J G Schwartz

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I'm still not sure what to think about this book. On the one hand, it's a very interesting premise and the story makes it work quite nice, but on the other hand it's really dark and at places a bit too easy for me.

The author goes to great lengths to explain why this 'new' side of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison isn't described before 2015. (It's probably for the best this wasn't known, for he's a very unsympathetic character). After a troublesome youth he goes on to become the famous inventor and kill a lot of people whilst trying to achieve that. An honourable mention should definitely be awarded to the sauna. It was certainly something I'd never read before. It also made me cringe.

For the worst is of course, that it is so painfully clear that he's doing it for fun. He's the completely crazy psychopath inventor. This works quite well in the story. The graphic descriptions of his different crimes make this book less suited for the faint of heart and/or stomach.

I had some troubles with the writing style. It took me quite some time to get used to. Also, at first I didn't particularly liked the interview style of the narrative, for it seemed to drag the story and felt like an easy way to leave things unanswered for a longer time than is necessary. Besides, the story is, as I mentioned, dark. And while I'm not necessarily looking for books that provide me a happy - all's well that ends well- kind of ending, this was quite depressing. Probably even more so as it all seems to come so extremely easy towards Edison. He was no doubt a smart man, but no one ever seems to suspect him, at least not really or to the extend that he deserved it.

An interesting read for sure, but I'm not sure what to think about it...

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!… (plus d'informations)