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A terrific detective/mystery story! Well conceived and written. It was my first experience with this author and I look forward to reading more of his books.
His heroine is Slovakian police commander Jana Matinova. It starts with a mysterious killing...moreA terrific detective/mystery story! Well conceived and written. It was my first experience with this author and I look forward to reading more of his books.
His heroine is Slovakian police commander Jana Matinova. It starts with a mysterious killing: A professional hit man has gunned down a university student, who sneaked into the dining room of a swanky Bratislava hotel to get free food. Then later the same day, her friend and lover, a prosecutor investigating a corruption case, is killed in an explosion in his office.
To prevent her from interfering in the investigation, her supervisor transfers Matinova to Europol headquarters in The Hague, where her predecessor as her country's representative has vanished. Of course, it does not stop her from investigating all three mysteries. And of course, they are all related.
It is a roller coaster ride of intrigue and trying to figure out who is on her side and who is out to kill her. Highly recommended to lovers of detective fiction.(less)
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Another excellent book by science fiction writer Jack McDevitt. When I give a book 5 stars, its because I can't put it down. This is the third story in the Academy Series, aka the Priscilla Hutchins novels. This one takes place mostly on a deep spa...moreAnother excellent book by science fiction writer Jack McDevitt. When I give a book 5 stars, its because I can't put it down. This is the third story in the Academy Series, aka the Priscilla Hutchins novels. This one takes place mostly on a deep space ship whose mission is to look for extra terrestrial life.
It begins in an area where radio signals have been previously found in a certain section of space. Hutch is hired to pilot a privately owned space ship to look for the source and destination of these signals.
The adventure gets quite involved and some lives are lost. The author is a smart science fiction writer who backs up his stories with science fact. And his stories are intelligent and well thought out. If you are looking for "Star Wars" type stories, McDevitt is not your man. This book is about searching for extra-terrestrial life, and like real science, what they find raises more unanswered questions.
I look forward to reading the Academy novels.(less)
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Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer
by
James L. Swanson
recommended to Jim by:
Published book review
recommended for:
Anyone
read in September, 2009
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This is an incredible book...difficult to put down as the action just keeps coming fast and furious. Which is a bit amazing as it is an all-to-true story. Mr. Swanson has indeed done his homework as his detailed descriptions are just amazing!
The bo...moreThis is an incredible book...difficult to put down as the action just keeps coming fast and furious. Which is a bit amazing as it is an all-to-true story. Mr. Swanson has indeed done his homework as his detailed descriptions are just amazing!
The book starts out just a few days before the assassination as both John Wilkes Booth and his cohorts plot to kill not only President Lincoln, but also vice-president Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. From that point, the actions starts to move quickly. We see Booth's minute-by-minute movements at Ford's Theater, and the other would-be assassin's movements as they stalk their targets.
Lewis Powell nearly succeeds in killing Seward and his son, but Seward, who is already sick in bed survives just barely. His son also survives although his wounds are even more severe. Powell escapes.
Meanwhile, Johnson's assassin does not fulfill his part of the bargain and flees the scene. After all this, Booth's incredible adventure begins as he flees Washington and heads south through Maryland and eventually Virginia. Secretary of War Stanton takes charge of the manhunt and the entire resources of the government are thrown into the chase.
The in-depth details of all sides of this incredible adventure are fantastic as we see both Booth's mistakes and those of his pursuers. The details of Booth's near capture and death are also quite amazing and a bit touching.
If you read this book you will just be amazed at at what you learn. One new thing I learned that surprised me was the involvement of Dr. Mudd, the physician who fixed Booth's broken leg two nights after the assassination. Mudd, who I always thought was a innocent victim (thanks to the 1936 Movie, "Prisoner of Shark Island)and was sent to Shark Island Prison for a few years for his part. It turns out that Mudd knew Booth fairly well, and although he was not part of the assassination conspiracy, he was part of a previous plot to kidnap Lincoln. He also lied to federal troops about Booth when he was questioned.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves history, and for that matter, to anyone who loves a whopping good story!!(less)
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This is book 1 of a 6 book series known as The Academy Novels (aka the Priscilla Hutchins Novels). Sadly for me, I read book 5 first, not knowing any difference. But, it really didn't make much difference except I know where Priscilla Hutchins is in...moreThis is book 1 of a 6 book series known as The Academy Novels (aka the Priscilla Hutchins Novels). Sadly for me, I read book 5 first, not knowing any difference. But, it really didn't make much difference except I know where Priscilla Hutchins is in her career.
