Inside Man

Sam Capra is just a man trying to run a bar, or so it seems, until one day his friend Steve asks him to help out on an investigation. Readers unfamiliar to the series will soon learn that Sam has a past, far from his cover as a bar owner. After Steve is murdered, Sam is determined to find the killers and bring them to justice. Using his previous contacts in the CIA for a cover identity, Sam works to infiltrate the Varela family in order to find Steve's killer. Sam discovers quickly that he will have to play it carefully with the Varelas, one slip and he is a dead man like Steve. Headed by a man who is slowly losing his faculties, each of the Varela family members have their own agendas, and their own secrets to keep. 

A daughter with a desire to help others, a son who wants to protect his family, along with a stepdaughter who wants it all for herself makes the reader continually guess as to who is controlling things behind the scenes. Add in interference from Sam's off-the-books operatives from the Round Table, Russian thugs, and the Varela security teams, and Sam tries to stay one step ahead of everyone in order to get the answers he is looking for. After Sam is abducted and sent to a secret facility headed by a sadistic woman who enjoys her work too well, Sam discovers a secret that will alter the Varela family forever.  The book has plenty of twists and turns, and kept me guessing until the end.  Luckily, the ending also promises another book to come in the Capra series.

Abbott, Jeff, Inside Man. Grand Central Publishing, New York. July 2014. Isbn:978-1-4555-2845-5

Polar Expedition-Survival

I love reading books about cold climates during the days of summer in New England. It always makes me feel a little cooler while the temperatures are soaring. In The Kingdom of Ice, written by Hampton Sides, definitely will make the reader feel the chill of the expedition. Sides has researched in depth in his writings of the failed voyage of the USS Jeannette, and the details of the expedition make the reader feel that they are right along with the ship and its crew. The goal of the expedition was to reach the North Pole, and chart the Artic as they went, led by Captain De Long.  The voyage was backed by none other than James Bennett, the newspaper magnate that had sent the now famous Stanley on a successful search to find Dr. Livingstone in the far reaches of Africa. Bennett was looking for another sensational scoop by sending De Long to the unforgiving and unknown Artic. Keep in mind, since the expedition took place back in 1879, it was to be an even more dangerous voyage than a trip of this undertaking would be in current times. I hadn't heard of the ship or it's crew before I started reading about it, and it was really difficult not to stop reading and google the story before finishing it to see how it all turned out. (Read the book and try to do the same thing!) No expense was spared in outfitting the Jeannette for the voyage, even adding to the ship's stores some new inventions, such as electric lights and a telephone system, which Bennett helped to procure from both Edison and Bell. Sides is able to recreate the story of the voyage with great accuracy, from the original logs of De Long, and correspondence from Bennett, with little speculation on the trials and tribulations of the crew on their voyage. The expedition sets sail from California, with high hopes of finding a path to the pole, and relying on inaccurate philosophies of thought to get them there. At the time of the ship leaving port, it was still widely thought that once you got through the Artic ice, the seas turned to warm currents, and it was possible to sail up and over the continents. The hope of sailing along the Alaskan coastline to go up and around Canada to come out in the Atlantic Ocean was an inaccurate one, but one that the voyagers hoped to do. I'm not going to spoil what happened to De Long and the crew, you will have to read about that on your own, but reading about Bennett's exploits in New York society, is also an added bonus of the story. 

Sides, Hampton, In The Kingdom of Ice:The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, Doubleday, New York, August 2014. Isbn: 978-0-385-53537-3

Pandemic-Taking Over the World

The pandemic has begun, and the disease is spreading rapidly across the United States and the rest of the globe. People are dying at an alarming rate if they are not one of the infected, and those who are infected are working to take over the world. With the spread of viruses such as Ebola on the news headlines, the third book in Sigler's trilogy, Pandemic, makes the reader think about how containment can easily fail and how quickly disease can spread across the globe.  Margaret Montoya, the scientist featured earlier in the trilogy, is requested to aid the government with Operation Wolf Head, the task force working to analyze pieces of what previous Sigler fans will remember as the Orbital, lying at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Montoya reluctantly joins the team, and soon learns that the virus has mutated from her previous research, and it is worse than anyone thought. Soon enough, the virus infects some of the crew, along with agents of the Chinese government, also in the area trying to recover the Orbital's remains and spreads like wildfire across the globe. It is now a race against time to control and find a cure for the latest mutation, and the novel builds to a fast pace with a showdown in downtown Chicago between the infected and the government team. I won't give away here too much of the details, but the final battle, also involving a tense fire engine ride, keeps the reader on their seats hoping that the team makes it through the streets to safety. A satisfying end to the trilogy for Sigler fans, and worth the wait for the final novel.

Sigler, Scott, Pandemic, Crown Publishers, New York. 2014. Isbn: 978-0-307-40897-6

Tattoos- A New Poison

Jeffery Deaver has a new Lincoln Rhyme novel out, The Skin Collector, and this one will either make you think twice about getting a tattoo, or at the very least make damn sure that you find the right tattoo artist. There is a new "unsub" in Rhyme's sights, that of an individual that first knocks out his victims with a tranquilizer, then proceeds to tattoo their torsos, with poison. After the victims wake from their drugged state, each then dies within the hour from the concentrated doses that have been inked into their bodies. Rhyme and his team, including Amelia Sachs of course, race against time to find the killer before he finishes his work. There are plenty of twists and turns in this novel, as Deaver is the master of making the reader think they have it figured out midway through, only to keep reading and have their assumptions proved wrong. There is a larger plot at play here with the unsub's needlework, which threatens the entire city of New York, and the team of detectives are kept on their toes trying to figure it all out while attempting to avoid being among the victim's list of the unsub as well. Another protagonist of earlier Rhyme novels, the Watchmaker, also makes an appearance, and gives a hint of more to come. If you haven't read Deaver before, this novel is a good standalone from the series, but Rhyme fans will definitely enjoy it.

