MixedThe Los Angeles Review of BooksThe characters, while drawn in interesting detail, are not all that morally complex. There is little doubt, for instance, how ferocious Henry Drax will be and remain throughout the narrative. The protagonist, Sumner, having experienced one moral failing in life, will always bring himself around to doing the right thing. The result is a story with dramatic external tension, where the weight of survival compels the characters to make decisions, but not one in which a character’s inner life or most closely held beliefs are challenged or transformed in a meaningful way. This yields a plot that is at points disappointingly predictable and formulaic, especially in the last few chapters.
