Bruce - reviewed on 12/21/2011

Helpful Score: 5

This novel is billed as a story about the last years of Charles Dickens' life narrated by Wilkie Collins, but I think Collins was the central character in the book telling his story in the first person. Dickens was a supporting character although a very important one. Simmons takes his time telling a story and in "The Terror" it worked very well but "Drood" could have been pared down by several hundred pages and been a better book for it. Dickens and Collins groupies will probably love this book, but for me it was good but too wordy and too meandering. If you are just looking for a good story, there are better books to read. If you are interested in the relationship between Dickens and Collins or in either author individually, this book is for you.

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