I gave this book 3 stars. But really, I give the first half of the book 5 stars and the second half 1. The first half of the saga, surrounding only Beverly Penn and Peter Lake was fantastic. The lyrcism and tight plotting made it a joy to read. But as soon as he diverted into introducing FAR too many characteres in far too short a space, I felt the book rather lost the plot. The pacing went haywire and the lyrical quality seemed to taper off.