When I picked this book up I thought it referred to the actual city of Amsterdam (I often try not to read too much about the book so as not to ruin it for me) but what the title actually refers to is a theme park in Japan. Our protagonist, Aozora is deeply in debt and needs to find his sister to claim an inheritance. This takes him on an adventure involving many colorful characters and Japanese settings.
What I found intriguing is that the author of this book, Barrie Sherwood is (obviously) not Japanese. He is the son of missionaries and grew up in many places, including Japan and even my city, Vancouver and my parents' hometown, Penticton. He captures the Japanese style and the culture very well.
From beginning to end, Escape From Amsterdam is a fairly fast paced, intriguing tale of a brother trying to rescue his sister from a life that is challenging and dangerous. Even though his initial motives are selfish, in the process he does redeem himself to a certain extent. The journey itself is worth the price of admission.
I could never not read the back synopsis before reading/buying a book (except for my fav authors of course). Sometimes after I read the back, if I'm not sure I want to invest in it, I read the quotes from other readers/authors/magazines before deciding. Or I check the amount of stars the average reader gave the book.
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I guess I am a spazz, and it probably means I have refused some good books, but I don't want to waste my time/money on something that looks like it might be crappy.
I agree I try to learn a bit more if I am buying the book, but if I am taking it out from the library I am not as picky. Worst case I hate it and I take it back. But sometimes they give away too much on the blurbs so I don't like to be spoiled. I feel the same way about movie trailers.
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