Starting off the Week with a Reading Update and with My Last Spy / Thriller Post

Here it is, another Monday. I can hear a helicopter from the base flying overhead. The dogs are asleep, Jo is watching Perry Mason. I'm going to provide a review of a book I finished yesterday, only my second book completed in July. I'll also provide the synopsis of its replacement. And, finally my last post on my ongoing look at the Spy / Thriller genre.

Just Finished

1. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015).

"I read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins almost immediately after finally seeing the excellent movie based on the book. The movie was quite faithful to the book, other than a location change and some minor differences and both were excellent.

Rachel is a troubled woman dealing with past tragedies. Every day she travels down London, past the home she had tried to make with Tom. Tom is now happily married to Anna and unlike with his marriage to Rachel, he's been able to start a family with her. This adds to Rachel's distress. The train always stops at a crossing beside a house just down the road from Rachel's and a couple who live there attract her attention and turn into a private fantasy of the perfect couple. 

Rachel's problems are compounded by her severe drinking issues, which cloud her judgment, add to her fantasies (hurt by blackouts) and are affecting her everyday life. One day she sees Jess (as she calls the woman of her fantasy couple) kissing another man. Angered by this perceived unfaithfulness, she leaves the train to confront 'Jess'. This begins a series of events that will further traumatize Rachel and lead to a tension filled final confrontation.

The story is told by three people; Rachel (the main protagonist), Megan (the real name of Jess), her story told more from the past, and Anna (Tom's wife), who feels persecuted by the constant attentions from Rachel. It's difficult to sympathize with any of the people at times as all of them have their own problems and issues. Rachel lives in the past and can't get over them. Megan is bored and frustrated with her life, tired at times with her marriage to Scott, and just struggling. Anna is the marriage - breaker, proud of her affair with Tom but also troubled by her husband.

The story moves along nicely though. It's got lots of tension and it's interesting watching Rachel trying to discover what really happened, trying to bring some reason / purpose into her life as she struggles with her private / personal demons. I'm sure you'll enjoy either or both the book and movie. It's a testament to Hawkins' writing that even though I knew what was going to happen, I still enjoyed this book immensely. (4.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell (2019). My neighbor gave this to me. Looks interesting.

"Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers -- and why they often go wrong.

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true?

While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you'll hear the voices of people he interviewed--scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There's even a theme song - Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout."

Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world."

The Spy / Thriller Novel - Brad Thor

Brad Thor

In my last look at the Spy / Thriller genre, I'll be looking at the books of Bradley George Thor, Jr. While Thor is a new author for me, he's bee writing thrillers, mainly featuring Scott Harvath, since 2002. He has written 19 Scott Harvath books and one in the Athena Project series. Thor was born in Chicago in 1969. I have the first book in his Harvath series and another one as well. Let's look at those.

1. The Lions of Lucerne (2002).

"On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the President of the United States has been kidnapped and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived—ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn’t buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are behind the attack and begins his own campaign to find the truth and exact revenge. But now, framed for murder by a sinister cabal, Harvath takes his fight to the towering mountains of Switzerland—and joins forces with beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney’s Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus—where their only chance for survival lies inside the den of the most lethal team of professional killers the world has ever known…"

2. Use of Force (#16 / 2017)

"As a storm rages across the Mediterranean Sea, a terrifying distress call is made to the Italian Coast Guard. Days later, a body washes ashore.

Identified as a high value terrorism suspect (who had disappeared three years prior), his name sends panic through the Central Intelligence Agency.

Where was he headed? What was he planning? And could he be connected to the “spectacular attack” they have been fearing all summer?

In a race against time, the CIA taps an unorthodox source to get answers: Navy SEAL turned covert counterterrorism operative, Scot Harvath.

Hired on a black contract, Harvath will provide the deniability the United States needs, while he breaks every rule along the way."

The complete listing of Thor's books can be found at this link.

So there you go. My look at the Spy / Thriller genre. It's obviously not complete, just those I've read or plan to read so far. I hope it at least piques your interest in the genre. I'm not sure where I'll go next but I'll think about it for a couple of days and you'll see it first here. 

Take care. Have a safe week. Wear a mask.