nathanjhunt's reviews
186 reviews

This was my 60th book finished in 2025.

It all felt very self-wanky. As the name suggests, it's all recycled material, and very fleeting.

This was my 59th book finished in 2025.

Unfortunately I was just a bit underwhelmed. It was very much "Heart Of Darkness", but with a little less boredom and racism. Funnily enough, I found out after that Wells and Conrad became friends around this time.

This was my 58th book finished in 2025.

Ugh, this was a really bad book. Where do I begin? Firstly, this is simply an incredibly boring book with a dull plot. I can't pretend that I find business interesting, despite Crichton's usual clever and engaging writing style. He really dropped the ball here. I vaguely liked some elements in this book, but hardly anything.

The whole message from the book is pure boredom. Blah blah blah, Japan is doing better than America. Bloody get over it, rahhh. Boohoo, poor America.

The annoying thing about this book is that nothing really happened in it. The protagonists do things to no avail, just for things to right themselves in the end.

Oh no, the man we thought killed her, died, but actually didn't die... Luckily he turned up in your apartment to tell you he didn't die, and move the plot along!

Ultimately, if they hadn't done anything, everyone would likely be in the same situation.

No character in this book is likeable. They are all awful and insufferable. Peter is so slow at times and doesn't understand things when the reader has already worked it out. It's very frustrating! He's also incredibly sexist, but more on that later. Connor keeps "suspecting" things, but not bringing them up until it's later explained through narration. Why not? It's all tell and no show. His whole Japanese zen vibe became so annoying very quickly. Everyone is just an arsehole in this story.

The narrator and seemingly every character talks about Japanese people as if they're a different species! The pages leak xenophobia - borderline racism - and that makes it so hard to get through. Oh, but Crichton says the Japanese are the most racist people on the planet, so that makes it okay(?). Every single character is a xenophobe - even the Japanese-American hates Japanese people. Ugh. You know Michael, there are quicker and easier ways than writing a 400 page book, to say "I hate Japanese people".

There were also completely unnecessary uses of racial slurs. Connor just randomly drops the N-bomb in the last few pages of the book. He's not even talking about black people, I just don't understand. It really took me out of it. Why???

So the next elephant in the room is the way all characters refer to women. The only thing mentioned about them is how they look and how attractive they are, and that they have such good bodies. I hate the way Peter constantly comments on women's appearances - fuck offffff!

The book is also painfully sexist and misogynistic. Women are written in a strictly demonised way. If you read between the lines, the

deceased

woman likes sex with multiple men, and kinky sex, so she was troubled and deserved

to die

. There is never an ounce of sympathy, and so much victim blaming. Having this as the backbone of the plot is horrible and icky. She was potentially

raped

, and they can't tell for sure, but still refer to them as "lovers". But then it's never brought up again. Plus, the way Peter just sits in the lab and watches it over and over, getting turned on by it is so disgusting.

It had such an unsatisfying conclusion - essentially the two useless detectives

killed everyone involved

through their complete incompetence and heavy-handedness. Like, everyone is

dead

now, I don't care who did it. You're a corrupt cop anyway, so why do you even care about this and finding out the truth? And in the end it was all because of some business deal? Or something? Who knows?! IDGAF! 

Jesus, I used to like Crichton, but this was truly terrible. Ultimately, I've rated it higher than a 1 because the simplistic language saved it, versus flowery confusing language. But it's rated lower than I would have rated it because of it's problematic themes and uncomfortable racism

This was my 57th book finished in 2025.

I didn't guess the twist at the end until it was too late! Not what I expected at all, very good.

This was my 56th book fished in 2025.

I wasn't sure what I'd think of this book initially, but I grew to find it very charming and likeable. I enjoyed a lot of the characters and their near-constant use of slang. The idea of a heist novel set in Victorian London was very original and fun.

It was a great insight into Victorian London - far more interesting and engaging than anything Dickens could write! Crichton clearly did a lot of research, but he tripped up on a couple occasions: 
He begins by saying people only travelled by horse before 1830, and seems to entirely forget about the canal boom. Canals and railways were so closely tied in those early days, but he doesn't mention a canal once.

Crichton uses Pounds and Guineas interchangeably, but  they are not the same (pound = 20 shillings, guinea = 21 shillings aka £1.05). 

I was surprised that an American could focus so accurately on this British story, but it slipped on two occasions:
The one time it is mentioned, he says "pants" instead of "trousers". And throughout, which irked me, he refers to it as a railroad; we call it a railway. And he uses it accurately when referring to the company SER (South Eastern Railway), so it surprised me that he cocked it up on every other occasion.

The book is unfortunately bogged down by occasional sexism; uncomfortable sexual passages and unnecessary racist words. I understand the historical context behind this, but the narrator is clearly speaking directly to a modern audience; therefore it seems very strange to talk about these things as a matter of fact, without acknowledging how these things are not suitable to a modern audience.

This was my 29th book finished in 2024.

I listened to this book in podcast form. It was very entertaining like the first, and it's interesting to see Rocky begin to include actual literary devices. I enjoyed the first book just a little bit more, as, oddly, it seemed to have a more concise "plot".

This was my 7th book finished in 2024.

Having read slave narratives from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as diaries from the 17th and 18th centuries, I have to say that Joseph delivers an authentic and important book.

I will admit, I thought a bit more would happen. But I should be relieved and not disappointed that Sancho escaped some of the more brutal treatments black people received at this time.

I'd say this book was, surprisingly, a romance! I didn't think I would enjoy a book like that, but I was proven wrong.

It was so interesting to read about such a white-washed period of Britain. Even when you think a black man is free, he is not truly free. Sancho's referring to himself as a "caged bird" was perfect.

At times, I felt the book was slightly too long and slow-paced, but in retrospect, I think it was fine. I found it very easy to read, and flew through it. I feel my admiration for this book is growing over time.

For a debut novel, it is impressive. And Joseph clearly is very passionate and knowledgeable about Sancho. It was a delight to read.

This was my 55th book finished in 2025.

This is my favourite Christie short story so far. I ended up finding it more interesting than I thought I would, and quite liked the ending. 

This was my 1st book finished in 2025.

Informative and interesting. I wish it featured a bit more on witches in other cultures, however.

Some aspects were a bit repetitive.

This was my 46th and last book finished in 2024.

I had high hopes for this book, being an avid railway "fan". The early history of engines and the railway were informative and well-written, but the book quickly descended into steam railway disaster tales... One after the other, after the other, after the other...

I feel like a lot was missed out - nothing whatsoever about canals or the Beeching axe, or modern trains / railways? And it was dotted with random "fake adverts" which was just used as filler. 

Slightly disappointed.