GARDEN OF BEASTS (Jeffery Deaver) - December 20/13

This extremely readable novel kept me entertained throughout, certainly, but it's hard to deny that the book feels about 300 pages longer than necessary. Deaver pads out the story with a whole host of interesting but needless subplots, including an ongoing thing about a cop pursuing the main character. It seems like the story would've fared better had it simply revolved around Paul's exploits. Maybe a first-person narrative? There's just too much going on here and I found that certain things that were supposed to have an impact didn't just because I had forgotten who certain characters were and what their role was in the story. There's some exciting action towards the end, though. *** out of ****