Book Club 3.1, Fiction - Merchant's List

[TrvlDad1]

OK, we've skewered some hard-writing memoir authors from east to west, north to south, and to the end of the world. So how about a fiction break. I found a few fiction books about the Camino on David Tallan's bibliography, ordered a couple and think there are some worth reading and critiquing. They are not about personal caminos or even particularly deep and philosophical. But there is creativity in them whether you like them or not. So I'll start the Book Club Round 3 thread with my choice and then let's see what turns up for the next two or three books. I prefer to hear from the reviewers/skewers out there.
Merchant's List by A. N. Caird is on David Tallan's bibliography and is a self-published tale with, I think, a creative plot, some interesting characters and a believable situation. He spins an action- adventure tale with the usual personal attractions and aversions, and some interesting twists at the end. I'll say no more to preserve the (hopefully) drama.
This book has a few Forum reviews from 2018, but I think that's dated enough to draw some new readers and additional comments from those who may have read it.
Please post your thoughts to this thread.

[Edited only to correct Book Club Round #]

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I have read this book a few months ago. I found it very creative and entertaining although I did get a bit bogged down at times by some of the military type espionage. Overall it was an interesting and exciting read and I thought the author did a great job intertwining the story with walking the Camino.

 

[Chris Gi]

Looking forward to reading it. Looks very interesting and intriguing.

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

It has something to please whether the reader is past intel community or not, fan of action thrillers or not, has walked the Camino or not. I thought neither the intel details nor the Camino details were so much that they distracted people unfamiliar with either, but I could be biased in both areas. Or not.

I liked the main character (always a plus), thought the PG-rated romance references weren’t necessary but weren’t frequent, and weren’t necessarily believable but compared to most novels these days it was very tame. Perhaps it was added in just in case someone would make it into a movie —I think the ending is action packed enough for a summer movie. Another huge plus: just a few typos and one Spanish error (which may have been a typo) which is so wonderful in a self-published book. I don’t know that I will read the prequel—probably will—but I definitely enjoyed this book and can highly recommend it

edit: I think there’s a transition in time from the main time period to the end time period that’s stretches believability—can’t be more specific without spoilers—but by then the story is so good and the main character so enjoyable that I was willing to suspend a bit of reality to accommodate the last few chapters.

 

[C clearly]

It seems that our book club has been inactive over the summer. Time to get back to it!

I finished Merchant's List by A.N. Caird, which was quite readable. The plot was cleverly (and uniquely) superimposed on the Camino setting. That was what kept me reading to the end - I was more interested in the Camino journey, than I was with the thriller/spy/military elements. The plot was complex and ambitious (maybe a bit too complicated for me) but it moved quickly along. I'd agree that the romantic interest seemed a bit like like an afterthought, but it wasn't overdone and it didn't interfere with the main story.

Is anyone else reading Merchant's List, or should we move along to another book?

 

[gns]

It seems that our book club has been inactive over the summer. Time to get back to it!

I finished Merchant's List by A.N. Caird, which was quite readable. The plot was cleverly (and uniquely) superimposed on the Camino setting. That was what kept me reading to the end - I was more interested in the Camino journey, than I was with the thriller/spy/military elements. The plot was complex and ambitious (maybe a bit too complicated for me) but it moved quickly along. I'd agree that the romantic interest seemed a bit like like an afterthought, but it wasn't overdone and it didn't interfere with the main story.

Is anyone else reading Merchant's List, or should we move along to another book?

I finished this a while a go and would be interested in another one.