Deaver, Jeffery, The Skin Collector, Grand Central Publishing, May 2014. New York. Isbn: 978-1-4555-1713-8

Reel Stuff- A New Lessor and Moore Mystery

Don Bruns has written another novel about two of my favorite characters,James Lessor and Skip Moore. The duo have their own private investigation business, which is always one bill short of bankruptcy, and they supplement their meager incomes with odd jobs, usually winding up investigating a murder in the process. This latest story, Reel Stuff, is set first in Miami, where the duo have managed to wind up temping as part of a security team on a television series shoot. Unfortunately for Moore, he is on set when the show's guest star, takes an unplanned leap to his death while filming a stunt. Pretty soon, Moore and Lessor are on the job when one of the show's stars tearfully asks them to find out who is responsible for the apparent "suicide". Along with Moore's girlfriend Emily, the duo start investigating, and soon find that they are ahead of the police in their theories on who is responsible. While Lessor is wooing the gorgeous co-star on the show, Moore and Emily fly to L.A. to investigate the actor's wife. Within a short time,  Moore is faced with fears on potentially losing his too-good-for-him girlfriend when she goes undercover to pose as a potential actress. Moore's reactions when actors show interest in Emily, think Leonardo and The Rock here, make you really feel for the guy, especially when every reader at one time has thought their guy/girl are too good for them. Lessor and Moore figure out who is behind the murder, and manage to get the job done and collect their pay. If you haven't already been introduced to the duo, I recommend reading any of Brun's novels-they don't need to be read in sequence but you might wish to. (PS. Bruns' The Mick Sever series is also always a good read)

Bruns, Don, Reel Stuff, Oceanview Publishing, Florida. 2013. Isbn: 978-1-60809-096-9

Rose Under Fire

I just finished Elizabeth Wein's latest novel, Rose Under Fire,

 and found it to be just as interesting as her previous novel, Code Name Verity. While I was hoping it would be a sequel to the first, it did have appearances by a few characters from that novel. This second novel  is also set during the time of World War II, and also focuses on a female pilot, Rose. Unfortunately for Rose, she flies into the wrong place accidentally at the wrong time, and is consequently forced by the enemy to land her plane in Germany. Rose is sent to Ravensbruck, a work camp mostly for prisoners and enemies of the state. She manages to survive long enough to escape months later, along with two other prisoners of the camp, and the story will make the reader feel as if they were right in the camp with Rose. She is placed in barracks with the "Rabbits"-a group of prisoners who were used for experimentation, and Rose works to ensure that their story is remembered so that it can be told to others, by composing poems of their hardships and the things they all endured in the camp. When Rose is marked for execution, along with the rest of her group, she manages to escape, and finds a plane to fly out of Germany, taking one of the frailest "Rabbits" along with her and another former pilot. The physical and also psychological changes Rose has to go through upon returning to her former life are detailed in the story as well, and it makes the reader realize just how difficult it must have been for survivors of the camps as well. Fair warning-this novel is tough to put down once you start reading about Rose, and I managed to finish it in about a half a day.

Wein, Elizabeth, Rose Under Fire, Hyperion, New York. 2013. Isbn: 978-1-4231-8309-9

Dangerous Odds

Marisa Lankester's recent novel Dangerous Odds,

about her life and time spent helping to run an illegal sports betting operation, is in one word, fantastic! Her book is so interesting that I spent an entire afternoon reading the entire story. When I met Marisa recently, she warned me that the first couple of chapters might seem dry and not very interesting, and I'm happy to say, she was completely wrong. I was hooked from the first couple of pages, and happily read throughout the afternoon. Marisa chronicles her entry into the world of working for an illegal sports betting operation and her rise within the ranks to become one of the valuable employees of the organization. Along the way, she falls in love with and marries her boss, and after the government busts and shuts down their operation, they move to the Dominican Republic to begin another. Marisa is a straight shooter, who doesn't hold back on detailing the daily operations and problems with running the organization ahead of the law, and her experiences within the prison system of the Dominican when they are raided again expose the sordid side of that country in detail. Throughout the story, Marisa also details the problems with her marriage, and its eventual ending, again not holding back her sadness and emotions. The book may be nonfiction, but flows along as smoothly as any fictional tale. Even if you have no interest in sports betting, you will be interested in the story itself. My only desire is that the conclusion of the book would give more information on where the people in the story are now, and how they are doing. especially if Remo finally got to live a life without looking over his shoulder. Great read for the end of the summer.

Lankester, Marisa, Dangerous Odds: My Secret Life Inside an Illegal Billion Dollar Sports Betting Operation, Cappucino Books, Switzerland. 2014. Isbn: 978-3-906196-00-8.

Stonewall Jackson- Lucky or Brilliant Tactician?

When people talk of the civil war in the United States, one of the names that continually will be mentioned is that of Stonewall Jackson, one of the South's most brilliant generals in the Confederate Army.

