Jersey”. Action scenes were good. They were well choreographed, and occasionally included sight gags. There was a single POV throughout.

There was sex, modest substance abuse and no music references in the book. Sex was observed by the protagonist. Its description was not graphic, and written to be both humorous and tawdry. Substance abuse was mostly bog-standard alcohol usage. It was in-line with other hardboiled, PI stories of the time. Pharmaceuticals were abused for an interrogation. The protagonist had no interest in music. I would have appreciated some 1970's Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) or ABBA references.

Violence was physical, edged weapons, and firearms. The story included graphic scenes of torture. I thought the torture scenes were interesting and well done. Physical trauma was modestly graphic, with blood, but no gore. Body count was moderate, perhaps a tad excessive.

The protagonist was Dr. Robert Frederickson AKA Mongo the Magnificent. He provided the story’s POV and was the most developed character. He was a dwarf Batman without the cape. He was the unlikely combination of a: PhD criminologist, PI, black belt in karate, and world-class acrobat. “I was born with a low profile." Despite some humorous self-deprecating comments, he was undeterred by his disability. This pint-sized PI frequently trashed full-sized examples of the species both physically and intellectually. Unfortunately, except for a few quips, and flashbacks the author did not delve into Mongo’s disability and so it becomes more of a gimmick. For example, that the protagonist had no real interest in women was a great disappointment. Mongo wasn't gay. (That would be too modern.) He found certain women attractive and others not. He had a definite preference for high-status, intellectual women. However, contrary to the PI trope, he made no effort toward them. Why? The author missed an unusual opportunity by skirting heroic romantic entanglements. Victor Rafferty was the McGuffen in the first part of the story. He was a dead architect, who may not be. He also may have had super powers. He was wanted by all the Cold War Intelligence agencies active in New York City. Rafferty would have been a better character, had he had more development. His inner dialog would have been very interesting. Garth Frederickson was Mongo’s brother. He was an honest NYC detective playing The Reasonable Authority Figure. He also provides Mongo free NYPD technical services and backup. There are a number of supporting characters. Some of them were interesting, but their appearances were brief. The spies were unremarkable characters. Why is it that even today, the Russians are always the really bad guys? The French and British also got a bad rap. The most important spook was Lippitt, the American ‘good’ spy who held an ambiguous position in the Rafferty death.

The story started out like a vanilla detective story. Mongo took a case investigating the death of a man’s (Foster) wife’s ex-husband (Rafferty). Rafferty, died in a peculiar fashion without a body. The death was too quickly and administratively closed. The Foster’s wanted closure. Mongo’s digging produced a lot of incongruous evidence and related deaths. Mongo determined Rafftery was likely alive, hidden in plain sight in NYC and that unbelievably strange things can happen around him. Red herrings abound as to who may have been Rafferty. How Rafttery changed his appearance, identity, and mannerisms in a short period of time remained a mystery. Mongo’s efforts wake-up the domestic and foreign intelligence networks interested in Rafferty. That includes Lippitt who has a special relationship with Raffery and the Fosters. The spies swarm Mongo, his client and his suspects forcing a situation where Rafferty breaks cover.

World building was OK-- but there were problems. The story was mostly set in NYC in the mid-1970’s with a lot of then current cultural references.

I’ve spent time in The City, although not in 1977. I know folks who live there. Chesbro does not write about The City like someone who lives or has lived there. His NYC geography was very vague. What NYC University did Mongo teach at-- why hide it? (Columbia?) His descriptions of getting from place to place were not New York-ish, like "42nd between 5th and 6th." I got the feeling the author lived in New Jersey and only occasionally visited The City.

There were a bewildering array of 70’s cultural references in the descriptions. What did Mary Quant’s makeup look like in the 1970’s? Who was Mary Quant?



