Crusader

A Crusader is someone who supports a certain cause and a Crusader is also a knight in the 11th-13th centuries who fought to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. Both of these definitions come into play in this long but wonderful mystery. Roberta Ritter is a shy and lonely girl. She is plain but only because she doesn't really care how she looks. Roberta's father owns, along with his brother, a virtual reality arcade in a failing mall in Florida. The family used to have an arcade on the strip, but due to the murder of her mother they sold that franchise and opened this one. Roberta doesn't really have a relationship with her father. He is away a lot and so Roberta and her family act as the store owners at the mall where the arcade is located. At the opening of the story, the arcade is getting a new experience in the form of a Crusader. When violence happens at the mall and an Arab is attacked, Roberta becomes a Crusader to foil whoever is doing this and also decides to find out, along the way, who murdered her mother. This book is long, 591 pages, but excellent! The characterization of the major players was spot on. I felt like I know Roberta and she is one of my good friends. I really cared about what was going on with every character and the storyline was interesting. It wove in politics and the driving force of the media. There was dysfunction everywhere but there was also true love and caring. I recommend this book wholeheartedly!

Quite boring, in my opinion. Found out most of the story within the first chapter, including the murderer.