Book review - still catching up
Night Over Water, by Ken Follett
Ken Follett and Robert Ludlum are my go-to guys when I want a break from mysteries and historical fiction. I need my adrenaline fix while still engaging my brain. These two authors are experts at their craft. This particular book was especially well done. It wove a number of threads into a superb tapestry of "Who? What? Who again? No? Yes?" It also placed these threads into the context of the last public plane trip out of Europe after Britain joined WWII. I will happily reread this one, just as soon as I can forget the who, what and who again.
400 pages
Skin Trade, by Laurell K. Hamilton
This was an oops all the way around. I picked up the book from the clearance shelf without looking too closely at it. At first glance I thought it was an entirely different author, so I was looking forward to diving into the story. Imagine my surprise! No, it wasn't the author I thought, nor the characters, nor the genre. I enjoy a good vampire book every now and again, but not this one. It was okay, but not great, not compelling, and really not all that interesting. Perhaps it was because this is in the middle of a series? I haven't had a chance to get to know the main character and thus really had no empathy for her or her plight. Yeah, as though being a succubus (and lover of the head vampire of a city, a cop, a vampire killer, a were-animal of several types) isn't enough of a plight? Oy. The character simply had too many things heaped upon her for her to be interesting. She was simply a pile of stuff, not anyone I was interested in. I'll not be picking up any more of the series.
486 pages
The Egpytologist, by Arthur Phillips
It's been a couple of months since I read this one, and was unable to write a review until I went back and read the plot summary online. Thus, I think it's not too memorable. That aside, it's not that bad, either. I know it's not a ringing endorsement, but it's as accurate as I'm able to be right now. The plot involved searching for an Egyptian king's tomb, and post WWII. Both America and Britain are involved, as well as Australia and Northern Africa. There's some identity theft and ne'er-do-wells. As I recall, it wasn't a very satisfactory ending, either. Not all the threads were tied up, and I do hate dangly threads. It had the book club section at the back end, with the questions and discussion topics that are designed to help you delve into the back story, etc. Normally, that enhances the book. This time, I wasn't interested enough to look very deeply into that section. Ah, well. Perhaps next time.
396 pages
The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
Fun fun fun. This was set in an alternate Britain, where literature is a much more influential force on society. "Someone begins kidnapping characters from works of Literature." Accurate summarization, but it really doesn't go far enough. Our protagonist is a literary detective. It really was a great romp and I'll look for more works by the author, hopefully with the same character.
384 pages
Black Lotus, by Laura Joh Rowland
Another in the series of our Japanese detective from the Samurai period. I'm enjoying the series, though they move rather slowly. I can't imagine the pace any faster, as that wouldn't be true to the period, where everything involves ceremony, patience, protocol and more patience. I empathize with Ichiro's wife who simply chomps at the bit to be able to help in the detections, but can't. Women just don't do that. Oy. And when she does it anyway, she suffers the societal consequences, which is certainly accurate, but still irks me.
375 pages
The Genesis Secret, by Tom Knox
This was a decent read, but a bit too graphic on the violence (murders) for me. I can see where it was necessary, but it was still overmuch. The author obviously did his homework and he dangled tantalizing bits of history in front of me. It worked - I kept turning the pages. An obvious follow-on to the "Da Vinci Code as a plot line" school of writing, he at least found an original angle to explore. And indeed, there was enough touching on reality that it could be. Or not.
400 pages
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
I am simply going to quote the first chapter of LibraryThing's Traste's review of this book. "I tend to avoid the blockbuster bestsellers. But my mother's friend gave her The Help, and she passed it on to me. I wasn't very interested, although the movie trailers looked better than I'd expected. But I was in desperate need of something distracting one night, something other than what I'd been reading or, it seemed, anything else within reach, and The Help next thing I knew it was 2:30 AM and it was only through sheer willpower that I put this down and tried to go to sleep. Tried. It wasn't easy. I read this book in three sittings, and it would have been one if I'd had any say in the matter. That hasn't happened in a while. This pretty well sums up the book. I expected nothing, but was engrossed before the first hour was over. Well said, Traste. And well written, Ms. Stockett.