What many people would be pressed to name is Jackson's given name, that of Thomas, as the nickname of Stonewall is how he is best known. S. C. Gwynne has done extensive research into Jackson's history for his latest novel on the general, and it is a hefty read at over 600 pages. However, the reader gains great insight into the man that is known in history as General Stonewall. Jackson was a man who had a strong sense of religion and duty, and followed orders down to the exact detail. One such story in the novel that illustrates his adherence to command, Jackson was once asked to "wait here" in a commanding officer's tent, and when the officer returned the next morning, having forgotten all about Jackson, found him still sitting in the exact spot hours later. When questioned, Jackson stated that he hadn't been given orders yet to get up from the stool where he was sitting. Due to Jackson's strong sense of following orders, at times his army did not engage the Union army, even when they had ample opportunity to attack and win the battle, because he was waiting on direct orders from Lee. Other generals in battle pleaded with Jackson at times to assist them, but he remained where he was, waiting on Lee's orders. However, Jackson also had a great sense of military strategy, and pushing his men through the countryside to the point of exhaustion, he was able to travel farther and faster than other Confederate troops. Many times  he would be able to completely surprise the Union army, winning battles when they were out manned and out gunned, at great cost to the Union. Jackson was quick to prosecute and punish those who he felt were not following army regulations, and also those who he felt were not following the same religious and moral codes he so strongly adhered to .However, he was also a general who won the grudging respect of his troops, working alongside them to spur them on, many times when they weren't moving fast enough for his liking, he would dismount from his horse to assist, pushing wagons over muddy roads himself.  Even with the knowledge that Jackson and the Confederacy would eventually lose the war, as a reader I was rooting for him while reading about each battle, as the odds against them seemed so great with each one. Gwynne has done a great job in a comprehensive portrayal of Jackson, and those wanting to learn more about the general will enjoy reading this book.

Gwynne, S.C. Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson, Scribner, New York. September 2014. Isbn: 978-1-4516-7328-9

AI Intelligence Goes Rogue

The Kraken Project is one of the latest thrillers from Douglas Preston

 who never fails to disappoint with his novels. This novel features one my favorite characters of Preston's, former CIA agent Wyman Ford.  NASA plans on sending a probe with AI (thats "artificial intelligence") capabilities on a one way mission to Titan, a moon on Saturn, for exploration. Unfortunately for NASA, the AI programmer has done too well at her job, and the AI, code named Dorothy, soon escapes the lab test simulation and disappears into the internet, wreaking havoc at the lab in order to survive what Dorothy views as her impending death on Titan. Sounds futuristic? Unfortunately, it potentially could happen in our world soon with our advances in technology growing exponentially by the day. After Dorothy goes rogue, and attempts to contact her programmer to ensure her survival from the government pursuit, Ford is tasked with bringing both her programmer and Dorothy in. Add in a Wall Street trader who with the help of a computer hacker who desperately want the Dorothy program to help them to control the financial markets, and this novel travels at a fast pace to a showdown between Ford and the people who want to control Dorothy for their own means. A great read that makes one think about the future of computers and AI, and where we could be headed.

Preston, Douglas, The Kraken Project, Forge, Tom Doherty Associates, New York. 2014, Isbn: 978-0-7653-1769-8 

First Time Author Does It Right

The Life We Bury, a first novel out by Allen Eskens, is a fantastic read hands down, and one of the best novels that I have read from a new author recently.

     Joe is a college student who has enrolled in classes at the last minute, and has to take one English class that still has available space. The problem is, his assignment over the semester is to interview and write a biography of someone who is elderly. Joe has no family who fits this category, so he goes to a local nursing home attempting to find a subject to write about. Enter Carl, dying of pancreatic cancer, and who has been paroled from prison for committing a rape and murder of a teenage neighbor thirty years before. Joe begins doing research on the murder, and begins to see that the evidence against Carl, while at the time of his trial seemed ironclad, some of the details don't quite add up. Joe meets Virgil, one of Carl's army buddies in Vietnam, and Carl's only supporter, and he begins to look at Carl's case in a different light. Now Joe is racing against time and Carl's impending death from cancer to try and clear his name, and persuade the authorities to reopen the case for a second look. Along with trying to determine the truth about the night of the murder, Joe is also dealing with his alcoholic mother, who pulls frequent "disappearing acts", leaving Joe to look out for his younger autistic brother. The story sweeps the reader along at a fast pace, and leaves you hoping that Joe can determine Carl's innocence before it is too late. I am looking forward to reading more from Eskens after reading his debut novel.

Eskens, Allen, The Life We Bury, Seventh Street Books, New York, October 2014. 

Isbn: 978-1-61614-998-7

Unbroken: A Story of Survival during WWII

I picked up a copy of Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand yesterday, and while this is an adaptation of Hillenbrand's bestseller of the same name for young adult readers (Disclaimer here-I haven't read the original version),I think that this version will be appealing to both young adults and adults as well. This is the story of Louis Zamperini, who was ingenious in breaking rules, and looked to be on a fast track to reform school or jail for his exploits in his youth. He discovered running, and worked to travel and compete in the Olympics in 1936. He was due to also compete in the 1940 games, but World War Two arrived, and he, along with many others of that era, joined the fight. He became a bombardier airman, and when the B-24 he is flying in is shot down over the Pacific, the true story begins. Along with two other survivors of the crash, the struggle to survive in a life raft at sea amid circling sharks with no supplies takes its toll on Louis, and by the time they reach land 46 days later, only Louis and one other man makes the shore. Unfortunately, they land at an island occupied by Japan, and are promptly taken as prisoners of war. Moved from POW camp to camp, Louis struggles to survive under horrific conditions. Both Louis and his family, who is informed by the military he has been declared missing and presumed dead, refuse to give up hope, and at the end of the war, Louis survives to return to his family. Even though this version is for young adult readers, the descriptions of the prison camps and the abuse the prisoners endured at the hands of their captors is vivid and brutally depicted, but there is also hope, with the stories of the POW's efforts to survive and sabotage their captor's efforts to break their spirits. 

