Mud and Glass Book Review

Title: Mud and Glass

Author: Laura E Goodin

ISBN: 9781922200860

Publisher: Odyssey Books

Pages: 306

Source: Review copy from Henry Roi PR

Life is fairly workaday for Dr Celeste Carlucci, a professor at Krasnia’s finest university until her best friend and colleague Pace involves Celeste in her research.

Before long, Celeste is being shot at from a hovering helicopter, attacked on a moonlit mountain path, and followed by shadowy minions – on the trail of the Littoral Codex, an ancient and indecipherable book.

The race is on to figure out its secrets. On one side are Celeste and her colleagues, armed with nothing but enthusiasm, brilliant minds, and the principles of geography. Against them are the repressive university governors and their jackbooted campus security guards; the rich and power-hungry Praxicopolis family; and a renegade group of researchers, the Littoral League.

Will this ragtag bunch outwit their foes before it’s too late?

Official Summary

I was given a copy of this book with a review request. It is not my genre of choice, however, I agreed to review the book because I promised myself that I would open myself up to new authors and new genres during 2021. This adventure story was well written and will keep you on your toes with a strong academic influence.

The author tells an intriguing story about university researchers on a quest to save the university from bad management while at the same time looking to secure future research funding and ensuring the freedom to decide their own research topics.

The author is detailed in her academic experience and spends a lot drawing the reader into the everyday working of a university, the challenges faced by researchers and their passion for their research. Being new to the genre, I found it a little slow and packed with detail.

However, I enjoyed the story and kept reading it because I wanted to know where it was going and how it would be concluded. The characters in this book were brilliant. Picking a favourite in this one was easy. The retired Dr Garrick was simply marvellous. I fell in love with this seemingly grumpy old man the minute he was introduced. The author did a wonderful job with this character. He along is a good reason to read this book.

I am on the fence with this book, while it was an entertaining read, with a good story and colourful characters, I did find it to be a slow read. So this is one of those books that I didn’t love, but I cannot say that I hated it either.

I am sure adventure and academic fans will enjoy this book and would recommend that you read this if you are looking for a slower, more relaxed read.

About the Author

From the Author’s Site

American-born author Laura E Goodin decided at seven years old to be a writer. She grew up in the unexpectedly rural Sussex Country, New Jersey, where the relative lack of opportunities was balanced by the benefits of living among deep, dark woods, ancient mountains, clean, rushing rivers and an abundance of wildlife, all of which fed her young writer’s soul.

Over the decades, she’s worked as a reporter, editor, technical writer, media manager, web-content developer, writing teacher and freelance writer, but it was only as she entered her 40s that she was transmuted in the crucible of the 2007 Clarion South Workshop, and went on to gain a PhD. In creative writing from the University of Western Australia.

Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoy this book and look forward to your comments. Until next time …. Happy Reading!