Despite being named for a road, this is not a road-trip - it's a character-driven quest novel with an ensemble point-of-view. Contains more backstory than story, and didn't work for me.

I liked the setting - 1954 America. Descriptions of most locations are evocative, and the characters are all quite distinct. Only a few really change over the course of this large novel.

If you focus on the growth of one of those characters, the majority of the novel is superfluous at best, annoying at worst. Like many heist films, this was about interruptions to the plans - but not done as well in my opinion. One of the characters is told in the first-person, implying (in a way) that he is THE main character. Since he is also the most evil character, this makes for tougher reading. I had to put the book down with irritation at multiple points. When you factor in the length also, this is a novel which I found disappointing on my first read through.

I absolutely loved [b:A Gentleman in Moscow|34066798|A Gentleman in Moscow|Amor Towles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551480896l/34066798.SY75.jpg|45743836] (Towles' sophomore effort), and plan to read his first book soon.