Michael A. Kahn (1)

Have you ever been on a treasure hunt? If you have, I bet it’s not as elaborate as The Sirena Quest. Sirena is Barrett College’s Greco-Roman sculpture. “… she’d been kidnapped and rescued and kidnapped again and rescued again. And that she’d disappeared. And then years passed. And then decades.” Silicon Valley billionaire Robert Godwin of the class of ’59 has pledged $23 million to the college and another $2 million reward to Sirena’s rescuers if she is found and returned by June 17, 1994, in time for the class of ‘59’s 35th reunion. On that day, Barrett College will be 150 and Sirena will be 100.

The protagonist is Lou Solomon (class of ’74), a St. Louis attorney. His wife, Andi, had died a couple of years before leaving him with two children to raise on his own. He arranges for the care of his children, and embarks on an adventure that not only has a monetary reward if they should succeed, but also allows him to reunite with his college buds, formerly known as “the James gang.”

This story is a lot of fun. The book is touted as a mystery – even though it has a mystery element, it is not your typical crime or murder mystery. It is more of an adventure of middle aged men reliving and reminiscing about their college days. I liked the closeness that Lou maintained with his old friends and I liked their banter. The clues are not easy to find nor are they easy to interpret and the reader is on the sidelines hoping they will figure it all out before another group does. The order in which the story is told, though, can be somewhat confusing. I rated The Sirena Quest at 3.5 out of 5.… (mehr)