Will say up front that I didn't realize this was a followon to a previous novel. I have not read anything else by this author AFAIK.

This book had interesting ideas and a premise that drew me in - fantastic carpentry with hidden compartments! An amazingly engineered watch! Lots of old books! - but I found it to be ludicrous and pretentious in its execution. It started out well - I love books and libraries - but quickly turned into a farce. A contemporary urban fantasy for men with obsessive-compulsive habits, predilections for odd collectibles, and a yearning for the past? One might even call it a contemporary gay unfulfilled romance - the older guy seemed to have a thing for the main character.

Thought the characters were over-the-top ridiculous. Too exaggerated and weird and obsessed with overly odd things. Too many weird little hiding places and contrived setups.

Was surprised to find that the book was based on the actual theft of an actual watch - the whole story was so ludicrous that I assumed the author had made that up as well. From others' reviews, I hear the real watch was recovered a few years after the book was written; I look forward to reading that story.

My favorite part was the library competition. My favorite character was the janitor, with his insta-knowledge of Dewey numbers for all sorts of weird things.

Another one bites the dust, I think this is 3 in a row now. At least I'm clearing off some of my bookshelves. I told my wife that I feel like we're watching/reading the Gong Show lately. After about 50 pages the cane starts to come out, the book desperately tries to get better, but ultimately fails. This one got to about 85 pages.

It was witty and I can see how library geeks could be more interested in this, but it didn't really seem to be going anywhere. Seeing as I read Kurzweil's other book (and loved it) a LONG time ago, I didn't even get any cool links between the two books (and it was starting to become obvious that there were some).

The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil was a mixed bag. Alexander Short is a librarian working at a large public library in New York City. One day, while working at the reference desk, he is approached by a man who wants “to steal a moment of his time” and requests a book about secret compartments in old furniture, a topic Alexander is furiously interested in. The two, Short and the patron, Henry Jesson, embark on a quest to find a lost watch to complete Jesson’s collection. The journey is interesting, but neither Jesson nor Short is particularly likeable (the best character is actually the library janitor, who has an incredible knowledge of Dewey class numbers) which made me very sad. I really wanted to like Short the librarian. The story itself also ends abruptly and not completely satisfactorily, either, and while there is a possibility for the characters to return in another book, I think it highly unlikely that they will. I found the book to be a maddening mix of disdain for modern living (including some modern library practices) and appreciation for old-timey stuff.

On interesting concept but slow moving and not all that interesting. Really nerdy characters.