Prolisso, lungo, a tratti narrativamente pesante (ce l'ha su con sti soffitti a botte nelle descrizioni!!) e dialoghi a tratti quasi inverosimili, non prende il volo se non ben oltre la metà per poi decadere subito... Ho fatto davvero fatica a finirlo.
Storia surreale con personaggi senza spessore, piatti. Sia dalla parte dei cattivi (pessima l'idea di tutti sti omicidi gratuiti) sia dalla parte dei Cutler.
Pensavo di trovarmi davanti a un libro eccezionale e avvincente, ma mi sono dovuta ricredere. Per chi ama i libri adrenalinici, lo sconsiglio.

This book sat on my shelf for approximately two years before I forced myself to read it. I tried several times but I never got sucked into it and tended to peter out around the third chapter. Now, I've finally made it all the way through and I still can't really remember much about what I read. On paper it sounds really good, stolen art, Nazi lore, mysterious murder, but it just moves so slowly with bland characters that never really make me care about them. The relationship between Paul and Rachel is so weird that it never fully makes sense to me and sometimes Rachel can be a real airhead. There is one fairly awesome character who is a self-professed "North Carolina redneck" who is probably one of the most interesting characters that Berry has written. He is easily the most entertaining part of the novel. Otherwise this novel was a bit of a drag.

Atlanta judge Rachel Cutler and her ex-husband Paul are drawn into a deadly hunt for amber panels looted by the Nazis in World War II.

After World War II Karol Borya helped the Soviets recover many treasures looted by the Nazis. One treasure he did not find was the Amber Room, panels of exquisitely carved amber removed from the Soviet Union’s Catherine Palace in 1941. Treasure hunters still search for the Amber Room, 60 years after the war, and long after Borya immigrated to the United States to live a quiet life. But Borya may have known more than he ever told anyone. When he dies unexpectedly, first his daughter Rachel, a judge in Atlanta, and then her ex-husband Paul are drawn into a deadly competition with professional treasure hunters seeking the Amber Room.

Berry’s treasure hunt yarn offers some tricky twists and turns as Rachel and Paul blunder through an unfamiliar world people with ruthless killers. The descriptions of amber and the panels carved from it and the explanations of the history of looting and recovery of art add interest to the story.

This book was good as long as you read it as a story and not for fact or feel it needs to be something that could happen.
It was fast paced and i was curious as to what happened next.
The first chapter was my favorite and had me hooked.
While overall I liked the book but I got annoyed at a lawyer and judge doing so many things they shouldn't have been doing and felt it was over the top unrealistic.

Well! This was the last of my reads from my winter vacation. I don't know if it was hard to follow as a read or if it was just me trying to read this and juggling arriving at home and unpacking and catching up with me life in MN again. I really really liked the ending so jacked it up a star. I am so glad Steve Berry has matured into one of my faves.

Steve Berry's writing style is very reminiscent of Dan Brown. The difference that I have found with this book though is that Berry's approach is not about the symbols like Brown, but about the story as a whole. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more of his work.

Been reading World War II novels and, yep, here's another one. Actually, most of the story is set in postwar Europe. The story begins at the end of the war and involves one of WWII's biggest mysteries--what happened to the fabulous treasure of The Amber Room? This was a room with walls made of exquisite amber panels (and including jewels) of the Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg. After the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, they reached the palace (then a Soviet museum) and looted the amazing treasure-- and took it to Germany. During the Allied bombing of Germany, it was hidden away--and never seen again. In Steve Berry's story, an American woman finds some clues to the whereabouts of the Amber Room--and begins a treasure hunt for it. But she's not the only one, as there are ruthless men also looking for it. So it's a fast-paced thriller with plenty of twists and turns. But what I think I like most about this book is that it is based on good research. In a short Writer's Note at the end, Berry separates fact from fiction and suggests what he thinks actually happened to The Amber Room.

Having never read any Steve Berry before, I took this for what I though it was...a light hearted adventure/thriller. And it was actually surprisingly good. Based on some fact and intrigue, it was an enjoyable weaving of fiction around the (very few) known facts surrounding the Amber Room. I will now look out for more of Steve's work, and actually do recommend this to people who want an easy adventure style book to read, not for people who want serious literature on the hunt for the actual Amber Room though - this is not (and doesn't claim to be) about that.

Eindelijk uit. Weet niet waarom het zo lang duurde. Op de een of andere manier kwam ik maar niet in het verhaal, terwijl het toch wel een aardig plot was.

Het zal wel aan mij gelegen hebben.

2020: Nog eens herlezen, en kon me er werkelijk niets meer van herinneren.

Lo leí hace unos cuantos años y al terminar la novela me quedó la sensación de haber leído una historia entretenida, pero en la que me penalizó el no haber llegado a conectar con los protagonistas.

I've just finished Steven Berry's THE AMBER ROOM. It's a great read: contemporary fiction. Mystery, money, murder & mayhem keep you guessing. The plot twists and turns around The Amber Room, one of the missing art treasures exploited during WWII. 4 Stars. Bette A. Stevens

Not brilliant, but a reasonably entertaining read

The premise is strong - "Acquisitors," who scour the world for rare and stolen art treasures for their wealthy employers, however the delivery is predictable and the characters are not too strong either.

The historical background of the Amber Room is quite interesting, but the story could have been so much better.

A decent holiday read, but not very memorable.