Not Another Death: commentary on the Iraq War

Bush and Iraq Dissected **** January 20,2007

This slender book is a collection of pieces by several prominent authors making the case against the Iraq War and Bush's folly. John le Carré, Richard Dawkins, Brian Eno, Michel Faber, Harold Pinter and Haifa Zangana each take aim at the lack of justification for and the futility of the Iraq War.

The Testament: a novel by Eric Van Lustbader

More religious intrigue**** January 20,2007

Eric Van Lustbader, who has witten many noteworthy novels in several genres, this time joins the religious secrets genre spawned by Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.The centuries-old Order of the Gnostic Observatines still guard part of The Testament of Jesus. The real secret is a fifth element, called the quintessence, which allegedly brought Jesus back to life after his crucifixion.The Gnostic Observatines are under attack by the Knights of St. Clement.Braverman "Bravo" Shaw suceeds his father as head of the Observatines and sets out to find Christ's testament. But trachery lurks at every turn as an old friend proves to be a deadly enemy. A good yarn but it pales besides The Da Vinci Code.

Marked Man: a novel by William Lashner

Who is Chantal Adair? **** January 20,2007

Victor Carl is back after a night of drunken debauchery. He has the name Chantal Adair tatooed on his chest but no recollection of where he was or what he was doing. This sounds like our old friend Victor Carl, a lawyer who lives on the edge of the law. Nonetheless, as you travel with him through Lashner's novels, he comes across as a real down-to-earth guy, always scratching for another buck, but sometimes aiding folks in distress with little monetary return.As we follow him though this novel as the onion layers of the plot are peeled away, he never ceases to shock and enertain us.

Counterplay: a novel by Robert Tannenbaum

A Plot Stretched Too Far*** January 20, 2007

This novel picks up where Fury left off. Archvillan Andrew Kane, whose attempt to become mayor of New York was foiled in Fury,escapes the clutches of the law at the onset of Counterplay to team up with al-Quaeda to plot another terrorist incident in New York.There is another plot involving a prominent member of the opposition party who appears to be involved in a murder. This is an okay story but nothing spectacular.

Black Order: a novel by James Rollins

The Nazis live on*** January 20, 1977

This is the first novel by James Rollins that I have read. It has multiple plot lines which can be summed up as:two groups of Nazis live on, one in the far north and the other in South Africa.Both have carried on with exoperiments initiated by the Nazis involving genetic manipulation trying to create a new race of Aryan Supermen. Sigma Force from the USA gets wind of their endeavours in a bizarre manner and pulls out all stops to avert disaster.

I found this novel sufficently entertaining to motivate me to pick up his earlier books.

The Collectors:a novel by David Baldacci

The Camel Club Rides Again**** January 20,2007


The Camel Club, a group of four dysfunctional crime solvers headed by ex-CIA assassin Caleb Shaw,is back again, this time investigating the death of a Director at the National Archives where one of the Camel Club members works. Right from the onset we know that renegade CIA agent Roger Seagraves has set himself up in the business of freelance assassination and selling our country's secrets to the highest bidder. But will the Camel Club unveil his nefarious conspiracy? This they do with the help of the clever and attractive young woman, Annabelle Conroy, who for the first part of the book is engaged in setting up a marvellous scam to bilk Jerry Bagger,the gangster owner of an Atlantic City casino, of millions in revenge for his killing of her mother some years earlier.This novel really is two stories which intersect in a somewhat contrived way but both are very enjoyable yarns.

Judge and Jury: a novel by James Patterson and Andrew Gross

The Verdict's In**** January 14,2007

James Patterson continues to churn out 3 to 4 books a year, using the factory farm method whereby he does outlines and a co-author writes the book. His patented two-page chapters and fast-paced prose are characteristic of all his recent "fast-food" novels.

This is the story of FBI Senior Agent Nick Pellisante who for years has been on the trail of a powerful Mafia don, Dominic Cavello, with murders galore to answer for. Cavello is apprehended at the beginning of the novel and sent to trial. Unfortunately the trial is rudely interupted when the jurors are killed in a bus explosion orchestrated by a shadowy assassin for hire. One juror survives, Andie,a single mom and an out-of-work actress whose son is killed in the explosion.