Hillenbrand, Laura, Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey From Airman to Castaway To Captive. Delacorte Press, New York. November 2014. Isbn 978-0-385-74251-1

A Question of Life after Death

Judy Bachrach is a journalist who has interviewed people who claim to have had NDE's, otherwise known as near-death experiences. In a new book out this coming September, she raises the questions we all have of what happens after we die, and is there actually something out there for us to look forward to when we do pass on. 

Those who have had a NDE, seem for the most part, to have the same types of experiences. Are NDE's real? Is it an experience that occurs when the brain is dying or is it our way of making sense of the the electrical impulses that occur in our brain when deprived of oxygen. What do doctors and scientists term as clinical death? Is it when the heart stops, the brain stops functioning, or is it when our consciousness leaves our bodies? With advances in medical techniques, we can attempt to slow the process of death-a couple of centuries ago when someone drowned, they were dead. Now with CPR techniques, we can manage to revive them and cheat death. There have been accounts in our not so recent history where coffins were reopened to discover scratch marks on the inside when people were buried accidentally, as their state of death was misinterpreted. (Giving rise to fears of the existence of vampires as late as the 18th century) One case that Bachrach cites is that of an individual who was determined to be clinically dead, the family was discussing funeral arrangements in the next room, and the person "came back to life" hours after they had been determined by medical staff to be deceased. Bachrach interviewed individuals from different backgrounds, from those who were religious to those who were not, and regardless, they all seemed to have similar experiences. Until very recently, the scientific community has not really wanted to really look at and review cases of NDE's from a research standpoint, and unfortunately most individuals who claim to have had an NDE were either not believed, or told that it didn't occur. There are many questions on whether NDE's exist due to the failure of the medical and scientific communities to properly document and research this issue. I began reading this not knowing whether NDE's actually occur, and I finished the book with the same questions about NDE's, as we really don't know what happens after we die. The reality is however, we will all learn the answer eventually at some point, and unfortunately, the rest of the world won't know until then as well it seems. The book gets you to think about the possibility of an afterlife, but honestly, I got more information and insight on death and a possible afterlife  from reading Spook by Mary Roach than I did from Bachrach's perspective on this topic.

 Bachrach, Judy,  Glimpsing Heaven: The Stories and Science of Life After Death. National Geographic, Washington D.C. September 2014. Isbn 978-1-4262-1454-7

The Forgotten Girl

I finished reading The Forgotten Girl, by David Bell this morning,

and I think the title is a bit of a misnomer here. While the story centers on a younger sister who has returned unexpectedly to her brother's doorstep, the story is really about her brother, his past, and events that took place one night during his high school graduation. Jason has returned with his wife to his hometown that he grew up in, with the hopes of rekindling their marriage by leaving the large city they had been in. Things seem to be going well, but the return to his old town starts to bring back memories of Jason's best friend Logan, who disappeared after graduation, and who no one has seen to this day. When Jason's sister turns up at his house, with her teenage daughter, asking Jason to keep her daughter there while she makes amends with her past and her recovery from addiction, Jason begins to think his sister and Logan's disappearance are somehow connected. He beings delving into the past, talking to Logan's remaining family and others who knew Logan, including Regan, a girl who both he and Logan had wanted to be romantically involved with during school. While trying to keep an eye out for his sister who has disappeared to take care of loose ends, worrying about his niece who is concerned about her mother, along with dealing with memories about the night Logan disappeared, he also has to deal with the bully from school, who is still living in town and has more to do with that night than Jason originally thought. The novel isn't really about a "forgotten girl" but more about confronting the past, and small town secrets that come to light years after the fact. Despite the title, the novel is an interesting read, and keeps you guessing until the final chapter about the truth of Logan's disappearance. 

Bell, David. The Forgotten Girl, New American Library, New York. October 2014.
 Isbn: 978-0-451-41752-7

Marines on Mars

    War Dogs, by Greg Bear is coming out this fall and is bound to make his readers happy with his latest novel. The first of a planned trilogy, the novel takes place mostly on Mars, which is the setting for a war between the Skyrines, Earth's version of Marines who battle on Mars, and the Antags, a race that is coming to take over the planet and eventually Earth itself.

     Upon reaching the planet on their latest mission, "Vinnie" and his squad soon learn that things aren't all they seem, and they are quickly ambushed on their way to landing. Survival looks grim for the squad, until they are rescued by a second landing party who arrived earlier, and then when their survival looks grim again,  they are rescued again by one of the colonists from Mars, who has left her colony rather than face death. She leads them to a rock formation to safety, where they learn the formation is actually an underground mining complex. Shortly after their arrival, other parties come to the mine , more teams from Earth, and also more colonists from the planet, both who have plans for the underground mining chambers. Soon it becomes a matter of survival for the Skyrines, both within the mine and outside it. Left on their own by the government, the squad and Vinnie try to figure out why the mine is so important to their government, the colonists, and the Antags, and at the same time, try to stay alive long enough for hope of rescue from Earth. I thought this was a fascinating read, and look forward to reading the next two novels in the series.

