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The
reason for these "quarterly" reports is that I
just can’t keep up with the speed most of you read.
It is not unlikely that I’ll only get one book done
in a month and now that my "day" job has me
doing less traveling, I don’t go through Books on
Tape as often. |
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The first novel
from Rennie Airth is River of Darkness. Set
just after WWI, an emotionally battle scared cop, John Madden, goes
after a mass murderer and sexual deviate, Amos Pike, who is stalking his
prey in the southern counties of England. I like this a lot. It was my
number one pick for the year, but fell off to two or three by year-end.
After a little distance from the read, its impact seemed to lessen.
Maybe it was the unusual mechanics. This is a historical novel, set in
England, and you have a tendency to think of it as a cozy just for those
reasons. So maybe it was the story's and story teller's stark reality
that pack an additional wallop. |
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Nothing
Lasts Forever is the basis of the film, Die Hard,
and is a sequel to Roderick Thorp’s The Detective. The
story line is similar, but the characters, many of their names, the
point of view and even just the point of the story was much different,
and arguably, better in the film. This story is set in the late 70’s,
our hero is Joe Leland an ex-fighter pilot from WWII. Terrorists have
taken over the Klaxton Oil building in downtown Los Angeles where his
daughter, Stephanie Gennero, is an executive. Leland is here for a
celebration of a major deal made in Chile and a Christmas party. By
trade, Leland is a consultant to police forces on terrorists activities.
The point of view is entirely from that of Leland. |
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J.A. Jance's
Shoot/Don't Shoot is another Joanna Brady novel. It's only a
few months after Joanna’s husband was killed and her election as
Sheriff. She is going away from home for the first time. She will be
attending a police academy. But she is confronted by Juanita Griajalva,
as she is trying to leave, to look into the murder of her granddaughter,
Serena Grijalva. |
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Michael
Connelly's stand-alone, Void Moon is about
Cassie Black, ex-convict, paroled after serving 5 years in a
plea-bargained charge of involuntary manslaughter. She is trying to get
her life back together, but she appears obsessed by a family who’s
moving to Paris. She finally breaks down takes a job to steal the
winnings of a high roller in Vegas for an old associate. In spite of her
skills, hotel security is on her trail within six hours of the
theft. I'm a fan of his plot twists, but they've been missing, or
watered down in recent books. |
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What a nice
surprise this was. Tess Gerritsen's Gravity
is a big medical, suspense-thriller centered around the
NASA space shuttle runs and a bio-toxin at the space station. A culture
is tested for conditions under “microgravity” and is found to become
extremely lethal. This is a bio-hazard, space-shuttle stranding,
government-cover-up, gee-do-we-really-want-to-get-this-divorce,
crash-landing, white-knuckle-thrill-ride. I liked it a lot. I counted it
as my best read of 1999. |
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The short story
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, Jr. is the basis of the
movies The Thing from Another World (Howard Hawks) and The
Thing (John Carpenter). Carpenter's version of the film is much
closer to the story than the original Howard Hawks film. |
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I love Janet
Evanovich. Even the dust jack flap on Four to Score
is funny (it says this book's rated
PG35). Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter and hamster landlord, is after a
Failure To Appear who’s skipped a frivolous charge and it then turns
into a counterfeit ring. |
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One of the few
personal friends we (Her Majesty and I) have who also reads for
enjoyment, was assigned this book in a literature class she was taking.
She suggested I read Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent.
It is a humorous travel log detailing his 14,000 mile car trek
through 38 states. Many parts are very funny with a sharp, sarcastic
wit. However, more than a few items go beyond mere sarcasm to vicious
insults. I found that to be rude, insensitive and arrogant. True, the
basis of a lot of humor is insults. True, also, is that there is
literary justification with the "irony" of dwelling on disappointments
of a pleasure trip. However, for me, he goes over the line. I don't
think I'll be doing more of his stuff. |
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Douglas Preston
and Lincoln Child consistently put out great thrillers. These are high
caliber techno-thrillers that are every bit as good as Michael Crichton.
