Montaro Caine - Sidney Poitier

An inspirational first novel that blends elements of mystery, science fiction, and metaphysics by the beloved, legendary, and bestselling actor Sidney Poitier.

When a coin is found in a baby's hand, the doctor who finds it sends it up to a lab at MIT, where Montaro Caine, a student, does a work-up on it and discovers it to be made of materials not known on Earth. Caine never learns the owner's identity, but two decades later, as Caine, now CEO of Fitzer Corp in New York City, is facing the possibility of a hostile corporate takeover and experiencing family troubles, a man and woman appear in his office bearing the coin. The find sets off a battle of intrigue and suspense, as scientists, collectors, and financiers all vie to get their hands on it. But the coin, and a second coin that appears, is of more value than mere monetary worth. In this ambitious, page-turning novel, the beloved actor Sidney Poitier takes us from New York to Europe to the Caribbean in an exploration of race, faith, and, beyond all else, the meaning of our lives on earth.

Sidney Poitier wrote a book. That is not the reason I picked this up, though. I had read the snippet on the back of the book and thought it sounded interesting before I even realized who had written it. With that as an added incentive, I picked the book up right away.

There is a lot going on in this book and the first forty or so pages introduce everything in small snippets which seemed very promising. I was waiting for the small snippets to slowly work into each other to create the larger plot but alas, that wasn't to be. Once everything has been introduced, almost 75% of it is put on the back burner as we're stuck following Montaro Caine, our very boring protagonist.

There are tons of characters that are mentioned so briefly that when they reappear, you have no idea who they are. There are plots that seem needless to the plot (why have the side story with his daughter and that Nick guy?) and things that seem important that ultimately are not. There are two characters that you would think would be integral that are hidden away for almost the entire book. There is very little action and a lot of talking. All in all, this book is horribly boring.

I kept pushing through because I thought, at the end, at least there would be a good payoff because I did, ultimately, want to know what the meaning of the coins were. However, even the ending was a let down, becoming preachy and too happy, to the point where it felt like a Disney movie, every character getting a redemption moment.

This book had promise but completely failed to live up to it. It was boring and pointless. Sidney Poitier is a great actor but I don't think I would pick up another book of his.