Helpful Score: 1
Beautifully written story by the author of Ghostwalk. The battle of Waterloo is over and Napoleon is in exhile. A young medical student is on his way to a very prestegious school and a piece of rare coral along with a letter is to be his introduction. But ...a beautiful young woman whom he met during his travel has stolen his precious piece of coral & letter. In trying to track down his precious coral he finds that the lovely theif is a member of an unground ring of thieves and he gets pulled in. There is so much more to this story and it is so well written it is like layers upon layers until the outcome. This is a wonderful story of intrigue, suspense cunning and a bit of love. I enjoyed it very much.
Paris, 1815. Daniel Connor, a young medical student from Edinburgh, has arrived to study anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes only to realize that his letters of introduction and precious coral specimens, on which his tenure with the legendary Dr. Cuvier depends, have been stolen. His thief turns out to be a beautiful woman who lives in a shadowy realm of outlaws, philosophers, and emigres. As Daniel falls in love with her, he discovers a radical theory of evolution that irrevocably changes his conception of the world. I found the scientific information and the revolution in France interesting but I found the character development and plot too weak. I enjoyed learning about transformism and how it changed views on religion and the origin of species before Charles Darwin's book about evolution. I have read and enjoyed Stott's novel Ghostwalk but enjoyed it more than this book. If you like history and science mixed together then you may enjoy this book.
