The Book of Air and Shadows

A Novel

By: Michael Gruber

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

"Tap-tapping the keys and out come the words on this little screen, and who will read them I hardly know. I could be dead by the time anyone actually gets to read them, as dead as, say, Tolstoy. Or Shakespeare. Does it matter, when you read, if the person who wrote still lives?"

Those are the words of Jake Mishkin, whose seemingly innocent job as an intellectual property lawyer has put him at the center of a deadly conspiracy and a chase to find a priceless treasure involving William Shakespeare. As he awaits a killer (or killers) unknown, Jake writes an account of the events that led to this deadly endgame, a frantic chase that began when a fire in an antiquarian bookstore revealed the hiding place of letters containing a shocking secret, concealed for 400 years. In a frantic race from New York to England and Switzerland, Jake finds himself matching wits with a shadowy figure who seems to anticipate his every move. What at first seems like a thrilling puzzle waiting to be deciphered soon turns into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, in which no one - not family, not friends, not lovers - is to be trusted.

Moving between 21st-century America and 17th-century England, The Book of Air and Shadows is a modern thriller that brilliantly re-creates William Shakespeare's life at the turn of the 17th century and combines an ingenious and intricately layered plot with a devastating portrait of a contemporary man on the brink of self-discovery...or self-destruction.

©2007 Michael Gruber (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"A wonderful story" ( Kirkus)
"A wild story....Engrossing." ( The Washington Post)
"[With] intelligence and engaging style...Gruber raises the thriller stakes." ( Booklist)

Just couldn't finish it

This book just became too bogged down. I kept meaning to finish it...but never did. The basic premise of the story was good, the characters were interesting, but after a certain point, it just seemed not to be getting anywhere and I always had something else I wanted to do more than I wanted to make the effort to finish the book. Maybe you'll have more patience than I did.

A unique thriller

Have you listened to any of Stephen Hoye’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love Stephen Hoye as a narrator. He captured the character's state of mind in his voice, in his reading pace, especially. I've listened to this book at least 4 times and have read it, too. It's my go to book for escaping!

Any additional comments?

This book has an intriguing story--a Shakespeare play heretofore unknown to exist and the varied characters in hot pursuit of clues to find it. Some may find it boring and slow. I found it very entertaining.

An ending that wraps it all up

Lots of interesting plot lines and characters that elegantly wrap up by the end, which I appreciate.

A page-turner...

A tale that really moves right along. The story is told from three different points of view (1st person protagonist, 3rd person focusing on secondary character, and narrations of 17th-century letters). Between the excellent reader (try _Skinny Dip_ if you like his reading as much as I did), the shifting points of view, and some very nice plot twists, I found this to be excellent reading for a long car trip.

excellent characters, storytelling

I loved "The Forgery of Venus" and this book is just as good but with a different flavor. "Shadows..." has multi-faceted characters who laugh at the obviousness of the plot they're in, which is not very obvious at all. Think "DaVinci Code" with MUCH better writing and character development, slyly referential to all of our favorite movies. Excellent narrative performance.

Great Story !

Not often do you actually hear a new idea, seems movies and books all do the same story over and over. I enjoyed listening to the whole book and I thought the narrator was great. I also loved when this narrator read Skinny Dip which helped me understand the tongue in cheek humor in this a bit more.

Interesting story with a great performance!

While occasional, yet deliberate feeling, overuse of tropes, still a interesting historical thriller with a wonderful performance.

Great literary themed adventure story 👍🏼

This should make a GREAT movie (screenplay by AP Cresetti). 😂
Maybe slightly longer than necessary but these characters JetSet from old England to NYC and back in search of an ancient manuscript by WS. So exciting !
Favorite character Albert Cresetti. Second favorite Paul Mishkin.
Loved it.

Combining the disparate!

I just finished listening (for the second time) this book. I remember consuming the story when it came out in one big gulp the first time I read it, but this time I distinctly cherished each piece. The vast variety of characters (all well characterized by narrator Stephen Hoye) usually don't co-exist in the same book.This book, in its divided narratives, shows off the best of a Brooklyn young man and his American mother, the 1611 narrative of William Shakespeare's younger "cousin", and the lawyer-protagonist Olympic weight-lifter who is the Catholic son of a Jewish mobbed-up con man and his Nazi war bride. How do all of these disparate elements work together? Well.
I recommend the book because it is a thoughtfully done mystery that expresses well each main character's inner motivations for the interesting circumstances and mystery they find themselves in. It also throws in the history of Shakespeare, his work and a take on what might have been his life in 1610-1611. Well done!

hand crafted cocktail of a thriller

Might be better to read this one. Very difficult without the aid of italics, and cipher visuals as the book has, to follow the narrative. superb characters and tantalizingly labyrinthine plot. Only, the narrator makes some of the main characters so despicable it was hard to get through the beginning until the plot made up for the voice. my book club read it. those who read had a very different opinion of characters than those who listened.