The logic is ineluctably Vulcan: unsolved historical ciphers are cool… novelists like to lard their books with cool stuff… ergo here’s yet another cipher mystery novel to review.
The book’s author, Jess Lourey, is a Sociology/English professor: and if I told you that she also lectures in creative writing, you may have a good idea of where this is going.
Firstly, the bad stuff: anyone who doesn’t like the sound of reading all-italics flashback chapters telling how the two main young women protagonists shared ice cream and cookies and tried different hair styles when they were growing up together probably isn’t going to be able to last to the end of the book. I certainly had to grit my teeth fairly hard to get through some of these. These bits were more chick than lit, let’s say.
Also, anyone who finds it difficult to buy in to novels where the main characters are stalked across the country by spectacularly sadistic and implausible assassins (say, like The Da Vinci Code) may find their copy of the book involuntarily sailing across the room at some point (personally, I found page 79 quite challenging in this respect).
The good news is that Lourey has done a fair bit of cipher mystery lurking and looking, and presents the Beale Ciphers reasonably accurately (I doubt I’d be spoiling anyone’s read if I said that various of the protagonists make their way to a well-known vault in Virginia).
Overall, though, the plot plays out like an all-female National Treasure remake, complete with national monuments, suitably appropriated historical figures, and more hidden compartments than you can shake Nic Cage’s torso at (there’s even Alcatraz in there for Cage completists). Though rather than Science vs Religion or Black vs White or Blue vs Red or even Humans vs Insects (Philip K. Dick short story reference), Lourey pitches Evil Rich Men vs Idealistic Poor Women as her two Conspiratorial axes. Which is nice.
Cryptologically, Salem’s Cipher itself (one of the protagonists is called Salem) appears at the start, where Salem figures out a way of using Charles Babbage’s work to power quantum cryptology. But this promptly disappears, making it not so much a Chekhovian gun as a Checkhovian RPG. But perhaps it will reappear in Book 3. (Book 2 is set in Europe, but hopefully will manage not to reprise Garfield 2.)
Is Salem’s Cipher worth reading? To me, it feels like a slightly awkward cross-over, a chick lit feminists-save-the-world spin on the clunky mainstream crumb-trail cipher mystery Americana chase thriller genre: and if that description doesn’t put you off, you should probably get yourself a copy ASAP. 🙂
No comment. I prefer your puzzles. I will mention that the dreadful fire came very close to burning our recently purchased “Ti-Pi” (a folding wooden triangular ‘home on wheels).
Ennyway, Calfire engines stopped the fire on the banks of the creek which is at the base of the mountain (which I have climbed a couple of times).
Sigh…….
bd
Happy day, my city library has this. I’ve placed a hold simply to see how this technology supposedly works. Jacquard cards with qubits?