This is a very good book and a treat to read. McDevitt has been praised by other Sci-fi authors as being one of the best...and I could not agree more. I like his works very much.
This book introduces us to outer space archaeology, where Hutch is a a star ship pilot with a strong interest in archaeology. On this adventure she is supposed to help archaeologists evacuate an important underwater find on another planet as it is about to be terraformed for eventual human colonization. The ancient temple will be destroyed in a few days and Hutch must help them leave and take them and their finds back to earth.
Of course, things work out a bit different than planned and the story races ahead. Like real archaeology, in the story the scientists find some answers, but also many more questions. This opens up the future book subjects...some of which may get answered while others may never be answered.
I heartily recommend this book for fiction readers who like their science fiction realistic and more true to real life. Can't wait to read more.(less)
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This is the 7th and final book of the Saga of the Seven Suns. What a fantastic ride! Seven very long books, each hard to put down, with a multitude of story lines occurring at the time all over the galaxy.
Each book is written similarly...each cha...moreThis is the 7th and final book of the Saga of the Seven Suns. What a fantastic ride! Seven very long books, each hard to put down, with a multitude of story lines occurring at the time all over the galaxy.
Each book is written similarly...each chapter continues the story from the point of view of a particular character...and believe me, there are lots of them. If you forget, there is glossary of characters in the back of each book. And if don't read them one right after the other, there is summary of the story so far at the beginning of each book.
Humanity is divided into three groups: the Hansa Empire, located on earth; the Roamers, a group of self-sufficient roaming traders who occupy several star systems and supply many raw materials, including star drive fuel that they harvest from stars; and humans who live on the planet Theroc: a peaceful people that can communicate all over the galaxy instantaneously using the worldtrees that grow on the planet. They accompany star ships so field commanders can keep in touch with their home world.
There is also the Ildirian Empire, an advanced and friendly civilization of human-like creature who helped earth humans move out to the stars by supplying them with star-drive technology many years prior to the start of the story. They also found 2 ships sent by earth many years previous to colonize new worlds. These were the foundation of the Roamers and the people of Theroc. There was also a 3rd ship that was never found...or was it?
There are also some non-human creatures that inhabit the galaxy, but I won't go into them here. One of them starts a war with humans after earther's unwittingly sets off a weapon in an unihabited solar system.
This whole series of books was an incredible tale that always took new twists and turns and introduced new characters and bad guys throughout. Of course, each book ends with a hell of a cliffhanger so you are ready to go out and buy the next one. Lots of surprises all over the place.
When it comes to science fiction, I have a low believability factor. If a book introduces story lines and characters that are too fantastic for my imagination, I will put the book down forever. There was some of that in this series...but the author was smart enough to put them into later volumes. Had they been introduced earlier, I might have stopped reading. But by the time they showed up, they made some sense in light of previous occurrences.
The science fiction series is a classic in my mind and I am so happy to have read it. I almost wish it had not ended. It is quite a story.(less)
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I did not read this book, but rather listened to an abridged audiobook version of it from the library. It was good, but definitely not one of his best.
It was a complicated story at first, but the last half of the book was good. So many unanswered...moreI did not read this book, but rather listened to an abridged audiobook version of it from the library. It was good, but definitely not one of his best.
It was a complicated story at first, but the last half of the book was good. So many unanswered questions. It is about human genes used in research...and about using them in animals like parrots and orangutans to make a smarter animals. There is a parrot that is almost human and a chimp that is a little boy. And, orangutans in the wild that speak fluent Dutch.
It is also about who owns one's genes if you give them out for testing. That was a little scary and I don't know how true it is...but that is why Michael Crichton wrote this book. But when you get lawyers involved in tricky questions like this, it becomes very scary. I think that is what bothered me the most about this book...scumbag lawyers. I am getting tired of them in every story I seem to read or listen to.
Regardless of what I thought of this book, I will miss Michael Crichton and his novels, now that he is gone.(less)
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Another interesting murder mystery featuring the Irish Chief Inspector Peter McGarr. Written in the late 70's, this character and his chums give the reader a good insight into the mindset of the Irish. There are many more in the series and will I w...moreAnother interesting murder mystery featuring the Irish Chief Inspector Peter McGarr. Written in the late 70's, this character and his chums give the reader a good insight into the mindset of the Irish. There are many more in the series and will I will probably pick up and read a few more of them here and there.
