In this epic urban fantasy venture, Gaiman weaves a broad and brooding tapestry of many vaguely interconnected tales rooted in mythos from around the world. The primary story we follow is that of Shadow, a recently released ex-con who becomes thoroughly entwined in an unseen war between old and new gods. 
 The premise is intriguing, if not particularly original. Players from the Nordic and Egyptian pantheons feature prominently, but there are many far more obscure and/or forgotten effigies and preternatural beings sewn in for color. The book may have been more aptly named 'American Demigods,' as all of these worship-dependent semi-phenomenal beings are subject to bleeding, dying, and/or fading away completely. (Not that death seems to carry any particular degree of finality in this pattern of alternate reality.) The idea of (real life) roadside attractions could be focal-points of power for gods--visited by the compulsion of travelers and wanderers all inadvertently paying tribute--was immensely clever and entertaining. And while I found the first two plot twists fairly predictable, the final surprise caught me with Stephen King-like craftsmanship. 
 Gaimen has a rich, bard-like quality to his storytelling that carries on, forward but generally unhurried. Aside from a surprising fondness for the word 'very' and referring to Shadow as a 'big man' ad nauseam, this reader found the author's style engagingly agreeable. The first 50 pages or so had me hooked, although a little perplexed as to how attached I should be to the main POV character. But unfortunately...as the story wore on, the hook lost its barbs. My primary issue became Shadow, whose point of view felt flat and surfacy throughout--unless you count the occasional bouncer-turned-detective 'ah-ha' moments. I'm no fan of info-dumping a character's backstory at the front end of a book, but there just didn't seem like there was enough to him worth caring about--no real goals, hopes, passions, or vices. There were hints of a lonely childhood, but not enough reflection for an empathy connection. (The threaded quirk of him doing coin tricks, while interesting and highly serviceable to the plot, did not substitute for the personality he seemed to be lacking.) Shadow was such a non-entity, other characters started pointing it out around 2/3rds of the way through--including his less-than-lively wife. 
 The other issue for this reader was the worldbuilding. It was seeded so slowly and cryptically, it was difficult to determine the 'rules' that governed the paranormal side of this tale. Clearly, the rules could be bent, broken, or negotiated--which made it hard to feel any real concern for the fate of any particular character, likeable or not. In the end, the general sense of relativity didn't encourage a lot of emotional investment. 
 However...though this plot didn't turn out to be my personal cup o' tea, it won't deter me from picking up another of the famously varied books Gaimen has contributed in the last few decades.