This book was quite a ride. As a reader, I never got to solid footing about what was going on until the epilogue, which might normally have turned me off, but Gaiman does a great job of maintaining his hooks and giving out enough detail each chapter to keep you afloat.

The story chronicles the journey of the protagonist, Shadow (aptly named) as he gets dragged along in a world where gods are the manifestation of popular worship and human mind share. Having just been released from a three year stint in prison, he finds the life he thought he was returning to has imploded and is recruited by Mr. Wednesday to accompany him in preparation for an upcoming battle between old world gods who often traveled to America in the minds of the various immigration waves, and the new world gods of our modern day society.

The one thing stopping this book from being a solid 5-star book is that all the characters are flat and cold (some puns intended). Shadow numbly accepts and navigates his journey with almost no emotion. Some empathy is built up for some of the old world gods, but not nearly enough to carry the novel. Given some twists that are revealed at the end, Gaiman might have intended this, but it still makes it hard as a reader to relate to.