The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

 

Whew!

Cronin didn’t just stick the landing, he nailed it and drove it deep into our hearts.

After the wonderful first novel and then the frustrating narrative tack taken with the unnessarily chrononoligically crippled second book – that relayed events better told in a linear fashion IMO – the final state of this series was up in the air pending the third book.

Thankfully and joyfully, Cronin delivers a third book where the breaks from the forward thrust of the narrative, enhance instead of detract. Never in The City Of Mirrors was there a moment where I longed to get back to the main story. Something that occurred far too frequently in the second book.

The strength of Cronin’s writing – throughout this series – is his ability to craft complex, flawed, and oh so wonderfully human characters. This is one of those exceptional series where you feel for all the characters, be they the main or supporting ones.

Cronin’s second biggest draw for me is his ability to tie individual personal moments to large scale events. An amazing talent, all the more so, because like all true gifts, he makes it look so easy.

This is a story about history and legends and people and about how all three intermingle. It is also a story that delivers on its promises and allows the reader the satisfaction of having all three made known to the characters in the story.

Mostly it’s a story about people. A story about love.

On deck – End of Watch by Stephen King. Wow – what a wonderful streak of books I have been reading!