Book Review -- "Now Face to Face" by Karleen Koen

(Warning -- possible spoilers)

"Now Face to Face" is the sequel to Karleen Koen's book "Through a Glass Darkly".  I dearly love historical fiction, and as I devoured "Through a Glass Darkly and gave it a resounding Five Stars, I really looked forward to the sequel.

Eh.  Well.

This book was on its way to being put on my "Not Finished" shelf, but I persevered and the pace finally picked up and the story fell back into the method of her first book.  When I finished the book, I had tears in my eyes, and felt the novel had redeemed itself somewhat.

I'm still only giving this book Three Stars, and here's why:

*  While I enjoy studying history, the first half of the book was way too political for my taste.  I kept losing the story line because just when I'd get interested, bam, politics. Don't get me wrong, a certain amount of politics had to be written into the book or there would have been no plot, but there's a line that got crossed.

* Characters I liked in the first book seemed to change personalities in the sequel, particularly Barbara, the main character. 


* The pace got bogged down, largely due to the huge chunks of politics.


If you're a fan of the Jacobite uprising, you'll love it.  I was fortunate in knowing a fair amount about this time period or I would have been completely lost.  If you're a fan of court intrigue, you'll like the book.  I'm glad I decided to plug along and finish the book, but be prepared -- it's nothing like the first book.