The Way It Works: a political memoir by Eddie Goldenberg

Inside the Chretien Years**** April 11,2007

This memoir by Eddie Goldenberg, right-hand man to Jean Chretien for many years, gives a fascinating behind the scenes account of politics in Ottawa, particularly Chretien's years as PM with Eddie as his senior policy advisor in the PMO. Goldenberg started with Chretien as a summer student but became his confidant and right-hand man to get things done. The Way It Works refers to the way government works, significantly differently from the manner portrayed in political science texts according to Goldenberg. In addition to his oberservations on the way it works, Goldenberg provides entertaining and insightful anecdotes which reveal the behind the scenes machinations between Martin and Chretien, the backdrop to the 1995 referendum in Quebec, relations with the US, the decision to not participate in the Iraq war and many other events.

Highly recommended.

The Bancroft Strategy:a novel by Robert Ludlum

Ludlumesque*** April 11.2007

Although Robert Ludlum has been dead for several years, the Ludlum brand lives on. This is the latest in a series of post-Ludlum novels marketed under the Ludlum brand. Some have borne the author's names. This one bears only the Ludlum name.

It has a plot that resembles the novels Ludlum authored.Maverick U.S. Intelligence agent Todd Belknap, known as the Hound for his ability to track his quarry, heads to Lebanon to try to find a fellow agent who has been kidnapped. Meanwhile, Andrea Bancroft, a brainy and beautiful hedge-fund analyst stands to inherit $12 million, provided she serves on the board of the Bancroft Foundation,headed by Paul Bancroft, a relative of Andrea's. Soon after joining the board Andrea begins to suspect that behind the Bancroft Foundation's benevolent facade lie sinister conspiracies. Inevitably, these conspiracies intersect with Belknap's hunt for the sinister forces behind the disappearance of his partner. There are multiple layers of conspiracy which are slowly pealed back like pealing an onion to reveal the identity of a mysterious character known only as Genesis.

This is one of the better post-Ludlum novels. Some of the stuuf is hard to believe but, hey, it makes for an entertaining read.

Hide: a novel by Lisa Gardner

First-rate thriller***** April 4,2007

Tired of the pablum put out under James Patterson's name? Then pick up this novel and see what first-rate crime writing is all about. Lisa Gardner exceeds all her previous efforts in this sizzling thriller that keeps you riveted from beginning to end. We are introduced to the fearful world of Annabelle Granger whose childhood memories are a blur of cities and changing identities. Her father kept moving her and her mother from city to city every year or two with no explanation. But Annabelle's mother and father are now both dead and she returns to the city from which she first fled as a seven-year-old. As she is developing new roots under a new identity, police discover six corpses in an underground chamber on the grounds of a former mental hospital. One of them is wearing a necklace inscribed "Annabelle Granger." State detective Bobby Dodge is brought in to assist in the investigation by his former lover D.D.Warren. In the end Dodge and Warren race to rescue Annabelle from the clutches of a predator and unravel the mystery of who killed the young women.Gardner's top-notch writing keeps us in a trance as the plot unfolds.

Bad Blood: a novel by Linda Fairstein

Deep beneath Manhattan**** April 4,2007

Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper (Coop) returns in a multi-faceted murder mystery, again situated in Manhattan. Assisted by cynical detective Mike Chapman and both-feet-on-the-ground Mercer Wallace, Coop is prosecuting businessman Brendan Quillian for the murder of his wife Amanda. The theory is that Quillian paid a hit man to strangle Amanda while he was out of the country. During the trial Quillian escapes custody killing guards in the process. Coop and her buddies set out to track him down. This leads to the discovery of an earlier murder, a massive explosion underneath Manhattan and an introduction to the sandhogs who dig the massive web of tunnels for water transport and utilities underneath Manhattan.