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| The view from our office window |
So, let's see. This morning before I went out, I finished an excellent book. I'll provide you my review, also the synopsis of the next book I'm starting. I'll also continue with my look at the Spy / Thriller novel.
Just Finished
"Laura by Vera Caspary is a classic of the noir genre. Originally published in 1942, it was also turned into a successful movie in 1944, starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb and Vincent Price.
The premise is that Laura Hunt, a successful ad executive, is found dead in her apartment, killed by a shotgun blast. Det Lt Mark McPherson is assigned the case. His investigation will bring hm into contact with author / newspaper columnist, Waldo Lydecker and Laura's fiance, Shelby Carpenter. The other main characters are Laura's aunt, Ann Treadwell, and her maid, Bessie.
The story is told from 3 perspectives, in a similar format to Wilkie Collins' Moonstone. It starts off being told from Waldo Lydecker's perspective, as the investigation commences. Lydecker is a strange, interesting character. He obviously loves Laura and has been her best friend for a number of years. He attaches himself to McPherson, providing input into the various other personalities. McPherson seems to like him.
As we move into Part 2, McPherson takes over the narrative. He obviously has developed an attraction to Laura, spending considerable time at her apartment, getting a feel for her. It's difficult to say that there is a lot of investigating going on, but McPherson has his suspicions.
At the end of this section, a development you don't expect occurs. The narrator of the 3rd portion... well, I'll stop there as it's a neat twist and the remainder of the story moves along neatly and at a nice pace with some nice developments. Overall, it's a fascinating story, told in a thoughtful, intelligent manner. The story was excellent and the ending was satisfactory and neatly resolved. Most enjoyable. (4.5 stars)"
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| Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews |
Currently Reading
"Hollywood, 1945. Ben Collier has just arrived from war-torn Europe to find his brother has died in mysterious circumstances. Why would a man with a beautiful wife, a successful movie career, and a heroic past choose to kill himself?
Ben enters the uneasy world beneath the glossy shine of the movie business, where politics and the dream factories collide and Communist witch hunts are rendering the biggest star makers vulnerable. Even here, where the devastation of Europe seems no more real than a painted movie set, the war casts long and dangerous shadows. When Ben learns troubling facts about his own family’s past and embarks on a love affair that never should have happened, he is caught in a web of deception that shakes his moral foundation to its core"
The Spy / Thriller Novel - Joseph Kanon
1. Joseph Kanon. I think it's appropriate that I talk about Kanon with this entry as I'm about to start my second book by him. I have previously read one of Kanon's books and have two more on my book shelf. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1946 and since 1997 he has written 9 novels, specializing in spy / thriller novels set just after WWII.
"I enjoyed my first attempt at the work of Joseph Kanon. It was an excellent post-WWII spy novel. The setting was Istanbul and appropriately exotic. The city becomes another character in this story. The main character, Leon Bauer, is an American exporter, working for Reynolds Cigarettes. He also gets involved occasionally working for the local American spy guy, Tommy. His last mission goes awry, to help smuggle a potential war criminal into the city and pass him to the Americans. His handler is killed and Leon now finds himself in the position of trying to sort out the mess. Who is the traitor, why was Tommy killed and more?
Leon is an excellent character, torn between giving up Alexei or helping him. The book contains an excellent cast of characters, Leon; his friend Mihai, who is working to try and help Jews get to the Palestine and also helping Leon; and three strong female characters; Kay, Lily and Marina, each with their own unique strengths. The spy craft and how Leon tries to get around both American and Russian intelligence and Turkish intelligence, in the person of Altan, another excellent, pragmatic character, makes for a taut, exciting story. I look forward to trying more Joseph Kanon books; Stardust currently sits on my bookshelf. (4 stars)"
"Berlin, 1948. Almost four years after the war’s end, the city is still in ruins, a physical wasteland and a political symbol about to rupture. In the West, a defiant, blockaded city is barely surviving on airlifted supplies; in the East, the heady early days of political reconstruction are being undermined by the murky compromises of the Cold War. Espionage, like the black market, is a fact of life. Even culture has become a battleground, with German intellectuals being lured back from exile to add credibility to the competing sectors.
Alex Meier, a young Jewish writer, fled the Nazis for America before the war. But the politics of his youth have now put him in the cross-hairs of the McCarthy witch-hunts. Faced with deportation and the loss of his family, he makes a desperate bargain with the fledgling CIA: he will earn his way back to America by acting as their agent in his native Berlin. But almost from the start things go fatally wrong. A kidnapping misfires, an East German agent is killed, and Alex finds himself a wanted man. Worse, he discovers his real assignment — to spy on the woman he left behind, the only woman he has ever loved. Changing sides in Berlin is as easy as crossing a sector border. But where do we draw the lines of our moral boundaries? At betrayal? Survival? Murder?"
The complete listing of Kanon's books can be found at this link.
Happy Mother's Day to everyone who is celebrating tomorrow. Have a wonderful day. 💖
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