Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The Dakota Cipher by William Dietrich | Audiobook Review

The Dakota Cipher (Ethan Gage, #3)

These Ethan Gage books have really grown on me!  This is book #3, and it's still way over the top, but I've kind of grown fond of Ethan, even if he is narcissistic and misogynistic.  (That sentence just looks so wrong to me... I really shouldn't be saying that I care at all for a character who's misogynistic!  But I do!  So weird!)

I counted this book as my "roadtrip" book for the 2016 PopSugar Reading Challenge, because in it, Ethan goes on a "roadtrip" through the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase.  He's on a mission for President Jefferson, and he's traveling with some random Norwegian guy.  Along the way on his mission he meets some French people and frontiersman and Native Americans... all of which are nearly outlandish stereotypes.  

The big mystery in this book involves Freemasonry, so be prepared for the reinforcement of stereotypes, myths, and misconceptions related to that.  It's almost a trope at this point, isn't it?  We all read all about them in Dan Brown's books.

There's also a woman, of course, who is good for nothing (in Ethan's eyes) except his pleasure.  However, I saw a bit of hidden inner strength in her.  I liked it!  She could dish it out to him as well as he could dish it at her!

On Goodreads, the book description is simply "GREAT ADVENTURE READ" (caps their's).  I totally agree.  One review says that it's a "fun historical fiction series... but Ethan Gage is a total man-whore..."  I totally agree.  Another reviewer compared these books to Indiana Jones.  I also agree with that!  My advice:  don't go into this series expecting anything deep.  This is definitely kiddie-pool shallow (but not kiddie appropriate- remember the man-whore comment), and if you go into the book with that knowledge, you can enjoy a fun, fluffy adventure read.

Oh, and the audio portion of the review!  (I nearly forgot to include this part!)  It was good.  Nothing stands out as especially terrific, but it wasn't bad at all.  Very steady.  I didn't have to think about it at all; I could just enjoy the story, and I like that.

*I checked out my copy of The Dakota Cipher from my local library.

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