Bear, Greg. War Dogs. New York. Orbit Books. October 2014. Isbn 978-0-316-07283-0 

Full Measure-and brother's bonds

     Okay readers, I just completed reading Full Measure, a new novel due out in the coming fall  by T. Jefferson Parker. Fantastic read! Patrick is a marine recently home from his deployment in Afghanistan, and expected by his family to help run their avocado growing operation,

and take over the helm from his aging father. Unfortunately, upon his arrival he learns that a fire in the town has destroyed much of the crop's trees and it is going to be a long battle to save any of the farm. While trying to adjust back to civilian life, Patrick is also tasked with overseeing his brother, who looks up to Patrick, and continually keeps getting himself into trouble with people in the town, especially the mayor. When it turns out that the fire was deliberately set, suspicion sets in and Patrick's brother winds up being in the middle of the firestorm. His brother buys a gun and begins hanging out with the local white supremacists in the town, while looking up to Patrick, taking his stories of battle as his own. The novel is a fast paced read, and I think really helps the reader to understand from Patrick's perspective the anxiety and stress that faces soldiers returning to life after serving in battle. Along with illustrating the problems that farmers can face with banks, crop failures, and investments, the novel is truly about family, and the bonds that holds families together. 

Full Measure, T. Jefferson Parker, St Martin's Press, New York. October 2014. Isbn: 978-1-4668-5299-0

Trading Bodies-Not Trading Places

     Touch by Claire North is a new novel coming out next year, and is a bit sci-fi, a bit thriller, and a bit confusing at times. It took me a while to get into the book, but once I was able to do so it kept me reading. Kepler is, for lack of a better word, a type of Jinn. To keep this review simple, I will refer to Kepler as "he". Kepler died violently and when he died, was able to switch consciousness to a bystander when they touched him. Kepler learns quickly that he can switch bodies simply by touching another person, and manages to survive throughout centuries this way. This soon gets boring for Kepler and a few others

with the same ability, and most opt to request host bodies permissions to live in them for a few months. Those who have their body used by Kepler have no memory of the event, and are victims of "lost time". Makes you wonder about all those times you drove home after a long day with no memory of how you got there. Unfortunately for Kepler, someone is out to eliminate him and the others who have survived over the centuries, and soon Kepler is among the hunted by the mysterious Aquarius group, and an unknown figure known as Galileo. Kepler is left with no choice but to use and enlist one of the Aquarius group members, Coyle, and spends much of the novel attempting to persuade him to help after Coyle kills one of Kepler's bodies on orders from Aquarius. Most of the novel takes place in Europe, but there is travel in other parts of the world as well. There is too much switching for me in the first 50 pages of so, and it was difficult at first to figure out what was going on in the book. Kepler first dies in what seems only in recent times, but then talks about a past life a few hundred years back, which is mostly why it confused me for a bit. After that however, I started to get into the story and then was disappointed in the last few pages. Personally, I would have liked to see a much different ending but I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read this one.

Touch, Claire North, Redhook Books/Orbit. New York. February 2015. Isbn 978-0-316-33592-8

South African Crime and Intrigue

   Today I finished reading an advance copy of Cobra, by Deon Meyer. I haven't read Meyer previously, and now will have to add his novels to my list of books to read, as Cobra was extremely enjoyable. The story begins in a guest house, where hired bodyguards are found shot and their client is missing. Enter in the Hawks team, the premier police in South Africa, who soon figure out that this is not just a simple robbery gone bad, but involves intrigue, corruption, and political aspects on an international scale. Cobra is an assassin for hire, and his team manages to stay ahead of the Hawks a step at a time,  while the Hawks are dogged by Interpol, MI6, the CIA, and their own government, who are also trying to cover up the missing client's activities and his involvement with them.  

Galley Cover-not final

     Added into the intrigue is a somewhat innocent teenage local pickpocket, who unfortunately chooses the wrong bag to steal from at the wrong time, and both he and his sister are soon in danger from Cobra as well. The Hawks team is soon trying to locate the thief and the missing data card that Cobra is looking for, as well as the sister who after being kidnapped by Cobra is held hostage until the data card is returned. The Hawks have to go off the grid to avoid their investigation being taken over by the intelligence services, and have to stay ahead of them as well as Cobra. The novel comes to a fast paced finish and a satisfying conclusion when the Hawks take Cobra down. 


Cobra, Deon Meyer, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. October 2014, Isbn 978-0-8021-2324-4

Junior Bender is back

  A new Junior Bender novel will be out soon, Herbie's Game, and Timothy Hallinan doesn't disappoint with this novel. Junior is a professional burglar who somehow or another manages to get the goods while stepping around murders and mysteries in the process. (Think Lawrence Block's-Bernie Rhodenbarr character)

     Junior receives a summons from an associate known by the name of Wattles, who has set up a hit using a chain of cutouts-and wrote the list down of the players in the chain due to worries of a memory lapse. Now that list has been stolen, and everyone on it is now at risk, including Junior's mentor in the burglary trade, who is suspected of stealing the list.  Junior visits his mentor-for the last time, and after he is murdered Junior vows to avenge his death. The players all start being knocked off at an alarming rate, and it is up to Junior to get the list back, as well as figure out which name on the list is next.  Along the way, Junior has someone after him as well, and is forced to hire other hit men and criminals to watch over him and his family. Happily the characters of Bones returns, as well as Junior's love interest Ronnie, who Junior is finally realizing he really needs in his life. Added in are some of the characters from previous Bender novels, along with some new players, including a couple of humorous teenage hackers who are making more money annually than I will ever hope to. The novel is fine as a stand-alone read, but those not familiar with Junior might want to read the previous novels before reading more of Junior in Herbie's Game.

