This is more of a slow, slice-of-life historical fiction type story with great character development than an exciting, gripping drama. Initially, my reaction was that it had a lack of can't-put-it-down, compelling drama, and so I put it down! Then months later, I decided to pick it up again and was surprised at how well I remembered the characters. I picked it up & put it down several times, but in the end I feel like I'll remember these characters for a long time, & feel like I have a real sense of what it was like to live in that time.

The story is mostly in Albany (NY) and New York City, around the turn of the (20th) century, with 2 trips to England, too. It centers around one family, whose patriarch built their house and a thriving construction/carpentry business, as well as a reputation for an upstanding, devout member of his church. His oldest daughter sings in the choir & dotes on him, but eventually ends up in NYC, married to a doctor. His oldest son becomes a doctor & finds Albany too quiet & goes off to NYC to set up his new practice, where he ultimately finds a wife, and yet seems unsatisfied & often drinks to excess. His younger daughter turns out to have an even better voice than her older sister & goes off to NYC also, where she gets & gives vocal lessons & has a long-term relationship with a married man. His younger son is giving him trouble, so he takes him out of school & puts him to work as a carpenter's apprentice, which work he turns out to have a real talent for, & ultimately, he, too goes to NYC to work on building bigger buildings. With so much of her family there, the mother of this family starts spending more & more time in NYC & less & less with her husband, leaving him feeling neglected.

It was fascinating to try to imagine what NYC was like at that time, with the horse-drawn carriages & trolleys going down the street, & the commotion caused by the doctor-son getting one of those new-fangled horseless carriages. If what you like about historical fiction is putting yourself into that time & imagining what it was like to live in that time & place, then I think you will enjoy this novel.

Chase Scene is a "so-so" book. It has a little bit of action in it which makes it better. For example I love the part when Hugh and Tap find out that Abner (the guy they met when they were camping) is a criminal. I'm not going to tell what happens after this because I want people to read this book. It isn't the best book I've read, but it is a cool book. James Wood use a informal and funny way to write the dialogues...