Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Book Review: "Dark Matter"

In Philip Kerr's Dark Matter, you'll find Isaac Newton as you never knew him before. As a Sherlock Holmes-esque figure (with his trusty Watson by his side in the person of his erstwhile assistant Christopher Ellis), Newton undertakes the investigation of several mysterious murders in the Tower Mint, in the course of which he managers to uncover a deep-rooted, nefarious plot which threatens to upend the British government and put an end to Dr. Newton himself.

Though it is generally well written, I found Dark Matter a bit silly. Between the crime-solving Newton and the rather hackneyed side-plot of cryptographic clues to the "lost treasure of the Templars," I had to roll my eyes a few times in order to get through the book. Good diversionary reading, but nothing particularly special.