Title:	The Amber Room
	Author:	Steve Berry
	Published:	2003, Ballantine Books
	No. of Pages:	390
	Cover Price:	$7.99 US

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Rachael Cutler’s Father, who survived Mauthausen Concentration Camp during WWII in 1945, dies under suspicious circumstances in The Amber Room, by Steve Berry. Rachael, a tough judge, and her ex-husband, Paul, an attorney, are intrigued when they discover that Rachael’s father left several clues regarding The Amber Room, a Russian treasure with over 100,000 pieces that seemed to have disappeared shortly after the war. People have been searching for this room for years, but have never found it. Because of her father’s clues, Rachael and Paul travel to Germany to find one of her father’s friends. This friend is murdered, and Paul and Rachael are in danger for the rest of the trip. Two extremely wealthy men who collect artifacts (mostly stolen), each employ people to obtain their treasures, and both are searching for the Amber Room, and are willing to kill for it.

One of the best things about this novel is that the story is woven through historical facts and a real mystery (the Amber Room and what really happened to it). It is fascinating, and readers who appreciate learning a fact or two while being entertained with good fiction, will appreciate the amount of research that Berry did before writing the book. Berry also does an excellent job of developing his characters; the good guys are likeable, and the bad guys are not.

One negative about the novel is the fact that there are a few too many violent murders, and human life is seen as expendable. It’s hard to imagine people so cold (even though they are fictional characters), but many may think it is necessary to set the tone and elevate the suspense.

The Amber Room is written on a higher level than some popular thrillers, and although the story is fast moving, it is not a particularly fast read. It is, however, worth reading, and will keep readers on the edge throughout.

This book was purchased with personal funds and no promotion of the book was solicited by the author or publisher.

This book may be purchased at Amazon: The Amber Room: A Novel