Herbie's Game, Timothy Halinan, Soho Press, New York. July 2014. ISBN: 978-1-61695-429-1

Survival in the Walled City

    What was the Walled City? A place of drug dens, brothels, lost children, and corruption. The novel The Walled City, by Ryan Graudin takes you there, to the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. While this novel is about teenagers trying to survive within it, it should not be simply touted as a young adult novel, as adults will enjoy this one as well. The novel focuses on three teenagers, and the story is told from all three viewpoints of the characters. Two are sisters, Mei Yee, who was sold by their father for alcohol into forced prostitution in a brothel for the most notorious drug lord of the city, and the second sister, Jin, who bravely follows the truck that takes her sister away in hopes of and rescuing her sibling from her imprisonment. The third character, a teenage boy who is working undercover for the government and facing a prison term if he doesn't deliver the goods to them on Longwai's activities by New Years.

     Jin is living as one of the homeless street urchins, dressing as a boy to avoid detection and keep herself from being seen as a target.  She has been looking for her sister for the past few years when she is discovered by Dai, who needs assistance with infiltrating the Brotherhood of the Red Dragon, and goes with him to be a "runner", delivering drugs to contacts while Dai is held as insurance she will return. Dai has no idea that Jin is actually a girl, and thinks of Jin as an end to the means of getting evidence on Longwai. The first run is successful, and while not trusted yet, Dai and Jin are tentatively employed by Longwai. In the meantime, Dai starts looking for someone on the inside to help him gain information on where Longwai's records of drug dealing are located, and enlists Mei Yee to assist him, not knowing that she is Jin's sister. The novel builds to a final showdown by the deadline, when all three finally trust each other enough to work towards the same goal, bring down Longwai and gain freedom for them all.
     The novel illustrates the reality of the harsh life within the Walled City, and while the city no longer exists in Hong Kong, much of the criminal activity, such as human trafficking and the drug trade, still occurs across the country and world. The actual sex acts that take place in the novel are not detailed however, but are alluded to in a way that shouldn't be too lurid or intense for younger teenage readers.

The Walled City, Ryan Graudin, Little Brown and Company, New York. November 2014.
 ISBN 978-0-316-40505-8

Metamorphosis

     I just finished reading "It Was Me All Along" by Andie Mitchell, another galley I picked up randomly at the recent Book Expo in NYC.  The author grew up and went to school here in Massachusetts, the same as myself to my surprise, and it was especially interesting to learn that she went to college at a nearby university. She chronicles her journey from the time she was young to the present, and her stuggles with food and overeating. The brutal honesty in this novel is what really got to me, Andie doesn't pull any punches when describing in detail her childhood and the foods she would eat, throughout her years in college when she finally confronts her relationship with food and its effect on her life.

      After tipping the scales at 268 pounds, she has had enough and begins to take steps to change her life. She chronicles her plan to lose the weight and the new journey she is on to create her new self.  Realizing the relationship between eating and emotional anxiety was the key for her, and it is only by finally learning that food can be enjoyable and not a source of comfort does Andie comes to terms with her life with food. The descriptions of how much food she would eat daily, and what she would eat with her weight increasing each month was shocking to me, but it made me look at food differently after reading her story. As a reader I cheered for her when she begins her journey of reversing the weight gain, and the changes she makes in her life so that she can accomplish her goals. She gets to beyond her goal weight, and at the end of the novel is at 133 pounds.  However, Andie has to learn not just to change her relationship with food, but other relationships in her life as well.  Finding out who the real Andie is and what she wants in her life is also part of her journey. The only thing that would make this novel even more interesting would have been to add in a few before/after photos as while I could envision the differences, it might be difficult for some readers to recognize the changes in Andie without a visual illustration as well.

It Was Me All Along, Andie Mitchell, Clarkson Potter Publishers, NY.  February 2015, 
isbn 978-0-7704-3324-6

What If You Could Go Back?

     What if you could go back and relive a past experience? That was the theme here with this young adult book, however, I must add in here right away, this novel is also appropriate for adult readers, as the story definitely was intriguing to me as well. The novel is Belzhar, written by Meg Wolitzer.  Jam Gallahue is a teenager who is sent to a boarding school in Vermont after having a traumatic experience that makes her unable to cope with life and school at her home in New Jersey. The boarding school is an alternative school, where parents send their children when other methods of therapy haven't helped. There is no internet, cell phone coverage, and the school is miles away from any sort of town.

Jam soon learns that she is one of a few students who have been assigned to an exclusive class, an advanced English class where they only study one author for the entire semester. Along with the chosen author, Sylvia Plath, Jam and the four other students are assigned to write in a journal provided by their mysterious teacher. The five students soon learn that this journal is not what it seems to be, but when they begin writing in it, they are transported back to the time when their traumatic experience happens, and they can relive each moment of it. They name this place Belzhar, so that they can keep it a secret from the other students at the school when they talk about it in public, and when they travel there, they each gain new insights and how to work through their experiences. In Jam's case, a boy that she loved died, and she can't wait to return to Belzhar each week so that she can experience being with him again. Of course, it wouldn't be a young adult novel without a fellow student making Jam start to doubt her feelings for her lost love, and she is torn between her feelings in the present and those feelings of the past.  The students figure out that their time in Belzhar will only last as long as the journal pages last, and desperately try to resolve their feelings before that final visit. Each student has their own unique story that they need to work through, and Jam's story especially is one with a twist. The novel's theme was an interesting one, what if you could return to a point in your life and relive it? I know that I would revisit some particular times, and I am sure that others would as well. This is a great read that teens should enjoy, as well as adults.