This one starts out in Ireland with the execution-style slayings of two important British oil company executives in Ireland. From there it moves to England, then off to Italy where most of the book takes place. As I love Italy, that was definitely OK with me.
It is an intricate novel, and thank God the author put a cast of characters in the front of the book. I referred to it quite often.
I do like the main character McGarr very much as he is a bit of a curmudgeon and is not intimidated by people with more power than himself.
Its a good read if you like mysteries written in the European style.(less)
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Another good read by Jack Higgins. Only took a couple of days to read it, probably because it was so good.
This time, Nazi big shot Martin Bormann is supposedly alive and offering his memoirs for publication. It purports to name names and there ar...moreAnother good read by Jack Higgins. Only took a couple of days to read it, probably because it was so good.
This time, Nazi big shot Martin Bormann is supposedly alive and offering his memoirs for publication. It purports to name names and there are a lot of ex Nazis, now prospering in the new Germany, who would be fingered as war criminals if the memoirs were published.
Since it is being offered to a British publisher, secret agent Paul Chavasse, posing as a publisher, is assigned to get it. Unfortunately, the highly organized underground Nazi group also wants it...and so do the Israelis. The race is on with many plot twists and turns.
This was an enjoyable read and went by all too fast. One can usually count on Jack Higgins for a darn good story.(less)
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This book is a great summer read. Once it got going, I was hooked. It is a little hard to review without giving away too much, but will try.
Douglas Preston is a great storyteller who has written several books, both by himself and with Lincoln Chi...moreThis book is a great summer read. Once it got going, I was hooked. It is a little hard to review without giving away too much, but will try.
Douglas Preston is a great storyteller who has written several books, both by himself and with Lincoln Child.
It takes place in Northeast Arizona on Navajo lands. The US govt has funded and built a 43 mile long circular underground super collider. Obviously this is a fictitious installation. The largest real super collider, the Super Hadron, is located on the French/Swiss border near Geneva and is 17 miles in circumference. Having attended a few lectures on the subject at the University of Arizona, I am quite familiar with the topic and what super colliders do.
Preston has done his homework and gets most of his facts right. Anyway,the story is that as the scientists bring this unit on-line, they discover something that will change everything about our perception of the universe, so they must keep it a secret for a while. But, of course, secrets don't last.
In the meantime, thanks to a slimeball Washington DC lobbyist and a fundamentalist TV evangelist, the govt is accused of trying to disprove Genesis and dethrone God. Things, of course go from bad to worse. And, don't forget, they are on Navajo land.
While I was reading, I felt sure that the ending would disappoint. That did not happen. In fact the ending is perfect and I did not see it coming. It was the icing on the cake of a well crafted story.
The only criticism I have is that you can't run a super collider with only 12 people, which is what happens here. Other than that, the story was great.
I only wish Preston would spend his time writing these great stories and give up on those ridiculous novels (with Lincoln Child) featuring FBI agent Pendergast.(less)
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Another oldie but goodie. Written in 1992, this tells the story of the takeover of Hong Kong from Great Britain by the Chinese govt. Of course this doesn't occur in real life until 1997. What?
This is a fictional history that looks forward, not bac...moreAnother oldie but goodie. Written in 1992, this tells the story of the takeover of Hong Kong from Great Britain by the Chinese govt. Of course this doesn't occur in real life until 1997. What?
This is a fictional history that looks forward, not backward like many what/if novels. And actually, it reads much more like a history textbook than a novel, which is part of its charm. Dialog is at a minimum.
It kept me interested and engaged although, of course, it never happened. But I am a bit of a history freak, so I liked the way it was written. It appears that the author did his homework as it is well researched...as a history book, that is. Its kind of confusing since I am looking at it so many years in the future after the actual event...when it should have been read prior to 1997.
Whatever! It was a good read, but the end is so very improbably, almost like fairy tale (and we all lived happily ever after). On the cover it says as a teaser "How Japan starts WWIII." Japan isn't even mentioned as a player until about 7/8 of the way through the book.
Whatever the case, I enjoyed it up to the end, when it really let me down.(less)
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Jim said:
"Interesting book, about the birth of modern art, but no pictures whatsoever of their art"
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