Some references were really obscure. Mongo made a Bluebird reference to his primary education that made no sense. I researched it. In the 1950-60's American teachers would divide the classroom's children up into different groups according to their English and Reading proficiency. A child was either a: Bluebird (Best), Redbird, or a Yellowbird (Worst). Mongo was a Bluebird high achiever.

Mongo didn't have a mobile phone. Most folks didn't. He 'dropped a lot of dimes' in telephone boxes. To his credit, the author didn't use the missed telephone call plot device, although Mongo spent some time waiting by the telephone. The Feds had car phones. The kind that were built-into the car aftermarket with their own antenna.

An executive Brooks Bros. suit cost US$250 in the story. Today it costs US$1300. A telephone call costs a dime. A NYC sandwich is under US$5. A credible bribe for a PI to get information is a "Jackson". US$20 today wouldn't buy you a pizza in NYC.

Modern attitude toward porn, homosexuality, and prostitution has changed. At one point Mongo goes to interview a producer of “dirty movies”, where he was met by a “gay male”. The workers in the scene (the only sex in the book) and the description of that industry were not flattering. Is professional porn made in NYC any longer?

There were a few technical errors. I can't imagine government agents performing a stake out in a pink Ford Pinto--simply because pink was not an available color in 1976-77.



The descriptions of firearms and their usage was vague. All “assault rifles” in 1976 were “automatic assault rifles”. I also seriously doubt a British spy would smuggle a WWII vintage Sten submachine gun into The States for mission use in 1976.

When it was written, this story was considered innovative for the genres it combined. Today, these mashups are more commonplace. The story felt distinctly dated. Toward the end of it, I was enjoying this story more for the sociology than the fiction. The story was still ‘good’, but very linear in comparison to modern detective fiction. The author was also too overly concerned with writing fiction that was like the Lew Archer series. An elevator pitch for the story might be, "Its a dwarf Lew Archer doing an a X-Files episode." Its unfortunate the author did not go deeper into his quirky character’s disability. Although, that would have been a more modern story? Fortunately, I liked feeling my sense of cognitive dissonance being twigged. The differences in many attitudes, beliefs or behaviors, between the mid-1970’s and now were there in the story. Noting and researching the dated historical references became a reason for me to continue reading, when the ending became obvious.

Having read this, I will not be reading the next story in the series City of Whispering Stone. There are a lot better 50-year old novels for me to be reading .

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting read. It was like a 1940ish crime noir and sci-fi together! I haven’t read anything like it before! I may have to try the next one in the series.

[Deborah Lagutaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

great beginning of a murder mystery series

I did not think I was the type, but Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series hooked me. There are 18 books in the series but they can all stand alone

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can anyone resist a dwarf private investigator, who used to be circus performer but now has a Ph.D in criminology? I know I couldn't.

Though I don't know if this would be a 5 star book for everyone, I have to give it such a rating due to the formative effect this novel had on me as a teenager. Though it was initially published in 1977, I must have read it in the early 1980's when I was still in high school. I don't know if George Chesbro's series featuring Dr. Robert Frederickson, AKA Mongo, was the first supernatural noir series but it was certainly the first one I read. Written in a first person, slightly Chandler-esque prose, Shadow of a Broken Man pulls you in quickly and keeps the pace moving.

Mongo is wrapping up a busy semester at an unnamed university in New York and looking forward to a week on the beaches of Mexico when he is asked to take on a case involving Victor Rafferty, a famous architect who died five years before. The potential client, Mike Foster, married Rafferty's widow and all had been going well until a new building was erected in New York that looked uncannily like Rafferty's work. Now the Foster's relationship is haunted by the idea that Rafferty may actually still be alive. Against his better instincts, Mongo agrees to take the case and discover how a dead man or at least a dead man's designs came to be used by a living architect.

As is always the case in a noir novel, what seems to be a simple case turns out to be the exact opposite and Mongo's investigations threaten to reveal secrets that people have died to keep. Will Mongo be next?

