Mini-Reviews #1…
To my readers,
My book reviews, especially those for Bookpleasures.com, are often long and more detailed than the average ones you’ll find on Amazon, for example. Since I read many more books than those I review, I thought a few words and ranking about other books might help readers sift through the chaff to find the grain. Information is useful, even in abbreviated form.
Another reason for adding this blog category is that I just don’t have time to weed through all the new features on Facebook and user-unfriendliness of Goodreads. Since my blog is RSS’d to Goodreads anyway, this seems like an alternative that provides the same information to readers and is user friendly to me.
Finally, what I read and what I review is part of me, take it or leave it. I’m often cynical about what’s going on in the publishing world and that cynicism creeps into my reviews (see my review of Deaver’s 007 entry, for example). I expect that this will happen even in these mini-reviews. Expect some politics sprinkled around too—when I can’t resist (I’m not as caustic as Stuart or Colbert).
Don’t look for these reviews on any regular basis. My reading often goes in spurts, so reviews and mini-reviews will come in spurts too. They will all be catalogued here, so, if you wonder about an old book a few years down the road, you might want to check here. Most of these books will be eBooks. These mini-reviews will not appear on Amazon, by the way. I have no desire to compete with any Amazon reviewer who is out to win the “king of reviewers” title—I’d rather be writing!
With that wordy preamble, here are my first mini-reviews (be forewarned, some of these books are old; also, my stars are not given so freely as those you might find on Amazon):
MR #1: J. A. Konrath and Jack Kilborn, The List. 3.5 stars. A bloodthirsty romp around the country as clones of famous psychotic killers set out to kill clones of famous people. The latter have to figure out why. A sci-fi thriller, heavy on the –fi and thriller, light on the sci-. To be fair, this was one of Konrath’s earliest. (You’ll find more of the sci- and clones in my novel Full Medical.)
MR #2: Lee Child, Worth Dying For. 4.0 stars. A direct sequel to the previous Reacher novel 61 Hours, which was better. This one is still a good yarn, but old Reacher is becoming too much of a vigilante for my taste. With all the hype about The Affair, you might want to skip this one entirely and go directly to the new one.
MR #3: Harlan Coben, Back Spin. 4.0 stars. A Jewish publicist who is an amateur detective, Coben’s character Myron Bolitar is always fun. This is a murder mystery associated with the game of golf. You don’t have to be an expert in golf, though, as Myron certainly isn’t. Lots of twists and turns. A good detective yarn.
MR #4: Alastair Reynolds, Absolution Gap. 2.5 stars. Ponderous and long. I had a hard time getting past the story line of moving cathedrals…the moving, I understand (as much as I can understand most religious mumbo-jumbo reasons for doing anything), but how did a poor planet make these things? Of course, I couldn’t get past this question for Tatooine either, but Star Wars (the movie) was less than two hours. This is not worth your time.
MR #5: David Baldacci, The Sixth Man. 3.0 stars. Detectives and ex-Secret Service agents Sean and Michelle are at it again. This is not the best in the series—far from it. Maybe Baldacci’s starting to feel those publishing deadlines? I should have skipped this one, but, if you’re a follower of a series like me, you’ll have to read it.
MR #6: Jon Land, Strong at the Break. 4.0 stars. Caitlin Strong is an interesting woman. This novel gets into some of the reasons why she’s a Texas Ranger. She ranges far afield from Texas, though—maybe trying to get away from Rick Perry? You’ll have a fun read with this novel.
MR #7: Barry Eisler, Fault Line. 4.0 stars. Alex Treven is a hunted man. He designs a software system someone else wants to control. His brother works for that same someone and is the only one that can help Alex save his hide. Good writing by a master…and a fun read.
MR #7: Barry Eisler, Rain Fall. 4.5 stars. I love thrillers that also introduce me to cultures I don’t understand. The second book in the Bourne odyssey, Ludlum’s The Bourne Supremacy, and Carrick’s The First Excellence, did that for me about China. This book does it for me about Japan. I have been told by Jon Land that Barry Eisler is quite the martial arts expert. This book shows it. A good thriller and an excellent read.
All the best,
Steve
