Paperback 2009. 543 pages.
South Amboy, NJ
I read this book while I was in Hong Kong and enjoyed it. Evidently Child has written a series of crime novels based on the character Jack Reacher, and this is one of them.
Both a politician (John Sansom) and a group from Afghanistan (represented by a team headed by two women) attempt to obtain information about Sansom when he visited the country. The reason why Sansom wanted the comprising information is clear enough, but we do not get a satisfactory explanation on the motivation of the other team.
Reacher's involvement started when he witnessed the suicide of Susan Mark who stole the information from government archives because her son was kidnapped and held hostage. He got the help of a couple of detectives and Susan's brother Jacob Mark but had everything else stacked against him.
The story is mostly believable (if you call one against twenty or so - and coming out on top - believable) and the plot moves along nicely.
One of the better novels in this genre I have read.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen
Paperback 2007. 429 pages
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
The book's premise is this breed of Watchers who are out to do evil. The Mephisto Club consists of a group of people set on destroying these people. There are quite a few gruesome murders, the requisite suspense, and (alas) the not so satisfying ending. In any case, the group is compromised as it is infiltrated by a Watcher.
I am writing this a couple of weeks after I finished the book and am embarrassed to say I don't remember too many specifics. Which is the nature of these reads, I guess.
I do remember enjoying it, though.
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
The book's premise is this breed of Watchers who are out to do evil. The Mephisto Club consists of a group of people set on destroying these people. There are quite a few gruesome murders, the requisite suspense, and (alas) the not so satisfying ending. In any case, the group is compromised as it is infiltrated by a Watcher.
I am writing this a couple of weeks after I finished the book and am embarrassed to say I don't remember too many specifics. Which is the nature of these reads, I guess.
I do remember enjoying it, though.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Cross Country by James Patterson
Paperback 2008, 403 pages
Somerville, MA. May 2, 2010.
In this novel Alex Cross was involved in pursuing a vicious gang of teenagers led by someone with the nickname "Tiger" who first murdered his friend Ellie Cox and eventually kidnapped his family. Turns out Cox was a journalist who learned from a Nigerian journalist Adanne Tansi a plot by a couple of rogue CIA agents who work with various countries to destabilize Nigeria. The gang consisted of Janjaweed militia who also killed for hire. Cross traveled to Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Sudan, and in so doing saw a lot of suffering by the various African people and the cruelty of some. After many misadventures starting with his first three days after landing at the Lagos airport and many near-death encounters with various bad guys, he headed back to Washington DC just as his family was being kidnapped. He eventually killed the Tiger and one of the rogue agents, and got the other arrested, and his family miraculously survived the ordeal.
The plot just stretches credibility beyond the breaking point. It's difficult to imagine why Cross didn't die as he was up against the militia, gangs, corrupt police, fake clergyman, and rogue CIA agents. These people would kill anyone in their way without hesitation but would spare Cross's life. I don't know what drove Patterson to this level of suffering and violence, one possible reason is he needed a forum to tell the world how bad things are in parts of Africa. On that point he succeeded: despite his many statements that many people are kind and helpful, I am sure many after reading this novel would hesitate to visit those parts of Africa. And the violence was very graphic, bordering on gratuitous. So perhaps good intentions, but the result may not be quite what he intended.
One thing about Cross that I didn't know, though, is that he is African-American. And we know that because people in Africa called him "A White Man". I am quite sure this was used in a movie (and probably the corresponding book) about how American Indians treated a black soldier.
This book is better than most (if not all) of the other Patterson books I have read. Probably the high marks as a fantasy overcome the low marks as a detective story.
Somerville, MA. May 2, 2010.
In this novel Alex Cross was involved in pursuing a vicious gang of teenagers led by someone with the nickname "Tiger" who first murdered his friend Ellie Cox and eventually kidnapped his family. Turns out Cox was a journalist who learned from a Nigerian journalist Adanne Tansi a plot by a couple of rogue CIA agents who work with various countries to destabilize Nigeria. The gang consisted of Janjaweed militia who also killed for hire. Cross traveled to Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Sudan, and in so doing saw a lot of suffering by the various African people and the cruelty of some. After many misadventures starting with his first three days after landing at the Lagos airport and many near-death encounters with various bad guys, he headed back to Washington DC just as his family was being kidnapped. He eventually killed the Tiger and one of the rogue agents, and got the other arrested, and his family miraculously survived the ordeal.
The plot just stretches credibility beyond the breaking point. It's difficult to imagine why Cross didn't die as he was up against the militia, gangs, corrupt police, fake clergyman, and rogue CIA agents. These people would kill anyone in their way without hesitation but would spare Cross's life. I don't know what drove Patterson to this level of suffering and violence, one possible reason is he needed a forum to tell the world how bad things are in parts of Africa. On that point he succeeded: despite his many statements that many people are kind and helpful, I am sure many after reading this novel would hesitate to visit those parts of Africa. And the violence was very graphic, bordering on gratuitous. So perhaps good intentions, but the result may not be quite what he intended.
One thing about Cross that I didn't know, though, is that he is African-American. And we know that because people in Africa called him "A White Man". I am quite sure this was used in a movie (and probably the corresponding book) about how American Indians treated a black soldier.
This book is better than most (if not all) of the other Patterson books I have read. Probably the high marks as a fantasy overcome the low marks as a detective story.
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