Mongo's character and first-person narration are the heart and noir-y soul of this novel and I found that this book was just as compelling now as I found it back in 1982. Though I think Chesbro jumped the shark a little toward the end of this series, this debut novel still rocks.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragic near-death accident, a miraculous recovery, and a bizarre death - gifted architect Victor Rafferty is no longer with us but he has definitely not been forgotten.
Dr. Robert Frederickson, aka Mongo the Magnificent, is a former star circus performer, current university lecturer, but his passion is his work as a P.I. He's also a dwarf - but the further you get into the book the less it matters (from time to time I completely forgot).
He's hired to find out what actually happened to Victor Rafferty and it soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems.
"Shadow of a Broken Man" is a cut above most P.I. novels, and that is mostly down to the writing.
Interviewing the last man to see Rafferty alive, then a security guard and now a porn film maker, he writes of the filming:-
"Most of the women were well past whatever prime they might have had; many were young and just looked old - would-be discoveries on the run from places like Des Moines and Peoria. Or Nebraska. They'd come to New York to chase a star and had washed up, a thousand disappointments later, on the barren shores of the flesh trade."
The book is 50 years old and shows its age occasionally - it's not intrusive.
The characters are well rounded and believable while the plot only really falters towards the end as it becomes paranormal. I'm not complaining as it is one of the best reads I have had this year.
4 Stars.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Mongo mystery. It was hard to know what to expect going in, knowing that the detective hero of the story is not only a dwarf, but a black belt with a Phd in Criminology.

Surprising, Chesbro plays it straight. While elements of the plot are over-the-top, the characters emotions are grounded in reality. The fact that Mongo is a dwarf rarely comes into play during the course of the story, beyond affecting his personality. It's much more traditional than I expected.

The story is a cross-genre mix, much like the pulps of the thirties and forties, combining a traditional mystery structure with elements of the supernatural. Much like The X-Files, the world is real with mysterious shadows.

It's good and definitely intriguing enough to see where he takes Mongo in the next book.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Frederickson is a professor of criminology at a university located in New York City. He's also a private detective. He's also a dwarf who is a former circus performer, a tumbler and acrobat called Mongo. He's also wry, intelligent, witty, caring, and insightful.

A week before his much needed vacation, he is hired to verify the death of a very famous architect who died very dramatically some years before. The man's wife, now remarried, has become convinced he is still alive. What seems to be a routine case becomes extremely complex and frightening very quickly. As he delves deeper, the mystery becomes complex and dangerous. An exciting page-turner with very good well-drawn characters.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be kind of prosaic, for a novel about a circus midget/black belt in karate/PhD criminologist who solves crimes for the NYPD. The back cover claims that growing up as a circus freak gives the protagonist "special insight into the slings and arrows that pierce the human heart," but apart from the fact that he explains that he's a dwarf and yet also a detective to every new person he meets, there's never a sense his of being a fish out of water. A decent enough read, but not compelling enough for me to chase down any of the other four (!) 'Mongo mysteries.'

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently discovered this series of mysteries by the late George Chesbro featuring PI Dr. Robert Frederickson, who had been a noted circus performer under the name "Mongo the Magnificent." He's a martial arts expert with a PhD in psychology, and he teaches criminology at a NYC university. He's a fascinating character, well-drawn, introspective and complex, with his dwarfism rarely overplayed. The story is a plotty mystery, with some action, some violence, twists and turns, and all-in-all pretty dark, but dark isn't bad. I enjoyed it enough to read another.

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe too many pieces... an ex-circus dwarf with a PhD, karate black belt and Private Eye business is one thing; but investigations that lead to spies, parapsychology and the UN Secretary-General seems to be going too far. Interesting, well-written, but violent and not believable. I'm in no hurry to read more in the series.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a few of these back in the day, but lost track of the series. I am so I glad I went back. Quirky PI's investigating weird ass Fringe/X Files stuff. This is my jam, and unlike a lot of the old stuff when I try and go back to it, this does not disappoint.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series with a former circus performing dwarf turned college professor and part-time private detective? How did I never hear of this before now? And how many more are there?

