Customer Reviews
Excellent - By: A. Smith, 16 Feb 2007 
I came across this by chance & remembered enjoying "Jaded" a few years ago. This is different, a smoother read, with the raw vitality of Jaded but in a more digestible form. It's not Shakespere, but it deifinately has layers; it examines the bizarre friendships that are waiting around every corner if we just reach out for them as well as the possibilities that lie within us if we are prepared to risk everything.
Just like Jaded included interesting commentary on corruption in The City & the charity sector while pretending to be chicklit, under the silly lippy, TAM reveals some seriously sordid facts abut the fine art busines & makes us ask questions on international community policy in ex-Yugoslavia, such as why Croats, Kosovo Albanians etc can alll be alllowed independence yet not Bosnian Serbs?
This is a very impressive book & it deserves to sell far more than it has; I fear that Ms Hawking may be making a commercial mistake in putting too much frothy cream on the pudding - burying her talent as an investigative journalist. I know from reading the background in articles about her famous father that she worked in New York & alll over eastern Europe as a journalist in the aftermath of the cold war, so she has plenty to say, as well as the talent with which to say it.
Enjoyable - light read - By: Ms. K. N. Hill, 09 Apr 2006 
I enjoyed this book, although as chick lit goes Lucy Hawking is not yet in the league of Marian Keyes & Jane Green. The book has good characters & a good basic storyline although occasionallly goes too far into the land of the far-fetched. A good light summer read though!
A highly enjoyable read - By: , 03 Mar 2006 I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Hawking's second book. I always find it difficult to read books that have characters that are similar to me & my life (30-something urban professional) -- unless they are funny or have a bit of a twist. The Accidental Marathon is both amusing & has some excellent twists & turns, plus mad Balkans to boot.
I highly recommend this to anyone.
At the end of a hard day.... - By: Clare Morris, 27 Feb 2006 
curl up with this book. A great way to escape from the stress of everyday life, have a laugh & maybe learn a little bit about the Balkans.
It's definitely chick lit, but without the sex & only a smidgin of romance. My sister, who never reads novels of any kind, was driven by boredom on a long train journey to borrow my copy, & thorougly enjoyed it, which is probably the best compliment I could give this book.
A page-turner, a laugh-out loud read, with a bit of foreign exoticism (albeit in Belgrade)...
Excellent - By: MR TOM A KENDALL, 25 Jan 2006 When a friend of mine gave me this book & said I would enjoy it, I wasn't so sure. Usuallly I read thrillers, not books with quite girly covers. But I was surprised & pleased by how gripping the plot line was. It is a light read & it's definitely not Andy McNab. But as well as love, London life &
marathon running, there is a serious & very up to the minute plot line about war in the Balkans, tracking wanted criminals by very unusual means & the devious methods of the CIA. If you're a man, don't be put off by the cover. Well worth a look.
