The Ancient Nine by Ian K. Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
**2.5-stars**
IT IS DONE!
This book was so long. Entirely too long in my opinion.
Following Spenser Collins, a boy from the Southside of Chicago through the hallowed halls of Harvard, as he gets punched for the Delphic, one of the most exclusive of Harvard’s famous final clubs.
Along with his friend, Dalton Winthrop, a Harvard legacy, they set out to unravel the Delphic’s secrets and some mysteries surrounding the club, including the disappearance of a wealthy young man, that remain lore on campus.
Yes, that sounds interesting doesn’t it? Who doesn’t love secret clubs and long-buried secrets and mysteries?
I was excited to receive this as an ARC many moons ago but then never got around to reading it. When I picked it up last month, I had no idea it would be such an undertaking.
What could have been a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat mystery, was instead a tedious and detail-ladened account of the most droll nature, with pages and pages of things such as: a boring romance, that had no bearing on the overall storyline, detailed accounts of basketball practices, including the drills that they went through each day, and unimportant geographical details of each scene.
At one point, I threatened to DNF this but was simply astounded by it all. I had to continue.
The author had a good idea here, the makings of a solid story but who let him go to print with so many inconsequential details dragging the entire book into Bore Town!?
It’s really a shame and that’s all I am going to say on that.
Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read an review. I appreciate it, as always.
I am sorry I did not enjoy this more but honestly, the story and the author would have best been served if it had undergone another serious round of editing.