Perez-Reverte came highly recommended as an author of well written intelligent thrillers. I also loved the movie The Ninth Gate based on The Club Dumas. I optimistically purchased all his books and had great expectations.

I read The Club Dumas, The Seville Communion and The Queen of the South. Perez-Reverte is certainly erudite and I loved the Dumas and Dante references in The Club Dumas. I also appreciate flawed main characters.

Unfortunately all the Perez-Reverte books have the same flaws: the story moves too slowly and the scale of the characters’ struggles is just too small. For instance, in The Seville Communion, I just did not care about the fate of an inconsequential church. I prefer epic tales when it comes to thrillers.