Belzhar, Meg Wolitzer, Dutton Books, September 2014. Isbn 978-0-525-42305-8 

Eat, Pray, Books

     I just completed reading The Moment of Everything, by Shelly King and entitled this post "Eat, Pray, Books" simply because it reminds me of "Eat, Pray, Love" in a way. The main character of Maggie is on her own journey, after being let go from her high profile position at a Silicon Valley enterprise, and is struggling to pay the rent and figure out why her latest relationship failed. She spends her days after the layoff at her local used bookstore, owned by her landlord, trying to lose herself reading "bodice-ripper" romance novels. Add in a quirky gay best friend, who is still working for the company she was let go from, think Rupert Everett from the "My Best Friend's Wedding" flick here, and assorted other characters and this is a great read.  

        Maggie reluctantly at first joins a local book club, with the idea of schmoozing her way back into her old job. The first book assigned to read is "Lady Chatterley's Lover", and she attempts to read the particular version the club is required to read, until Hugo gives her an old worn copy that is in his bookstore to read. Maggie discovers messages written in the margins of the book, that two strangers were leaving for each other to read. Their story and messages quickly intrigues her, and soon it also intrigues the rest of the local population, when Maggie puts scanned pages of the book online. Everyone now wants to know who the two writers, Henry and Catherine are, and the sleepy little used bookstore suddenly becomes an internet and local sensation, with Maggie gamely attempting to make the business profitable. Add in a cranky resident cat, a co-worker who isn't happy with Maggie's intervention and spends much of his free time playing Dungeon's and Dragons and trying to sabotage Maggie's efforts to reorganize the bookstore's shelves, and of course, a new sexy love interest for Maggie, and this novel is a winner. Everyone wants to know who Henry and Catherine were, and how their particular love story played out, and the novel becomes like an old 80's movie, "Secret Admirer".  It kept me guessing for the entire novel, until the final end, as to who they were, and I honestly didn't see the ending coming. I'm not usually one for this type of novel, but it was immensely entertaining and when it finally ended, made me a bit sad that it was over. If you've ever grabbed a used book, found a previous reader's notes in the margins, and wondered who that reader was, you will enjoy this immensely. 

The Moment of Everything, Shelly King, Grand Central Publishing. September, 2014, isbn 978-1-4555-4679-4.                                                                                        

Politics, Press, and Power

    I just finished reading The Means by Douglas Brunt. The novel is touted as "Part Primary Colors, part House of Cards" and I think that is a pretty accurate description of the novel.

      The story takes the reader from the beginnings of one main character's rise through the political ranks, to another's decline, and a third character who gets involved with both by the novel's conclusion. Tom Pauley is an attorney who begins a run for the position of governor of his state, while Mitchell Mason is at the top of the political game as the President. Samantha Davis is a former child-actor who after a career in law, becomes a journalist at a popular network, eventually becoming the "go-to" top reporter of political events.  All three are manipulated, used, and pushed by others to affect political events, from debates to elections. I liked this story especially, as it gives insights into the political process that are usually "behind the curtain", and how powerful individuals can help to make or break a political career. The reader gets to travel with the three main characters, from college campus "stumping" to the backstage and camera rooms of news broadcasts, to inside the White House itself.  All the things you would expect of a novel about politics are present in this novel,  everything from trying to hide campaign donations creatively, affairs and scandals that could make or break a political career, to the intensity of pressure on the press to get the lead on a story or put out what the political side wants. By the end, all three characters are front and center in the spotlight with a political scandal that affects all of them, and without giving away too much of the story, I thought the conclusion was pretty much what I had expected it to be, with one exception. The very last couple of paragraphs threw me for a loop, and I had to then rethink about everything I had read previously-making me view the story in a different light. I would be interested to read more of this author in the future, and am planning on going back to read his earlier novel, Ghosts of Manhattan

The Means, Douglas Brunt; Touchstone, September 2014. Isbn 978-1-4767-7257-8 
   

A Modern Seven Wonders of the World-Adventure

    The latest novel by Ben Mezrich, Seven Wonders, departs from his usual style genre and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Mezrich, who you might know as the author of such titles as Bringing Down the House, the story of the MIT students who played blackjack in Las Vegas with incredible results, or The Accidental Billionaires, the story of how Facebook was founded.  His latest novel is simliar to the styles of writers such as Matthew Reilly, Dan Brown, and Brad Meltzer with regards to long ago treasures, secrets, and history.                                                                            

        Jack and Jeremy are twins, both estranged by their different personalities. Jeremy is a math whiz, and comfortable with his own world, while Jack is more of an adventurer, traveling the globe in search of lost civilizations and mysteries. When Jeremy stumbles on clues to the location of the Garden of Eden, he is murdered by a shadowy group who want to keep it a secret. Luckily he leaves a clue for his brother to find, and Jack is off traveling the globe to the "newer" seven wonders of the world to solve the clues to locate the origins of life as we know it. Along the way, he meets Sloane, a woman who is in possession of one of the clues and who tracks him down for his expertise on lost civilizations to help solve the puzzle. They wind up traveling to all parts of the world from Chichen Itza to the Great Wall of China to locate the rest of the clues together, dodging attacks by a mystery organization who wants to find the Garden first.  
     This novel is a fast paced read, and every one of the locations contains a booby trap or some sort of peril, leaving you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen to the adventurers next. If you liked the DaVinci Code, or have a little bit of Indiana Jones in you, this novel will appeal to you as a reader.                                    

