The Amber Room [NOOK Book]

The Amber Room

First of all, I am a huge Steve Berry fan. I think his writing style and stories are at least on the same level as Dan Brown's books for this genre.

What I like about Steve Berry's books is that he finds some unique episode or item in history and turns it into a thriller. I never knew the Amber Room existed. Maybe I just don't know my history as well as I should, but then I've got Mr. Berry to open my eyes to some of the more interesting and intriguing parts of history, which then leads to my own exploration of that event.

Being from Atlanta, I like that his characters are or were from Atlanta. Being in the legal field myself, I like that Mr. Berry practiced law in Atlanta and that this particular character in the Amber Room was a Fulton County Superior Court judge. She was entirely believable, and so was her husband.

One thing an author has to do is convince me his characters can be believed and trusted, and this Mr. Berry does well. Also his descriptions of places make me feel like he's been there and thus knows what he's talking about. I know he has traveled to the places he writes about and isn't just getting his information off the internet or out of a travel book in order to fool me. So not only are his characters believable, his settings have the feeling of allowing me to feel like I'm right there with his characters.

Along with all of Steve Berry's books, I highly recommend the Amber Room. It is both entertaining and informing--a good combination.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good

Berry focused on history and art and in so doing sacrificed solid character development. His characters, especially Rachel and Paul were not believable. But it was an action-packed fast-moving novel.

Great Read!

The Amber Room is Steve Berry's first published work, which he points out came after 81 rejections! Well, he got it right! His skillful blend of historical facts with fictional circumstances is what makes his stories so hard to put down. He now has seven books out in the Cotton Malone series as well, which I highly recommend. If you want to get hooked on mysteries based on events that took root in times long past, Steve Berry is your kind of writer!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amber room

People who like Dan Brown's work would enjoy this book, however predictable it was. The book should have been editted down, plot twists too easy to see coming, but an enjoyable read with history and geograph lesson thrown in

Great!

I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

The book is a great and easy read. Pure Berry-entertaining and light: full of historical facts to create his plot.

The Amber Room by Steve Berry

The Amber room was created in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the mid XVIIIth century. It consisted of 100,000 pieces of jewel grade amber, cut 5mm thick, polished, sometimes heated to change the color, then glued jigsaw-puzzle-style onto oak panels and fashioned to walls 30 by 13 feet. There were also a variety of fanciful figurines, floral garlands, tulips, roses, seashells, monograms, and rocaille: all made of amber in shades of brown, red, yellow, and orange. It's resting place survived 170 years and the Russian revolution only to be looted by the Nazis in 1941. The panels disappeared in 1945 and have never been seen since. This book deals with theories and fictional characters of its looting and disappearance.

The maim characters are Judge Rachel Bates-Cutler and her ex husband Layers Paul Cutler. The Judge's father, Karol Borya Yvo and his friend Chapaer Dana have been corresponding about their dealings with the transport of the loot by Hermann Goring, Hitler's second in command and responsible for most of the art looting in WWII.

The bad guys are a group of nine very rich and eccentric European art collectors: "The Retrievers of Lost Antiquities"; mainly two of the respective families: Monica and Franz Fellner of Germany with their Acquisitor-the one that does all the stealing, killing and any illegal work to acquire the loot-Christian Knoll. The other family is Ernst
Loring of the Czech Republic and his Acquisitor, Suzanne Danzer.

Following leads thorough different pathways, Suzanne Danzer and Christian Knoll discover that Karl Bates, Rachel's father-who had changed his name back to Karol Borya-was in the "Russian Registry" as one of the prisoners involved in the theft of the Amber Room by Hermann Goring. Knoll gets to Borya and kills him.

In Borya's will, there are letters that disclose all the correspondence between Borya and his cell mate Chapaer Dana; with may lead to the localization of the famous Amber Room. Even though her father tells Rachel not to go after the Amber Room, she takes flight to Frankfurt and a rental to Burg Herz, Germany to find Chapaer Dana. Knoll paid a cabdriver to almost kill Rachel, so that he can save her, thus befriending her. He uses his charm to get all the information Rachel has. They are going to go together to visit Chapaer Dana.

Unfortunately, Suzanne Danzer beats both of them to Dana; and kills him before either one can talk to him-however she uses Dana to draw a map of a mine to create a trap for Knoll and Rachel. As they enter the mine, an explosion occurs, however both Rachel and Knoll survive: Knoll disappears and leaves Rachel behind. Rachel is rescued by tourists and understands that not only did Knoll left her there to die but she also remembers that Knoll had taken a knife and was about to kill her to kill her before the explosion occurred.

Suzanne had befriended Paul, and warned him about Knoll. When Rachel does not check in with him after two days, Paul goes to Germany, so Rachel wakes up in the hospital next to Paul. This is the beginning of their reconciliation.

Before long, they are in over their heads. Aided by a fortune hunter by the name of Wayland McCoy they are locked in a treacherous game with both killers-Knoll and Danzer-and they find themselves in a collision course with both The Fellners and Ernst Loring-the forces of greed, power and history itself.

The book is a great and easy read. Pure B

Amber Room

The protagonists were not believable, especially with respect to their interaction with 'the bad guys (and girls)'.

I Loved the Amber Room Then & Now- Just Bought The Audio Version

I was one of the first people I know of to have read Steve Berry's Debut Amber Room. I just bought the audio version so I can listen to it while I'm driving. The Amber room is still one of the most intriging mysteries that I've ever read. It made me an instant fan of Steve Berry. Strap on your seat belt, and open that book, you're in for the ride of your life!

