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| The Amber Room: A Novel | 
| Author: Steve Berry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $9.99
Buy Used: $2.90
You Save: $7.09 (71%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  103 reviews
Sales Rank: 11627
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0345504380
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780345504388
ASIN: 0345504380
Publication Date: November 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: A clean and gently read copy. Just a hint of shelf-wear from having been read. No writing on any of the pages. A pretty decent copy. I pride myself on quick service and ship all orders within 24 hours, often less. USPS tracking and delivery confirmation included. I can include a gift-card, with message, if you request. Personal correspondence and confirmation of shipment with every order. Please ask if you have any questions.
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Product Description
The Amber Room is one of the greatest treasures ever made by man: an entire room forged of exquisite amber, from its four massive walls to its finely crafted furniture. But it is also the subject of one of history’s most intriguing mysteries. Originally commissioned in 1701 by Frederick I of Prussia, the Room was later perfected Tsarskoe Selo, the Russian imperial city. In 1941, German troops invaded the Soviet Union, looting everything in their wake and seizing the Amber Room. When the Allies began the bombing of Germany in August 1944, the Room was hidden. And despite the best efforts of treasure hunters and art collectors from around the world, it has never been seen again.
Now, two powerful men have set their best operatives loose in pursuit, and the hunt has begun once more. . . .
Life is good for Atlanta judge Rachel Cutler. She loves her job, loves her kids, and remains civil to her ex-husband, Paul. But everything changes when her father, a man who survived the horrors of World War II, dies under strange circumstances—and leaves behind clues to a secret he kept his entire life . . . a secret about something called the Amber Room.
Desperate to know the truth about her father’s suspicious dealings, Rachel takes off for Germany, with Paul close behind. Shortly after arriving, they find themselves involved with a cast of shadowy characters who all claim to share their quest. But as they learn more about the history of the treasure they seek, Rachel and Paul realize they’re in way over their heads. Locked in a treacherous game with ruthless professional killers and embroiled in a treasure hunt of epic proportions, Rachel and Paul suddenly find themselves on a collision course with the forces of power, evil, and history itself.
A brilliant adventure and a scintillating tale of intrigue, deception, art, and murder, The Amber Room is a classic tale of suspense—and the debut of a strong new voice in the world of the international thriller.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 98 more reviews...
 starts well, bet falls into routine November 15, 2008
"The Amber Room' starts very well - its premises are to be found in the history of the end of WW2 and they set the stage for a modern day thriller that takes us over the whole Europe in search of a lost art treasure looted by the Nazis. Rival art bounty chasers fight one another in a lethal competition that engulfs also a broken couple of American lawyers. It is when we get to these 'positive' characters that the flaws of Berry's writing start to show up, or maybe it's his lack of experience. There are also some historical research flaws. While the Nazi period is well reasearched and known by the author the more recent Eastern European history seems to be less familiar to Berry - a big industrialist and weapons manufacturer could not have kept his business during Communist rule as one of the vilains of the story does, he would have simply put to jail and killed or let die there as an enemy capitalist while his property and business would have been confiscated.
By the end of the book the logic of the story is also fading, the characters behave too much in an expected manner, and the ending lacks credibility. I am a fan of the historical thriller genre, and the subjects of Steve Berry's books seemed all appealing to me - so I bought his first four books - but now after reading this first I think that I should have been more cautious. Or maybe, the flaws of this book are caused mainly by his lack of experience at debut. OK, I will try the next one!
 another page turner! October 19, 2008
by steve berry! actually, his first published book!
so far i've read all of his books except the romanov prophecy, which i'll start soon,
anyway, i really enjoyed the amber roon! i could not put it down!
i read it in 4 days, which is about average for me, and i enjoyed the story very much! i was entertained, and learned something to boot!
highly recommended!
 A Horrible Read from a Sexist Writer October 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I picked up this book because of the endorsement by Dan Brown, but after reading it, I can honestly say that I will never buy another book by this writer. He has no respect for women and I was very disturbed by his depictions of female characters. The men were constantly calling them b***** and the sex scenes were disturbing. The women in power were treated with utter disrespect by the male characters in the book and they were poorly written. It is no surpise that the main female character is raped in the end. In addition, the plot was very weak and not well thought out. I could not help but think that this writer's work is amateurish at best and that he has major problems with women. While the historical information was interesting (and that made my time spent reading this book worthwhile), I will never read another book by Steve Berry. There are too many other good books on the market to waste your time with his writing.
