Geoffrey M. Gluckman's Blog, page 8

#Review of The Tourist

#Readers of spy #thrillers this is absolutely brilliant #story. This aptly describes Olen Steinhauer’s novel, The Tourist. A wonderfully crafted tale of Milo Weaver, “a tourist” for the CIA, an operative doing off-the-books assignments. The disloyalties, manipulation, and deceit inherent to espionage are all intricately interlaced and, for Weaver, ultimately bittersweet. Well worth a read. … Continue reading #Review of The Tourist

#Review of Red Sparrow

#Readers of spy #thrillers will most likely enjoy this debut novel by Jason Matthews, a former officer of the CIA’s Operations Directorate (now the National Clandestine Service-NCS). Matthews writes with authenticity, for sure. The story centers around the development of a Russian intelligence officer (spy) named Dominika Egorova. She is the daughter of parents less … Continue reading #Review of Red Sparrow

#Review of Trident K-9 #Warriors

#Readers, lovers of #dogs, Mike Ritland offers an enjoyable adventure into the world of Military Working Dogs (MWDs), and all that they have done for our country. The rambling narrative wanders, like an MWD doing detection work, shifting from anecdote to history to facts all involving the training, use and service of MWDs. The author, Ritland, is a former SEAL and currently develops and trains dogs for service with Special Operations Forces. If you would like to honor these extraordinary dogs...

#Review of The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio (part 2 of 3)

#Readers, I have made it through Dante’s Purgatorio, where with each ascending circle a “P” is removed from his forehead.This denotes the cleansing of a sin (peccata in Italian. Again, the tale is filled with personal encounters with friends or enemies (annotations help). Virgil has been replaced by Beatrice, as his guide. She represents a former true love, as well asDivine Wisdom. 3 stars (as it was more tedious).

Review of The Divine Comedy: Inferno (part 1 of 3)

#Readers, I’ve decided to break the review of Dante’s famous classic story into 3 parts, since I am progressing at a snail’s pace. The first part, the Inferno tells of the protagonist’s travels into the depths of Hell, albeit at his request (for some reason). His guide for this adventure is the famous poet, Virgil, who Dante idolizes. In truth, the traverse through the nine circles of Hell presents a terrifying journey.

#Review of The Divine Comedy: Inferno (part 1 of 3)

#Readers, I’ve decided to break the review of Dante’s famous classic #story into three parts, since I am progressing at a snail’s pace. The first part, the Inferno tells of the protagonist’s travels into the depths of Hell, albeit at his request (for some reason). His guide for this adventure is the famous poet, Virgil, who Dante idolizes. In truth, the traverse through the nine circles of Hell, as defined by Dante, presents a terrifying and tortuous journey and offers stark reminders why one...

#Review of The Valley of Fear

#Readers of #mystery and #crime stories should enjoy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novella featuring Sherlock Holmes and his faithful sidekick, Dr. Watson. They are tasked with investigating a murder at Birlstone Manor House, but not all is as it seems. Nevertheless, Holmes wraps the case up quickly, and Doyle offers a lengthy, yet suspenseful backstory in the second part of his novella. This part tells the history of what led up to the crime at hand, and surprisingly it works as narrative. It als...

#Review of The Book Thief

#Readers, a magnificent and magical #story. You don’t need me to tell you that Markus Zusak’s novel is absolutely wonderful. It offers unforgettable characters, such as Liesel Meminger (the book thief), Han’s Huberman, and Rudy Steiner (Liesel’s best friend). For me, I loved the fact that Death narrates the story, which follows part of Liesel’s life during Hitler’s reign. Zusak gives his readers sheer pleasure with his mastery of storytelling and word usage and stellar imagery. While this is...

#Review of The Columbus Affair

Sadly, this #thriller #story is poorly written by Steve Berry, which is surprising as he is the author of many other successful novels, including the Cotton Malone series. The horrible elements include massive overwriting, poor character attribution in narrative, and disruption of story craft with historical fact dumps(though these are interesting). Berry and his publisher should know better. Maybe a few lessons from Dan Brown on how to merge historical truths with compelling storytelling wou...

#Review of The Invisible Ones

Fellow #readers, a #mystery (missing person) does exist in Stef Penney’s latest novel, although it takes a distant backseat to the characters. Set in England, 1986, the first person narrative is told in parallel by Ray Lovell, a half-gypsy private investigator, and JJ, a 14-year old English gypsy. While Penney’s first novel, The Tenderness of Wolves (an award winner), had a sweeping and lush texture of the Canadian Northern Territories, The Invisible Ones feels confined, even claustrophobic....