Gripping story

I was hooked from the first page. The storyline of the Amber Room, which I remember hearing about from my elder relatives in my childhood, woven into a great mystery was fantastic. Another great book by Steve Berry!

I've Found my Light

This is a great book that i recommend to everyone. He makes the unexpected happen. Steve Berry is Brilliant and im going to barnes and noble to buy his newest book. In this book, anything can happen. im not the one who goes around reading every day, but Berry makes me want to do it. THANK YOU.

SUPERB READING OF A SUSPENSEFUL DEBUT NOVEL

To borrow an old radio show title, 'I Love A Mystery'! For me, the mystery is even more intriguing when it is based on an actual occurrence, a crime that to date remains unsolved. So often in the case of an event that has garnered much newsprint, many will offer solutions or imagined scenarios based on the incident. Such is the case with this suspenseful debut novel, superbly read by actor/writer Scott Brick. In actuality, the Amber Room was a hall like structure with walls covered in amber and semiprecious stones. Presented by Germany to Russia's Czar Peter the Great in 1716, it was lost when the Germans overran Russia during World War II. Theories abound as to its fate, and Steve Berry's well thought tale brings it to the fore once again. Judge Rachel Cutler is one tough cookie as we learn in the opening of The Amber Room. She's good at what she does and enjoys doing it. Her father has what he believes are clues as to the location of the Amber Room and when he dies unexpectedly, the secrets he has kept are made known. Cutler doesn't believe for a moment that her father's death was due to natural causes, so she and her ex husband, Paul, go to Germany in search of answers. Little do they know that they're not alone in their quest - others seek to discover the whereabouts of the Amber Room, including two unscrupulous collectors who compete to find lost or stolen pieces of art. Thus begins an exciting danger filled chase throughout Europe. Stakes are high and lives imperiled in this quest for a treasure. Narrator Scott Brick has a mantel crowded with awards for his voice performances. One more may well be on its way for his reading of The Amber Room. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke

Pretty Good

This was a good concept for a book, and it was a pretty good follow-through. Some parts bored me a little, but the end is very, very exciting. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

A great idea....a not so great story

The story idea was very intriguing. Unfortunately, the story itself was not all that exciting nor did the characters really 'grab' me. This is my second Steve Berry book and they were both just okay. (I may try one more!)

Did Dan Brown Really Comment on this Novel

As The Amber Room goes it started with a HUGE BANG and then is almost came to a complete stop. Knoll and Suzanne are great in this novel and the history on the Amber Room and what may have happened to it after the war was interesting. The novel starts to gain momentum as the body count raises and by the time Paul, Rachel, McCoy, and Knoll are at Lorings Castle with Suzanne, the novels in overdrive. All and all The Amber Room is a good read, though do make some time to get through the middle of the story.

Cover said Best Seller should have put Best Staller

After reading many thrillers one expects that a book that earned a Best Seller title to be original, instead this book played out just like all the others. The Amber Room had too much potential at the beginning, but was lost half way through and never regained it's magic. What a disappointment. Take a piece like the Amber Room which is supposedly part of Art history with so many theories and turn it into a blah at best mystery. Where was the mystery, where was the secret to the possession of the Amber Room, and where was the intricate plot and climax? I for one am still searching for it, as I guess historians are still searching for the real Amber Room.

Very predictable

I picked up the book after reading the synopsis. I was intriqued by the idea and the first chapter caught my attention. After that it was all downhill. The plot was very predictable and I could tell the ending about a third of the way through the book. I kept expecting a twist since it was so predictable and it never happened.

Great Read

I was impressed with this book, being Berry's first novel. It was the second book of his that I've read, and Berry's ability to weave history with fiction is astounding. For any lover of history, World War II, treasure, and amber, this book is a must-read

A Great Book

I didn't read this book until 2006, recommended to me by a friend. For a first book, I found it to be outstanding. I will seek this author out for his latest books.

1 way ticket to Germany

I didnt think this book would captivate me the way it did. This book is a very interesting read and it has moved me in a way to further research the historical content of The Amber Room. One thing that amazes me about Berry is that his historical research is flawless and the way he delivers it seems like it would take a lifetime to sit down and figure out. Accolades.

Disappointed

I had a hard time with this one. As a lover of amber and history, I was excited about The Amber Room immediately upon hearing of it. I bought it. After retrieving it from the elderly lady to whom I'd given it as a gift (She hadn't gotten around to reading it yet, thank goodness!), it took me six months to finish it. The first chapter about the events at Mauthausen Concentration Camp and Karol Borya was a great beginning. I was hooked and eager for more, but then it got slow-w-w. It wasn't until the author got back to the subject at hand, several chapters later, that my interest was rekindled. I found Christian Knoll, Suzanne Danzer and Monika Fellner to be so decadent and devoid of humanity that I could not identify with or feel any empathy for them at all. Karol Borya, Judge Rachel Cutler's father, was the character I cared about the most, and those of us who stuck with the story know what happens to him. I believe Steve Berry is better than this book. There should be enough genuine international intrigue surrounding the Amber Room to write an inspired, even sexy, international thriller about a fascinating subject. However, resorting to so much gratuitous and violent sexual content demeans a good body of work. Carolyn Rowe Hill