I really enjoyed this book. After a few books that had a more complex, multi-story structure, this one was a pretty straight-forward tale of adventure and romance. I thought it did a good job of striking the right balance between those elements. 
 I liked having Jacob's perspective as a young man and then as an old man. I also appreciated knowing that he made it out alive so I didn't have to worry about him through the whole book! 
 His perspective as an old man whose family is not as attentive as he would like is such a sad but common situation. It is a challenge that most of us face - an older relative who has to be slotted into a family's busy routine. Given that at 90 or 93, his children were in their 70s and coming to the time in their lives when they need more attention too. I found those "old Jacob" sections to be very moving. 
 I think Jacob was a very well-developed character, though I would have liked more on some of the other characters - particularly Marlena. For being such a central character, I felt that I did not know her very well. Perhaps this had to do with the fact that Jacob did not really know her all that well, as a person. He seemed to know her "generally" - if that makes sense. Sort of the way that I know people with whom I work - I may know whether they are married, have children, where they went on vacation, etc. but I often don't know them the way I know a friend. It's hard to explain. 
 As I said, I really enjoyed the story and am glad that I waited to read it. Sometimes, when there is a lot of hoopla around a book, I like to wait until things settle down before reading it - otherwise, I am often a little disappointed because my expectations are too high. I give this a 4.5/5.