false 10 1878 329 true 5635539 read 6 true 3943500 currently-reading 1543 true 3943499 to-read 255 false 3982313 on-deck-crime-fiction 254 false 3982318 on-deck-fiction-short-stories 229 false 3982316 on-deck-fiction 181 false 3982324 on-deck-non-fiction 180 false 4586860 on-deck-spy-thrillers 116 false 3982075 read-crime-fiction 111 false 4616046 on-deck-new-neo-classic 111 false 3982317 on-deck-classics 80 false 4615978 on-deck-neo-classic 58 false 3982076 read-fiction 49 false 3982007 read-non-fiction 47 false 5509633 read-will-read-again 40 false 4437875 on-deck-sports 38 false 4437876 on-deck-film 31 false 3982323 on-deck-memoir 27 false 3982077 read-classics 19 false 4586863 read-spy-thrillers 19 false 4925447 on-deck-war-fiction 16 false 4616047 read-new-neo-classic 16 false 4615980 on-deck-western 15 false 4615979 read-neo-classic 10 false 3982118 read-fiction-short-stories 5 false 3982079 read-memoir 3 false 4615981 read-western 2 false 5612768 read-i-quit http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/48766817 to: Hard Rain (John Rain, #2) by Barry Eisler
bookshelves: read-spy-thrillers
Second verse, same as the first. That might be a bit harsh, but the first 100 pages covers the same detailed surveillance techniques that were thoroughly covered in the first installment. The story line from the first book also continues here.

This is still an excellent series, though. Hard Rain is not quite as interesting as Rain Fall, and it is much more political. Not so much in pushing one side over another, it is just more so a political-thriller, with a lot of explanation as to why. Hard Rain lacked the intensity of Rain Fall, as well...maybe because it re-covered so much of the same territory. I think had Midori been more integral to the plot, I would have believed John Rain's motives more easily.
Rating: 3.5 ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77701022 to: The Criminal (Paperback) by Jim Thompson
bookshelves: read-crime-fiction
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76950493 to: The Deep Blue Good-by (Mass Market Paperback) by John D. MacDonald
bookshelves: read-crime-fiction
Wanted to give this a 5-star simply because the ending is terrific. The build up to the ending was a little tame, but there were spikes of interesting activity. Travis McGee is a likable protag, and there are many more additions to this series (The Deep Blue Good-by is the first).

I kept trying to imagine Leonardo DiCaprio as Travis McGee (he's been signed on to star in the film version of Deep Blue Good-by)...and it's a perfect fit!! Can't wait....if it ever gets made. Regardless, looking forward to the second installment of Travis McGee.
Rating: 4.4 ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40379300 to: The Faithful Spy (John Wells, #1) by Alex Berenson
bookshelves: read-spy-thrillers
C.I.A. agent John Wells, after spending years underground in Afghanistan, resurfaces in the US to do battle against the forces of evil (al-Qaeda), or has he joined their forces? Wells does becomes involved in a weak attempt at romance, but the bulk of this book is concerned with an impending attack on US soil.

Berenson's first John Wells book is pretty good, but at 460 pages (in an oversized paperback), there are good skimming opportunities....making this a quick read. Yes, it could have been tighter, which would have increased the tension level (not quite as "page-turning" as I would have liked), but the action scenes are excellent.

I've peaked at the second John Wells entry...it's even longer!! We'll see...it's always nice to have a new spy-fiction writer.
Rating: 3.8, but good enough to bump to a 4. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75428979 to: The Matlock Paper (Paperback) by Robert Ludlum
bookshelves: read-i-quit, read-spy-thrillers
Stopped reading this one about 1/2 way through. I wanted an "international" thriller, so to speak...but this is more about drug dealers on a college campus in the early 70s (written in 1973).

I can't really complain much at The Matlock Paper. It's not like I stopped reading b/c it was bad...it was thrilling enough, although you do have to take the rather poor "race relations" effort with a grain of salt. I got the impression that Ludlum wanted to support the black power movement of the early 1970s (and be viewed as a contemporary writer by doing so)...but it just comes off as condescending, as if he's OK with it as long as he's looking down on it all.

The Matlock paper is far from the great Ludlum's of the late 70's and 1980s (Bourne Identity, The Parsifal Mosaic, The Aquitaine Progression, etc)...but there are far too many books in my TBR pile to spend another couple/few days on this one. I may return as a Ludlum completist...but we'll see.
Rating: 3.0 flat. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/48761260 to: The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch, #3) by Michael Connelly
bookshelves: read-crime-fiction
Illegal search and seizure, police brutality, internal police cover-ups...this is the LAPD doing what they do best. It's also Michael Connelly do what he does best. The Concrete Blonde is about as close to a 5-star as it can get. And this is certainly my favorite of the Harry Bosch novels thus far (I'm reading them in order)...the first two were excellent as well. ]]>