I found this book outside a small bookshop while i was strolling the streets of Amsterdam. I was on my summer holidays from Ireland and was quite lost. Being an avid Follet reader i snatched it up immediately.Lets call a spade a spade. The book lacks depth, character development or any sign of tension. However, it was an entertaining read for a person who was travelling by train around Europe and was often stuck for english material. by Follets own admission the book didn't turn out the way he had planned. nobody would try to argue that this book is anywhere as good as 'pillars' but at the end of the day it is still a good entertaining read.