I was starting to really enjoy listening to No Direction Home and really getting into the characters and plot when the book ended. I think that was a mistake by the author. The setting up of the protagonist and his companions to separate themselves from the dictator-ish leader of their band was in my opinion not a strong plot point to achieve a satisfactory climax before ending this book. That was a minor incident that needed to occur in order to establish the characters in the book, but NOT the resolution of the building problem that is facing them all.
The climax of this book should have actually been the confrontation of the four groups once the protagonist and his fellows reach their new location and the bad guys arrive on the scene which is obviously what the story is heading for. There was just no satisfaction of conclusion here. It could have been so much better in just a few more chapters. And then the next book in the series could have taken it from that big climax, adding to the complexity and precarious nature of the protagonist’s situation as well as the rapidly increasing danger level in the world at large.
I was given a review copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.