When Cavello is broken out of captivity during a second trial, Nick and Andie set out to track down the assassin and through him Cavello. They become the judge, jury and executioners.

This one is a notch above some of Patterson's recent novels.

Cold Moon: a novel by Jeffrey Deaver

The Verdict's In**** January 14, 2007

Lincoln Rhyme is back. The quadriplegic NYPD detective is pitted this time against a brilliant criminal mastermind called the Watchmaker. Assisted by his longtime partner(in all senses of the term), Det. Amelia Sachs, an expert at forensic analysis, Rhyme probes two bizarre murders linked by the killer's calling card—a clock left at the scene.While Rhyme is pursuing the Watchmaker who has an unknown list of eight more victims, Sachs is lead detective on a murder investigation where she uncovers police corruption.As is always the case with Deaver, the plot is multi-layered with innumerable twists and turns. And of course the cases converge in a bizarre and unexpected twist characteristic of Deaver.All in all, a damn good read!

The Book of Fate: a novel by Brad Meltzer

Conspiracy buffs will love this one***** January 1,2007


This novel is well plotted.It opens with an apparently failed assassination attempt on US President Leland Manning. Manning's deputy chief of staff, Ron Boyle, is killed, and his top aide, Wes Holloway, is left facially disfigured.Manning loses the election because of a photo which appears to show him exhibiting cowardice as he tries to protect his wife from the assassin. Eight years later Holloway is still working for former-President Manning, doing menial chores. While visiting Malaysia with Manning,Wes catches a glimpse of Boyle, surgically altered, but definitely the same man who was supposed to be dead and gone. Holloway then devotes his time to trying to figure out what really happened eight years earlier. He comes to grips with a conspiracy which reached to the highest levels of the U.S. government. I dare you to predict who is the guilty party. Recommended.An excellent novel.

At Risk: a novel by Patricia Cornwell

Welcome break from Scarpetta novels**** January 1,2007

Cornwell is best known for Kay Scarpetta forensic novels. At Risk is a stand-alone thriller that was originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine. This novel is situated primarily in Boston. Ambitious DA, Monique Lamont, is attempting to use a new anticrime initiative to propel herself into the governor's mansion.She pulls her top investigator, Winston Garano, from a special forensics course to probe an obscure cold case using special DNA technology. Unexpected violence erupts. Garano becomes suspicious of his boss and others in the police department.There are many surprises en route to uncovering the truth. While diehard fans of Cornwell's Scarpetta series appear to be disenchanted with this latest offering, I recommend it as a welcome change from the Scarpetta novels which have been faltering recently.

Prior Bad Acts: a novel by Tami Hoag

Judge makes big mistake**** January 1,2007

Prisoner Karl Dahl, accused of horrific murders, also has a record of prior bad acts. Judge Carey Moore decides that the many "prior bad acts" of accused serial killer Dahl can't be used in his trial. Dahl subsequently escapes from jail and Moore is attacked. Homicide cops Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are assigned to protect the judge, whom the police hate for her liberal views. Moore's marriage is falling apart and her husband is up to no good. More murders confuse the police hunt. The characters are well-developed and the plot unfolds at a fast pace. Recommended.

Gone: a novel by Lisa Gardner

Moderately interesting kidnapping thriller*** January 1,2007


In this thriller, Rainie Connor, a recovering alcoholic PI with a painful past,is kidnapped from her parked car one night in coastal Oregon. The key players converge on the town of Bakersville to solve the mystery of her disappearance: Rainie's husband, Quincy, a semiretired FBI profiler whose distress over Rainie's abduction undercuts his knowledge of and experience with kidnappers; Quincy's daughter, Kimberley, a rising star in the FBI who flies in from Atlanta; Oregon State Police Sgt. Det. Carlton Kincaid; local sheriff Shelly Atkins; and abrasive federal agent Candi Rodriguez, who specializes in hostage negotiation. This novel is moderately interesting. The plotting is okay but the storyline is reminiscent of many others.