THE SISTERS BROTHERS (Patrick deWitt) - July 13/13

This enjoyable yet slightly overlong book certainly had me in rapt attention for much of its first half, with the quirky nature of the characters and the episodic structure suiting each other quite well. (I especially enjoyed the bit wherein Eli attempted to order something "light" for dinner, much to the confusion of both a waiter and a cook.) But the book kinda lost me a little with the stretch involving Eli and Charlie's shenanigans with a gold-seeking scheme. I just didn't care that much about this and deWitt spends a lot of time developing these two new characters (there's a whole chapter devoted to the childhood of one of the guys). The book finally picks up as Eli gets revenge by murdering the Commodore, and I liked the ending, so yeah, it's good but uneven. *** out of ****