544 pages
Ken Follett and Robert Ludlum are my go-to guys when I want a break from mysteries and historical fiction. I need my adrenaline fix while still engaging my brain. These two authors are experts at their craft. This particular book was especially well done. It wove a number of threads into a superb tapestry of "Who? What? Who again? No? Yes?" It also placed these threads into the context of the last public plane trip out of Europe after Britain joined WWII. I will happily reread this one, just as soon as I can forget the who, what and who again.
400 pages
Skin Trade, by Laurell K. Hamilton
This was an oops all the way around. I picked up the book from the clearance shelf without looking too closely at it. At first glance I thought it was an entirely different author, so I was looking forward to diving into the story. Imagine my surprise! No, it wasn't the author I thought, nor the characters, nor the genre. I enjoy a good vampire book every now and again, but not this one. It was okay, but not great, not compelling, and really not all that interesting. Perhaps it was because this is in the middle of a series? I haven't had a chance to get to know the main character and thus really had no empathy for her or her plight. Yeah, as though being a succubus (and lover of the head vampire of a city, a cop, a vampire killer, a were-animal of several types) isn't enough of a plight? Oy. The character simply had too many things heaped upon her for her to be interesting. She was simply a pile of stuff, not anyone I was interested in. I'll not be picking up any more of the series.
486 pages
The Egpytologist, by Arthur Phillips
It's been a couple of months since I read this one, and was unable to write a review until I went back and read the plot summary online. Thus, I think it's not too memorable. That aside, it's not that bad, either. I know it's not a ringing endorsement, but it's as accurate as I'm able to be right now. The plot involved searching for an Egyptian king's tomb, and post WWII. Both America and Britain are involved, as well as Australia and Northern Africa. There's some identity theft and ne'er-do-wells. As I recall, it wasn't a very satisfactory ending, either. Not all the threads were tied up, and I do hate dangly threads. It had the book club section at the back end, with the questions and discussion topics that are designed to help you delve into the back story, etc. Normally, that enhances the book. This time, I wasn't interested enough to look very deeply into that section. Ah, well. Perhaps next time.
396 pages
The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
Fun fun fun. This was set in an alternate Britain, where literature is a much more influential force on society. "Someone begins kidnapping characters from works of Literature." Accurate summarization, but it really doesn't go far enough. Our protagonist is a literary detective. It really was a great romp and I'll look for more works by the author, hopefully with the same character.
384 pages
Black Lotus, by Laura Joh Rowland
Another in the series of our Japanese detective from the Samurai period. I'm enjoying the series, though they move rather slowly. I can't imagine the pace any faster, as that wouldn't be true to the period, where everything involves ceremony, patience, protocol and more patience. I empathize with Ichiro's wife who simply chomps at the bit to be able to help in the detections, but can't. Women just don't do that. Oy. And when she does it anyway, she suffers the societal consequences, which is certainly accurate, but still irks me.
375 pages
The Genesis Secret, by Tom Knox
This was a decent read, but a bit too graphic on the violence (murders) for me. I can see where it was necessary, but it was still overmuch. The author obviously did his homework and he dangled tantalizing bits of history in front of me. It worked - I kept turning the pages. An obvious follow-on to the "Da Vinci Code as a plot line" school of writing, he at least found an original angle to explore. And indeed, there was enough touching on reality that it could be. Or not.
400 pages
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
I am simply going to quote the first chapter of LibraryThing's Traste's review of this book. "I tend to avoid the blockbuster bestsellers. But my mother's friend gave her The Help, and she passed it on to me. I wasn't very interested, although the movie trailers looked better than I'd expected. But I was in desperate need of something distracting one night, something other than what I'd been reading or, it seemed, anything else within reach, and The Help next thing I knew it was 2:30 AM and it was only through sheer willpower that I put this down and tried to go to sleep. Tried. It wasn't easy. I read this book in three sittings, and it would have been one if I'd had any say in the matter. That hasn't happened in a while. This pretty well sums up the book. I expected nothing, but was engrossed before the first hour was over. Well said, Traste. And well written, Ms. Stockett.
544 pages