 A fast paced thriller saved by its tie to history October 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Anyone who has seen the reconstituted Amber Room in the Catherine Palace outside St. Petersburg will be intrigued by this mystery which ties it in a convoluted plot populated with a cast of villains of an international stripe and an American judge and her husband. Backed by a fair rendering of the history of the original Amber Room and its removal by the Nazi in the battle of Leningrad, the stereotyped characters are the meanest of the mean, the truest of true Americans and a North Carolina bumpkin. The ending, garnished with sex, is awkward but entertaining as one drifts off to slumberland.
Well woven but lacking any surprises. July 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
During WWII, Hitler's propaganda machine is hard at work to create a world museum in which to showcase Nazi philosophy. Beyond the masterpieces like paintings and statues, lies a lesser known piece of art work--the Amber Room--first hatched in Germany, but eventually realized in Russia. Considered as an eighth wonder of the world, the rarity and the jewel grade, as well as the master craftsmanship of molding individual amber pieces into intricate shapes and designs, is beyond valuable. It is the stuff that fantasies are built upon, and the greed of those who will pay whatever price to have it. From governments who want the prestige and history, to private collectors who just want a piece of history that's solely their own, to regular folk who just want to find why it's so important, all these come together to seek something that maybe as illusive as the mystery of the Room itself.
Therein lies several perspectives.
--Karol Borya (Karl Bates): 1945, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Austria. Under the orders of Hitler's second in command, Goring, Karol is unwittingly thrust into the game of finder's keepers, a haunt that is eventually inherited by his daughter when he dies unexpectedly in his Atlanta home, three decades later.
--Rachel Cutler nee Bates (Borya): As a superior court Judge in Atlanta, her reputation as a cold but effective enforcer of the law is legendary. Just ask her stolid ex-husband, a too-easy going probate lawyer, who not only shares joint custody of their two children and more or less has remained a constant in Rachel's life, but pathetically pines after her, who continually eats him for lunch.
--Christin Knoll: A mid-forties German, is an Acquisitor, who's boss is Franz Fillner, a media mogul along with his daughter Monika, are part of a secret organization that steals stolen artwork from around the world. His deep interest clashes deeply with another member, Ernst Loring, initiating a small battle between their underlings.
--Suzanne Danzer: the successor to her father's role as Acquisitor, also belongs to Ernst Loring, a wealthy Eastern European small-arms manufacturer, whose ties with the Amber Room goes much deeper than any expected. As well as his penchant to remove anything and anyone near his path.
--Wayland McKoy: a treasure hunter with substantial backing, is digging into the Harz Mountains for WWII loot that will hopefully make him rich. But beneath the grubby grime of greed, lies more than what he appears and turns out to be more friend than foe, just in time.
The history of the Amber Room--an actual reality--was fascinating and well done, with a note at the end, telling specifically what was real, what wasn't. The revealing of its history and the obsessiveness that inspired so many people from real historical figures like Hitler to Goring, to the fictional ones like Borya and McKoy, gave a vital and the only thrilling element to this otherwise, boring and lifeless book.
All but Karol Borya and Wayland McKoy lacked any depth or any emotional tugging, even though Berry tried. Not even all the globe-trotting and bang 'em up were interesting. And he spent an awful good deal of time trying to show he knew his history. Mainly, he just doesn't spend enough time on the psychological element of the characters so it comes off rather awkward and lacking any sparks. And it was rather flat, a bit cliche at times and stiff. Berry follows extremely predictable stereotypes, which tended to distract rather than enhance. The opposites attract relationship between Rachel and Paul is not only uneventful but at times, contradictory and annoying. There were several times when the characters, with all their smarts, didn't do the obvious right thing or were easily led astray and believed anything that was said. In the end, you won't feel for any of these characters, they're just 2-D animations.
The meticulousness and close examination of making sure everything fit just perfectly bled any creativity in the structure and characterizations that might have been there. Does this make the book bad? No, not at all and I did enjoy the story. But it was just...very ordinary, very standard. The mystery of the organization and the people's involvement itself were not all that spectacular, and didn't live up to the hype at all. The unveiling of the less known Amber Room itself was the only element with any emotion and held my attention. And that alone, was worth a one-time read. Everything else...very forgettable.
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