Barry's November 2016

[BarryP]

The Wrong Side of Goodbye: Michael Connelly
Harry I missed ya. Connelly manages to give me back, after so many years, the Harry Bosch I came to love in the Concrete Blond. His brilliance as an investigator remains legend, but what I really appreciated was his rebellious attitude toward rules and power. Walking past the “sign out” board without signing out might seem small, but it is the same behavior as in the early books when he tried to save his condemned house. This multi threaded story gave Connelly a real chance to show off his writing prowess. I’ll toss a minor ding in, some of the early bonding scenes with Haller fell just a bit flat. (A)


Night School: Lee Child
A Jack Reacher prequel. Smart on Child’s part, as there is only so much you can do with a drifting ex major, but the stories he has from years in the service could fill a few books, and is starting to. This time, he is part of a team looking at a heist in Germany. He does not know what was stolen, or who stole it, so there was some work to do. (A-)


The Rope: Nevada Barr
A prequel going back to Anna Pidgeon as a seasonal park employee. The adventures, and they were many and harrowing, led her to decide to go into park law enforcement. (B+)


Destroyer Angel: Nevada Barr
An Anna Pigeon novel. A classic tale of survival, 3 women and 2 children in the woods with 4 predatory males. (B+)


The Girl from Venice: Martin Cruz Smith
Sometimes fiction does intrude on reality, especially if it is well written and thoughtful. I am among the many troubled by the messages we, as a nation, seemed to be sending in the last election. That faded a bit as I drove to the farm to get my turkey for Thanksgiving. I did local roads, heading to a farm where we knew each other by name. As i drove through the thinning trees, slivers of sunlight strobing the road around me, I looked around, saw the places I rode my bicycle, the quaint New England farm country, and thought that I was most certainly where I wanted to be at the time I wanted to be there. At the same time though, I was immersed in this book. Set in Italy near the end of WW2, the protagonist, a fisherman, would like nothing more than to be in the place of his choosing doing the things he loved. That was to prove impossible in the dying days of Il Duce’s power, and makes me ask myself “in what new ways will my life be intruded upon?” Smith gave me a reasonably happy ending, I hope life treats us the same. This is not meant as political commentary, I am not beholden to either party, and mostly wish to be left alone in a peaceful world. The campaign that just ended was as divisive as any I have seen, so I have my lingering worries. (B+)


The Grey Man: Mark Greaney
No question Greaney can write a spy thriller, he has been ghosting for Tom Clancy for years.. This is the start of a new series, with a new super assassin as the protagonist. Of course, he is a moral assassin. His first wild ride is against hit teams from all over the world trying to kill him. I doubt he will have many friends in the next book. (B)


The Master Sniper: Stephen Hunter
His first book, before any of the Swaggers came along. The sniper is not a good guy here, he is a Nazi, and a couple of OSS types are on his tail before he can complete his final deed in the waning days of WW2. (B)


No Man’s Land: David Baldacci
At the start of this series, I thought that Baldacci positioned Puller to be too much like Reacher (by Lee Child). He seems to be moving away from this model, and more into an action spy sort of genre. Here, Puller reaches back 30 years to find out why his mother disappeared one day. (B)


Forty Thieves: Thomas Perry
Somewhat formulaic, as the end pretty much was spelled out just by understanding the dust cover. A couple of detectives are hired to look into an old murder. A couple of assassins are hired to stop them. They are all very good at what they do, but as the book progresses, more and more bad guys appear, regardless of how many are killed off. (B)


The Whistler: John Grisham
I will admit his tone and complexity have gotten better over the time he has been writing, and I almost did not feel I was reading a morality play here. On the balance though, the story followed the kind of lines all of his stories do, making it perhaps a bit more predictable than it had to be. (B)


The Obsidian Chamber: Preston/Child
Hard to tell who is dead and who is alive at any given time in this series, or even who is loyal to who, and who is good, who is bad. Might be time for me to slow down a bit on this series. (B)


The Twelve Dogs of Christmas: David Rosenfelt
An Andy Carpenter mystery. A local Dog lover is accused of murder, so Andy takes on the case. (B)


Livia Lone: Barry Eisler
Some good reading here, but tempered with an insane amount of violence and hate. Livia is the adult who came of an abused childhood, and she is determined to exact revenge. (B)

[Dan in AZ]

I like both Bosch and Haller separately. Together, not so much. Their personalities clash too much.

[Merrilee in AZ]

I just finished the Connelly book, really enjoyed it. I don't like the Haller character

[Amy]

Good month Barry.

[Sherry]

good month, barry. i just finished the whistler and have the connelly and child sitting on my table.

[Melodie]

I liked The Whistler and have the Bosch coming up. Haven't read a Connelly book in awhile and they had this one on special on Black Friday at Target.

[Ann]

Great month Barry, I love your thoughtful reviews. I got behind with library requests and am further away from my turns for the new Reacher and Bosch than I would like, soon...
I understand your feelings regarding reading the Martin Cruz Smith book set in the WW II era and comparisons to contemporary events. Your Thanksgiving trip to the country sounds therapeutic and lovely.
What a shame the publisher let marketing spoil the ending of the Thomas Perry book with the dust cover.

[BarryP]

Ann wrote: "Great month Barry, I love your thoughtful reviews. I got behind with library requests and am further away from my turns for the new Reacher and Bosch than I would like, soon...
I understand your fe..."
Not that the dust cover spoiled the book, just that the book was so formulaic that the premise led directly to my suspected conclusion.

[Sandi]

Lots of interesting sounding reads this month. I will look forward to reading The Girl from Venice.

I had been thinking of reading Livia Lone so thanks for heads up about the violence. I think I will give it a pass for now.

[Ann]

I have a hardback of Livia Lone out from the library. I am hoping to get to it, my hardback reading time is so limited. I need more portable media unfortunately. Duane Swierczyanski's Revolver looks like it will have to go back to the library today and I'll need to get it again.

[Jack]

I agree that puller does seem like a reacher copy but theyre still interesting stories and easy to read. Have no mans land ready to go so interested to see how it is.

[Carol/Bonadie]

I should add your monthly book blurbs to my reading tally, they're that entertaining. You had a few that are on my library request list so I hope to catch up soon. Interesting connections between current events and The Girl from Venice.