The overarching plot is fun, atmospheric, and has a lot of character in the prose. It feels a bit puffed up, lots of unnecessary description and while every chapter has a point to it, it still feels like the pacing is a bit off because of the overwriting of the sometimes mundane activities. It is really concerned with dictating every movement of Daniel from minute to minute once it frames a scene.

While quite a lot happens I also wouldn’t say it’s overly complex and it foreshadows are a bit heavy handed. Still quite fun to watch everything unfold though. You probably know exactly who the stranger is who approaches him early on, but quite a lot happens in the space of that time that the tension grows. Lots of characters ooze personality, so much so that I’m not sure Daniel drives that much of the story after the getting to know him initially. He is driven by the same motivations as the reader, for the most part. The subplots are interesting because of the characters he interacts with. That could be why it felt long periodically... maybe just when he is alone and not interacting with a person I grew bored of him.

Regardless, it was a good time. I wondered sometimes about the translation. Some people mention being annoyed by the dialogue, as that’s not how people spoke at that time. It’s all from Daniel’s perspective though, so perhaps it’s just how he remembers it, or perhaps the translation didn’t pay attention to that and used newer vernacular for this English version? Though there are some great 5 dollar words that come up and it felt well handled. Good flow, intent matched expression and dialogue. Either way, whatever the ‘issue’, the only complaint I had were the times it dragged and was pretty uneven in terms of pacing, and even tonal shifts can be jarring and strange. I am not against a mystery with some tropes and foreshadowing when things feel earned, and this, I think does do that.