Slash away the winter doldrums with GIDEON'S SWORD by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Where: B-train
Digital Reader: Nook
Who was reading: Middle-aged Asian woman with salt distributed evenly through her mostly-pepper-hair. An expansive hood shielded her face from the harsh bright light of a post daylight savings Monday.
About: Traumatized boy seeks to avenge dead parents (with a sword!). Complications arise, opening door for sequel.
The nicest review I could find: "This novel isn’t as elegantly written or constructed as the authors’ popular Special Agent Pendergast novels, but it does—once you get past the *back story—hold the reader’s interest." (via Booklist)
*Bear in mind that most of the aforequoted Booklist review was devoted to summarizing a rather lengthy back story.
wtf... is up with the fact that the magnifying glass on the cover doesn't magnify anything? There's even another edition of the book that features a completely different design but the same magnification problem.