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| What are you talking about today, Dad? |
Just Finished
"I've read many books by science fiction author Philip K. Dick over the years. The Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Dr. Bloodmoney or How We Got Along after the Bomb and The Crack in Space were all excellent, quite different stories. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said was published in 1970 and was one of his last books.
While it was an entertaining read, I don't think it was one of his best books. Basically, Jason Taverner, a media star wakes up one day and discovers that he no longer exists in any records or is not recognized or known by anyone. Now Jason must find out why this happened and how he can get back into reality. It's an interesting journey and the description of this world is fascinating. Taverner is a 'six', although this isn't explained too much.
We meet some interesting people in this journey, especially Kathy, the expert on forging documents, Police General Buckman and others. This is a police state or world but once again, while things are hinted and intimated at, we don't get lots of details. I think that was my biggest problem with this story. There was so much potential but it seemed that Dick kind of was going through the motions. I still enjoyed it but wanted more. (3 stars)"
"You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming is the 12th book in the James Bond series and follows the story where Ernst Stavro Blofeld has Bond's new wife (of one day) murdered. Bond has lost interest in his job, arrives late, has had some unsuccessful missions, drinks and smokes too much. M is concerned about his top agent and is considering making Bond retire. Bond's secretary, Mary Goodnight, doesn't know what to do. She despairs for Bond.
M decides to give Bond one last mission of great importance to try to awaken Bond's interest in his work and to hopefully rekindle his desires. He is sent to Japan on a diplomatic mission, working out of the Australian embassy and trying to get Japan, in the guise of their top spy master Tiger Tanaka, to work with England in providing useful information. Tanaka asks Bond to undertake a mission for Japan to earn this information.
The mission is to kill a Swiss scientist who has bought land on a remote Japanese island that he has turned into a garden of suicide. Japan is in a quandary, the island has been transplanted with rare plants (all poisonous) that Japanese scientists wish to study but it has also become a location that is becoming dangerously popular with Japanese people who wish to commit suicide. One of Tanaka's agents has been found murdered in excruciating circumstances. Bond agrees to take on the challenge to kill the man, one Guntram Shatterhand, and if necessary his wife.
The story is slow building with all of the action focused on the last chapters. The story develops as Bond works to create a relationship with Tanaka, undergoes training with Japanese spies and moves along to the island next to Shatterhand's, where he meets pearl diver Kissy Suzuki, with whom he develops a strong bond.
It's a different Bond story, more character driven and with the action building to a crescendo at the end. Interesting and somewhat different, with a fascinating look at Japanese life in the '60s. I've two Bond books to read now. It's been excellent delving into this series again. (3.5 stars)"
Just Started
"Horatio Hornblower, now Admiral, sails over seas as challenging as any in his victorious career. As admiral in charge of His Britannic Majesty's West Indies Station he is as gallant, daring, implosive as ever. In this tense time after Napoleon's defeat, all kinds of vagabonds, revolutionaries, Imperial Guards. and pirates come sailing into the waters where Hornblower is working his small contingent of naval vessels to preserve the peace and eliminate piracy. With intrepid daring and brilliant strategies, Hornblower wins his victories. With this series of adventures, Volume 11, Hornblower's professional life as a British naval officer reaches its climax, not in a battle against men, but against nature. Here the inner Hornblower shows his colors."
New Books
I forgot to mention that one book arrived in the mail on Friday, the last book in the Modesty Blaise adventure series.
"Created in a 1950s comic strip that is still in syndication in more than 40 countries today, the stories of Modesty Blaise have spawned a cult following around the world. These are the first new Modesty stories in 11 years, and they span her career, from the early days of running the Network, to her shadowy work for British Intelligence. From Tangier, to the Pyrenees, to a South American jungle—Modesty and her trusted lieutenant Willie Garvin dispatch an old nemesis, upset a particularly wicked gang of kidnappers, and risk their lives to rescue old friends from certain death. The skill and nerve that Modesty and her accomplices display in combat and under pressure will delight Modesty fans, both new and old."
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| Here are some mysteries you can talk about. |
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| Vince Flynn |
"This is exactly what it was billed to be, an action-packed political / terrorist thriller. This is my first Vince Flynn thriller and it was very enjoyable. Mitch Rapp is a CIA hit man who finds himself inserted into the White House when it is taken over by Arab terrorists. I initially thought the story would be too long at 549 pages but it moved along at an excellent pace and was an excellent page-turner. The cast of characters were interesting, starting with Rapp and his assistant, retired White House employee, Milt Adams and new White House reporter, Anna Reilly. The terrorists were suitably evil that they made me quite angry at times. All in all it was a most entertaining, action-filled story to end 2015 on. I will probably read more of the Mitch Rapp series. (3 stars)"
"When diplomacy fails and military intervention is inappropriate, our leaders sometimes take the third option.…Mitch Rapp has been assigned just such an “unofficial” task, targeting a German industrialist who is supplying a notorious terror sponsor. But when the mission is dangerously compromised, Rapp realizes he’s been deemed an expendable asset in a power battle on home turf: the choice of Dr. Irene Kennedy as successor to dying CIA director Thomas Stansfield has many detractors, some who will resort to extreme measures to prevent her from taking the reins. But no one counted on Mitch Rapp’s return…or how far he’ll go to find out who set him up."
"CIA intelligence has pointed to a major terrorist attack on the United States, just as the nation's capital prepares for a grand Memorial Day tribute to the veterans of World War II. Racing to Afghanistan, Mitch Rapp leads a commando raid on an al Queda stronghold in a remote border village—and defuses plans for a nuclear strike on Washington. The crisis averted, the special ops work is done. But Rapp knows, in the face of a new kind of enemy, nothing is as it seems—and it's up to him alone to avert a disaster of unimaginable proportions."
The complete list of the Mitch Rapp series can be found here.
So there you go. I hope you have a great week and take some time to relax with a good book.
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