I finished one book yesterday, a one-day read. Quite interesting. I haven't started any more yet as I've still got 4 on the go. Yesterday I went out to get Jo some treats and me some beer.. :0) And while I was out I stopped at 2nd Page Books in Courtenay as it had been awhile since my last visit. I found four books. So besides that update, I'll also get back to my Author's A - Z, from my Goodreads bookshelves.
Just Finished
"I will qualify this by saying that I don't like the current President and that I am one who enjoys watching MSNBC and I think Katie Tur is a very good reporter and anchor. With that out of the way, feel free to either read or disregard this review.
I got this book as an anniversary present from my wife. It arrived yesterday. I thought I'd give it a go right away and am so glad that I did. Whether you like or don't like Trump, the book is a fascinating look at a presidential campaign, the pace and the breathlessness and fatigue of the whole thing for those trying to cover it. Compounding the pace, the reporters also must deal with the anger that Trump feels towards those reporting on him and the causal effect his anger has on those at his rallies; that anger and hatred that is opened up in these people.
Katie Tur was working as a foreign correspondent for NBC, working out of London and spending time in Paris with her boyfriend when she was tapped to cover Trump's first rally in New Hampshire. From that point on, her life changed as she ended up being one of the longest serving members of that group (if not the longest) who followed Trump from rally to rally, debate to debate, until the ultimate night of the actual election.
While the major events of that election campaign are used as focus points for each chapter, what we have is a look at the rallies, the coverage, the sometimes competition between reporters to be the one who breaks the 'big' story. We also see tidbits of Katie's life, her relationships, her childhood, quite fascinating in itself. We see Trump's interaction with reporters, his calling out Katie on more than one occasion, the intimidation which she and other reporters are forced to experience.
She is an excellent writer. The story is presented from the perspective of the campaign trail (with Trump's run for the Republican nomination and then his successful run for President) interspersed with the final day of the campaign, the election day and night from the Trump campaign headquarters. I read the book in one day. It had a sort of breathless quality to it, an ongoing voyage through this campaign to the end, fascinating little stories. You almost feel you are there as Katie and her producer, Anthony, travel from hotel to hotel, from rally to rally, sharing the experience with them.
The whole story brought back many feelings I had during this campaign, one that I had been drawn to and now have continued to follow, with both anger and depression, during the course of 45's presidency. However, that didn't stop me from enjoying the story immensely. It offers such a neat, interesting perspective on the campaign. Well worth reading. (4 stars)"
New Books
"Contains four short novels (or novellas): Death of a Huntsman; Night Run to the West; Summer in Salandar; and The Queen of Spain Fritillary. All four deal with love relationships, and every one ends unhappily. Bates's mastery of characterization, atmosphere and style are very much in evidence."
"A defense investigator working out of Sitka, in the Alaskan coastal archipelago, Cecil Younger walks a narrow line between the truth and what his clients pay him to find… The Music of What Happens.
Younger's got the child custody case from hell, and a client to match. Shrill, confrontational, and obsessed, Priscilla DeAngelo is sure her ex is conspiring with a state senator to wrest her son from her. When she storms off to Juneau for a showdown, Younger's custody case swiftly turns into a murder. Fired from her defense team, Younger stays with the investigation. He's not sure what keeps him bulldogging the case—Priscilla's sister, his lost love; his regard for truth as a rare commodity; or the head injury Priscilla's ex gave him—but he won't let go until it's solved.
But this time, the truth is less likely to set him free than to get him killed…"
"A private investigator working out of Sitka, in the Alaskan coastal archipelago, Cecil Younger walks a narrow line between the truth and what his clients pay him to find…
Cecil Younger is a man who takes comfort in the absurdity of the universe. And the universe is obliging him, with a joint phone call from his lawyer and his shrink, to convey a job offer from another client: all Cecil has to do is kill a man.
Though common sense tells him murder just isn't a good career move, his finances tell him it can't hurt to meet his potential client. The decision will lead Cecil from a pathetic small-time murder to a decades-old slaughter that is still reaching into the present—and its dark and chilly grasp may extend to Cecil Younger himself…"
"The Fawcett Green bell-ringers aren’t particularly surprised when Simone Hollingsworth fails to turn up at practice. Her fellow campanologists just assume that bell ringing has become the latest in a long list of abandoned hobbies.
But then the increasingly strange behavior of Simone’s husband, Alan, begins to raise neighborly suspicions about her whereabouts. And when the discovery of a body draws Chief Inspector Barnaby to the village, it becomes clear that unravelling the couple's tangled lives will have painful repercussions for the whole village..."
Bill's Continuing Author A - Z
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| Jeffery Deaver |
"This is the 7th book in the Lincoln Rhymes/ Amelia Sachs series. It's long, a convoluted story with many twists and turns and surprises, but it's so very enjoyable. Suspend disbelief and just enjoy. This story also brings in Kathryn Dance a kinesic specialist, one who specializes in gathering information from interviewing suspects and witnesses. Kathryn is in New York for a police conference (she works for the California Bureau of Investigation) and is invited by Rhymes' police link, Lon Selitto, to assist in the case of trying to find the Clockmaker and to ascertain what he is actually trying to do.
Sachs also finds herself involved in a separate police investigation that might involve crooked cops and information she gathers during this investigation leads her to question whether she wants to continue as a police officer. Add to the mix new crime scene officer, Pulaski and you've got an action - filled, excellent story. Are Rhymes and Sachs too good to be true? Who cares. It's all good stuff. (4 stars)"
"When their school bus is hijacked by three ruthless prison escapees, the lives of eight deaf girls and their teacher are at stake, as the ringleader of the men threatens to kill one girl an hour until his demands are met."