In Thunderhead,
an archeologists finds a letter from her father 12 years old
telling her of the discovery of Quivara, an ancient and, thought,
mythical, city of gold inhabited by the Anasazi Indians. But the city is
guarded by what appears to be ancient tribal witches of incredible
stealth, agility and power. The expedition into the valley has enough
natural dangers and the ancients and fame seeking members of the team
put the troop in more danger. This is their fourth novel, and introduces
a character that will be returning with their sixth book,
The Cabinet Of Curiosities,
(due in June 2002).
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Patricia
Cornwell's Black Notice has Scarpetta still
coming to grips with the death of Benton Wesley, her lover, a year
later. But a new Deputy Chief in town is suddenly and prominently
everywhere and appears to be sabotaging Scarpetta’s credibility in an
effort to consolidate her power. In the mean time, she’s saddled with
some brutal murders which seem to lead to a “French Connection”.
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T. Jefferson
Parker's Where Serpents Lie
has Terry Naughton, head of Crimes Against Youth (CAY),
working hard on a pedophile suspect, known as the Horridus, when he,
Naughton himself, is accused of child molestation. This is a
disturbingly realistic account and should be avoided for those that have
trouble reading of children in danger. |
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Political
intrigue and corruption is on the bill with Richard North Patterson's
Dark Lady. Stella finds that investigating two deaths (one of
whom is a former lover), both under bizarre circumstances (drugs and
kinky sex) and both completely a-typical of the victims, she jeopardizes
the careers of the mayor, mayor wanna-be’s, an urban-renewal project and
her own career. Though I found the sub-plot on how the urban renewal was
approached interesting, the story moved back and forth in flash backs
more frequently than I could easily keep track. I got confused a lot.
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'Tis
is Frank McCourt’s follow up to Angela's Ashes which was
his autobiographical look of his life from childhood to his arrival in
America as a young man. It picks up where the previous book left off. It
chronicles his life from his arrival in America to the passing of his
Father. He's a wonderful writer and it was fun to continue the story,
but it didn't have near the charm of the original. But, still, if you've
done Angela's Ashes, you owe it to yourself do this. |
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J.A. Jance
comes back with another Joanna Brady novel with Skeleton Canyon.
While Jenny's off to summer camp, Joanna is on the trail the
murderer of a Teen Prom Queen. These unremarkable stories are just plain
fun. I find it nice to re-visit, Joanna and her friends. In fact, the
reason I keep doing these novels is to see what's happening with them,
rather than to read a mystery. |
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Personal
Injuries by Scott Turow is an account of a massive sting
operation to nab judges that are on the take. The story involves an
attorney, caught in a bribery and exchanges cooperation for leniency,
and the FBI agent's attempt to collect evidence on the judge. The
operation takes most of the book to implement. In the process, secrets
of female FBI agent, as well as those of the attorney become exposed. It
was fine. I don't know if I'd do more of them, but if I found another
unabridged tape, sure. |
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Lee Child is my
new found "must read". In his second Jack Reacher novel, Die
Trying, Reacher is picked up by kidnappers who were after the
woman he just happened to be helping as he walked down the street. It
turns out that she is not only FBI, but her father is the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The kidnapping is assumed by authorities to
be to gain some negotiation leveraging for the kidnappers. But it
doesn’t seem too well thought out. |
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Timeline
by Michael Crichton is about a tyrannical owner of a high technology
company is “pushing the envelop” of quantum time travel. One of the
historians didn’t return from a short trip to Medieval France and
another crew is sent to locate and return with him. I'm kind of a sucker
for time travel stories. I put them in one of two categories. Time
Travel and Excuse to Write Historical Fiction. The line between the two
is a bit fuzzy, but if little or no attention is placed on the mechanism
to do the traveling and the issue of paradox is not addressed, then it
falls in the latter category, and becomes less interesting.
This is right on the edge.
However, whichever you place it in, this story is a swash-buckling,
medieval thriller. This guy just doesn't write often enough. |
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