Ever
since the phenomenal success of Dan Brown's bestselling novel THE
DA VINCI CODE, readers have been deluged by books that try to
replicate Brown's formula for success, with mixed results. Grouping
Michael Gruber's latest novel, THE BOOK OF AIR AND SHADOWS, with
these DA VINCI CODE knockoffs, however, would be a mistake.
Gruber's breathless yet elegant storytelling, well-honed in his
previous (but very different) suspense novels, elevates this
literary thriller well beyond mere imitator.

Sure, Gruber's novel has a code, an historical, literary-related
mystery and plenty of sexual tension. But it also contains
effective plotting, genuine character development and masterful
storytelling --- all of which combine to make readers care about
these characters at least as much as they care about the manuscript
that is at the center of their obsessions.

It all begins with a fire at a struggling used bookshop. When a
valuable set of books is severely damaged in the fire, two young
bookshop employees, Carolyn Rolly and Albert Crosetti, take the
books home to see what can be salvaged. Under the damaged leather
bindings, Albert discovers some manuscript pages. Carolyn dismisses
the papers as mere wastepaper, but Albert perseveres, deciphering
their nearly-illegible script until he's convinced that the
manuscript is a letter bearing a reference to a previously unknown
Shakespeare play, as well as some enciphered pages giving clues as
to its whereabouts.

The two take the pages to noted manuscript expert Andrew Bulstrode,
who seems skeptical about the manuscript's provenance but
nevertheless offers the pair a small sum for it. But could
Bulstrode simply be hiding his own excitement about the
manuscript's true value?

Fast forward several months later. Bulstrode visits intellectual
property lawyer Jake Mishkin to inquire about the copyright status
of --- you guessed it --- a long-unpublished manuscript. During his
meeting with Mishkin, Bulstrode seems nervous, frightened even,
more than eager to pass the original manuscript over to Mishkin for
safekeeping. Bulstrode's fears seem well founded when, only a day
after their meeting, he is discovered brutally murdered. Who else
is on the hunt for these manuscript pages? Mishkin knows nothing of
Albert Crosetti and the manuscript's discovery, nor does he know
anything about the enciphered pages, which Crosetti still
possesses. As both men pursue the truth from different angles, they
grow closer to answers --- and to danger.

Alternating chapters follow Mishkin and Crosetti's stories, which
are slightly offset from one another chronologically. Each chapter
also ends with an excerpt from the Bracegirdle letters that are the
object of their investigations. This complex storytelling method
allows readers to feel like they, too, are getting closer to
solving the puzzle at the novel's heart. Particularly in the
chapters told from Mishkin's unskilled, rambling, almost
stream-of-consciousness first-person point of view, it also gives
readers a glimpse into these characters' personalities and will
make them even more invested in finding the clues before it's too
late.