I rated this one 5 stars. An excellent thriller.
"I've read many Jeffery thrillers and have for the most part enjoyed them very much. This is the first in the Kathryn Dance series. Dance works for the California Bureau of Investigation, a specialist in kinesics, ability to read people basically. She is called in to interrogate a serial killer who has been recalled from his prison cell, to answer to new murder charges.
Pell, the criminal, escapes from his cell and this leads to a manhunt, with Dance, her partner and an FBI agent, Winston Kellogg, leading the chase. They bring in 3 women who were part of Pell's 'family' to help them in their search for Pell, a cunning, dangerous opponent. The CBI team always seem to be 5 paces behind Pell and the bodies mount up. There are all sorts of twists and turns and surprises. It's not my favourite Deaver book, but it was still an entertaining story and a bit of a thrill ride. Worth checking out. (3.5 stars)"
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| Len Deighton |
"Len Deighton’s classic first novel, whose protagonist is a nameless spy – later christened Harry Palmer and made famous worldwide in the iconic 1960s film starring Michael Caine.
The Ipcress File was not only Len Deighton’s first novel, it was his first bestseller and the book that broke the mold of thriller writing.
For the working class narrator, an apparently straightforward mission to find a missing biochemist becomes a journey to the heart of a dark and deadly conspiracy.
The film of The Ipcress File gave Michael Caine one of his first and still most celebrated starring roles, while the novel itself has become a classic."
"I enjoyed this story. In some aspects, I had no idea what was going on, but at the same time, it didn't matter. This is a Cold War spy mystery, that meanders along to its ending but is so well-written, that it was a pleasure to read. The basic premise is that the main character, Harry Salzman, a British operative, is in Berlin trying to arrange for the smuggling of a British scientist from the East through the Berlin wall back to the West.
But that is the story at its simplest. The tale wanders from London to Berlin, east and west, to Czechoslovakia and France and contains a cast of characters, from Salzman to his capable assistant (one of my favourite characters even if she is only rarely in it), Jean, to his boss, Dawlish, the Russian, Stok, etc that you love meeting and enjoy the interactions. Each chapter discusses the rules of chess and various plays and moves and ultimately, this is the crux of the story, a chess game with players feinting and moving across the board until the end. And who will win the game? You have to read Funeral in Berlin. Enjoy! (4 stars)"
"US Secret Service high-up Colonel Mann is the main foil to the British agent in this story, which is set in the Arab world and the wastes of the north African Sahara desert, where our hero is sent to take custody of a defecting Russian scientist, Professor Bekuv. The narrator is unnamed.
Things don’t go according to plan in this story. Loyalty is tested and never certain, as it becomes unclear as the novel develops who is actually chasing whom, and where the threat is coming from." (4 stars)
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| Lester del Rey |
"He was PRTSAC: Permanent Resident Through a Special Act of Congress. A set of initials, a title unique in history. And a human being -- the most homesick human being in history. Fred Hunter was the permanent resident of the space station...the doughnut...because a hideous accident had rendered him physically incapable of returning to Earth. For ten years he sweated it out, while others came and went on tours of duty only a few months long. For ten years he stayed sane, while space gnawed at the minds of his companions.
Then came the invaders, the strange beings who seemed to be not men, not beasts, not machines. Fred Hunter knew he must face them alone...and what could one crippled man do against their might?"
"From back of book: "A Plague on Ganymede. When his father's sudden illness stranded the Wilsons in the tiny human colony on Jupiter's moon, Bob gave up his plans for college and joined the colonists in their struggle against the brutal environment of Ganymede.
The challenges, the comradeship he found, and the awe-inspiring spectacle of Jupiter filling the sky—all exhilarated Bob far beyond his expectations. So did his investigation of the major mystery behind the strange globe that was hidden out in the hills and that seemed to be trying to communicate with the colony.
Before he could find the answer, a plague struck and crippled the colony. Then enraged and fearful colonists accused Bob of being the carrier!"
"Following a nuclear exchange which destroyed the Vatican, a new pontiff was elected by American Cardinals. When Europe also elected a Pope, Americans split from the Old World in a schism establishing the priority of an 11th commandment: "Ten were given to Moses, for the Hebrews, & our Lord entrusted us to observe them. But what we call the 11th—it should be called the Original—was given by God the Father to the entire human race thru Adam, to whom He said, 'Be fruitful & multiply & replenish the earth.' It was the foundation of our accomplishments."
These principles found fertile ground in a decimated land. To Boyd Jensen, Mars colony immigrant, the culture is frightening. Four billion live in N. America, a billion in S. America. Most are American Catholic. Contraception is illegal. Boyd's profession, biologic research, is restricted to priests. Poverty is commonplace among the laity, practically unknown in the clergy. In addition to mass misery, mutations & plagues are everywhere. Boyd learns he's not allowed to return to Mars, as he's been exposed to Earth diseases. There's a hint his DNA is damaged, that he was tricked into coming to Earth to remove him from Mars' gene pool.
Boyd believes he'll survive without subscribing to the state religion. He wears an unobtrusive patch to keep him sterile; he isn't the type to succumb to the bleeding disease; he's more valuable training in cytology than many priests. He hasn't reckoned with two things, however. 1st, at a higher gravity than Mars', the contraceptive is ineffective. Boyd impregnates a woman. Her baby is taken by the Church to be raised in a special facility. Boyd is determined to help rescue it. 2nd, the Church knows more than admitted about the extent of the mutations. The 11th Commandment may be the only thing guaranteeing human survival."
Is it really the future?? Interesting.
So there you go. Time for me to take the dogs for a walk in the rain. They'll love it! Enjoy your Sunday and have a great week.
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