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was weird for a P.I. novel, but not weird enough for a novel about a genius acrobat dwarf investigating the murder of a telepath.

[Jeffrey Powanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining start to the Mongo paranormal mystery series. It's fast-paced pulp fiction, with crisp action scenes and breathless plotting. The protagonist and narrator is Mongo Frederickson, or "Mongo the Magnificent," a dwarf, martial artist, and former circus performer, who is now a criminology professor and private detective. In the course of his investigations, he frequently confers with his brother Garth, who is a New York police detective. The story is set mostly in Manhattan, particularly around the United Nations. It concerns the strange death of a famous architect and the murder of a neurosurgeon a few days apart five years earlier. A man who has married the architect's widow hires Mongo to find out whether the architect is still alive, despite a witness having seen him fall into a smelting furnace. As Mongo delves into the investigation, he unwraps a plot involving CIA agents, Russian assassins, and someone with unusual psychic powers. Overall, the book seems silly and adolescent, but it's still more fun than most mysteries.

Mongo is an outstanding character on which to hang a series, so I'm inclined to read more of the Mongo books, at least through the fourth book, The Beasts of Valhalla, which I read 30 years ago and remember fondly.

[Jeffery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read #4 in this series decades ago and thought i would read the series now that it will be the basis of Peter Dinklage 's next gig after Game if Thrones. I am convinced there is more of a connectilon. Either George R R himself read about Mongo and paterned Tyrion Lannister after him, or Peter Dinklage read about Mongo and paterned his portrayal of Tyrion after Mongo, or both.

In this first book Chesbro is still figuring Mongo out, but picturing Peter/Tyrion as Mongo is automatic. Dr. Robert Richardson (Mongo) works his way thru a modern dectective knight errant (with just a lite touch of Science Fiction, in some ESP). Think Tyrion Lannister channeling Jack Reacher, in Law and Orders New York, in a spin off of the X - files. It works, and if you like two out of four of those, you would probably find this a GoodRead.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book lived up to the characterization that it could not be considered strictly one genre or another. Enjoyed it. This book was a little difficult to locate. Thank goodness that Columbus Metro has a great borrowing system of requesting throughout many Ohio libraries (including universities) rather than the interlibrary loan.

[Hereswhatsgoingon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great surprise on a drizzly South Florida afternoon! This books features a PI (who is a little person, called a dwarf in the book) and has elements of international intrigue and sci-fi. It takes place in the 70s, so the technical piece of modern spy books is missing. It is a wonderful, old fashioned action tale, with a likable protagonist and a nice twist at the end.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread for me and just as good the second time around. I read a review many many years ago that said if Raymond Chandler & Stephen King had a baby it would be George C. Chesbro and I could not agree more. This book aged well.

[BRT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite sure yet what to make of this mystery about a former circus performer who earns a PHD in criminology and becomes a professor/private detective. At times darkly noir, at other times very X-files, it certainly commands your attention.

[Quanita · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual detective, an unusual case, and an even more unusual outcome. Five years ago an injured architect and his surgeon were killed days apart. The reason? No one seems to know, but everyone wants to find out. The author has an flowing rhythm that begs you to keep reading.

[Kathleen Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a chance on this story. The backstory of the main character really piqued my interest. I was pleasantly surprised by the many twists and turns during the book and was totally blown away by the ending! Happy reading!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, well-written, likeable characters. Would have been five stars but I no longer have the stomach for reading about violence.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une très bonne aventure de Mongo le Magnifique !

[Moira L. Mefein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read the Mango books. I don't have better advice.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too 'out there' for me - heavy on the paranormal. Not a page-turner of a read. Don't have an inclination to follow on in the series. 2.75 rounded to 3.

[Regine]

Has the flavor of old sf.