Seven Wonders, Ben Mezrich, Running Press. September 2014. Isbn 978-0-7624-5382-5                                                                        

People in your Head

   Two books that I just finished recently had very similar themes, but were definitely different in the details. 

Both of these books however, involved having someone else in the main character's head. Confused? Let me explain.

    The first novel, "The Lives of Tao" by Wesley Chu, was a book that I randomly picked up at the recent Book Expo in New York last week. It was a small hardcover book and to be honest, I figured that it would easily go into my suitcase along with the other books I was bringing home, and that is the main reason that I snagged it in the first place.                          

                   Tao is part of an alien race, called the Quasing, that unfortunately crash landed thousands of years ago on Earth, and their goal is to try to someday get off-planet and return home. What kind of alien is Tao and his race? Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers here, but not quite as dramatic. While the Quasing do have to attach themselves to host bodies here on Earth, it is a symbiotic relationship between them and humankind for the most part. They have the ability to interact with their hosts while in their bodies, and the ability to control some of their functions. They can hear every thought their human host has, and can see/hear/sense what they see, but can't control what they actually do physically unless asleep. Unfortunately for Tao, his most recent human host, Edward,  is killed in the first chapter of the novel, and Tao is forced to join with the nearest available host or face permanent "dissolving", and the new host is not an ideal specimen of the human race. Roen is an overweight, aging, unsatistifed with life IT technician. Tao has no choice but to make him his new host , and Roen soon learns that he is not alone in his head.  The Quasing split into two factions centuries before, Tao's faction, the Prophus,  the other faction being the Genjix, and the two factions certainly don't get along.  Tao has no choice but to attempt to educate and train Roen to the Prophus cause, as the Genjix are after Tao, and thus after Roen.  His training begins almost immediately, from excercise to weapons training.  Tao educates Roen along the way, and explains how he has influenced humanity from his previous symbiotic hosts throughout history. Genghis Khan anyone? 

     Roen has no choice but to become active in the battle against the Genjix, and it all comes to a showdown when the Genjix capture a love interest of Roen's, Jill.  Roen, with Tao's help, manages to win a major battle with the Genjix, and as a result, the Genjix are forced to retreat and regroup.    

     The novel was at times humorous, but not quite laugh-out-loud for me. It did make me think about how much of our world's history could be a result of alien influence, but it took me about half way through reading it to really get into the story. There is a second novel out, The Deaths of Tao, and it will be interesting to see what Roen and Tao get up to in the future. 

   The Lives of Tao, Wesley Chu. Angry Robot. 2013. Isbn 978-0-606-35350-2

      The second book involving people in your head was by W. Bruce Cameron, The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man.  No alien life forms here, just the deceased type.  Ruddy McCann is a repo man in Michigan who begins to hear a voice talking to him.  At first he is convinced he has "Repo Madness" but it turns out this voice in his head belongs to Alan Lottner, who was murdered in a nearby town eight years ago. Neither one is sure why they are able to talk to each other at first, but Ruddy realizes that the circumstances of Alan's murder matches a vivid dream he recently had. Alan can see and hear everything that Ruddy does, but can't hear his thoughts, causing Ruddy to have to keep quiet his conversations with Alan lest his friends and family think he is going crazy. To make it even more interesting, Ruddy also realizes that the girl he helped on the side of the road when her car broke down is Alan's daughter. Try going on a date with a girl when her father is in your head yelling at you to leave her alone! Ruddy starts looking into the circumstances of Alan's murder, trying to figure out why he is in Ruddy's head, and learns what happened, getting into trouble with the local police along the way when suspicion turns towards him as a suspect in the unsolved case. Adding into the mix is assorted characters in Ruddy's life, his sister struggling to save the family's bar, a naive friend Jimmy who keeps cashing mysterious checks that bounce at the bank, to Kermit, his boss's nephew who winds up getting Ruddy into predicaments during repo's.  The novel's character of  Einstein Croft, ingenious in keeping Ruddy from being able to repo his truck, along with toting a rifle and keeping a goose as an intruder alert at home, is an added bonus. 

   

      Eventually, Ruddy starts to figure out the circumstances of Alan's murder, while getting arrested, polygraphed, shot at, and almost drowned in the process. Alan helps to solve the mystery as well, along with making Ruddy get back into shape by running and working out at night during his sleep, as well as cleaning his bachelor pad and making Ruddy think that his sister did it for him.  Add in a subplot of his sister's plan to save the bar business by teaming up with Kermit to use the bar's credit card machine to swipe and charge customers for a pay-for-phone-sex line, and this novel is an entertaining read. I was able to learn some tricks that repo-men use, as well as some tricks to stop repo-men from being able to take possession of a vehicle in the middle of the night. An enjoyable read, with plenty of laugh-out-loud funny parts.

The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man, W. Bruce Cameron, Forge. Oct 2014. Isbn 978-0-7653-7748-7