Book Reviews
Gerald's Game by Stephen King Another book from my WattPad book reader on my BlackBerry. With the new 'Berry 8703 and it's much better screen I'm reading more. I read two novels in the last week, one Stars Wars book (not worth reviewing) to fill time and this one, Gerald's Game.
Why do people make poor choices? Sometimes it's because of some trauma that happened in childhood. This is a horror story that happens mostly inside the head of a middle-aged woman who is handcuffed to her bed wearing just a pair of panties after her husbnd has a heart attack.
She may not get out of this alive. Very existentially scary...
Robert Ludlum's "The Bourne Legacy" by Eric Van Lustbader Robert Ludlum may have passed away but his main character in his three bestselling books, the "Bourne" books has been resurrected by Eric Van Lustbader. Jason Bourne has now settled down in his original identity, David Webb, and is now a Professor of Eastern Studies at Georgetown University. An unknown assassin starts shooting at David Webb with a silenced sniper rifle and the Bourne identity, and skills, surface. The chase is on.
Eric Van Lustbader Does a good job of bringing Jason Bourne back to life even though his creator, Robert Ludlum, is no longer of this life.
"Escape From Hell" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle I'm sorry I wasted the time and energy checking this book out of the library. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have written a number of books together that were good and I really enjoyed. But this one, quite honestly, stinks.
I only read part of the first chapter of the book and then decided I didn't like it enough to even finish it.
Just my opinion. Perhaps someone else may enjoy this one.
The story is inspired by Dantes Inferno and his description of hell as being like a bowl with 9 layers concentrically within each other, with the deepest layer being reserved for the evilest of residents.
Our "hero", a Science Fiction writer who had escaped from hell in a previous book by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle called "Inferno" wakes up under a tree with black leaves and as he is waking up a passing pack of vicious demonic dogs bite his face off. Since Allen Carpenter, the Sci-Fi writer is already dead this trauma doesn't kill him but for about 15 minutes, while his face heals, it's hard to talk.
Allen strikes up a conversation with the tree he is lying under, which converses back. The tree is actually a woman writer who had in life been the mother of two children, whom she had terribly hurt when she had committed suicide. She can talk whenever blood (sap) is spilled or when there is pain which occurred when the pack of demonic dogs chewed on her when they chewed on Allen's face.
After reading this far I had almost had enough but I kept reading a bit further. Allen started telling Sylvia Plath (the tree) about how he and his friend Benito had escaped from hell, but when he got to the point of describing how he had crawled down Satan's leg hairs and out the bottom of hell I lost interest.
So reader, should you read this book and decide you like it, please email me at EMAIL Address: fharris_smith@yahoo.com and let me know if I'm being too harsh or if you agree that this book is a real stinker.
"A Darker Place" by Jack Higgins England's Prime Minister has his own "private army" commanded by Charles Ferguson and composed of certain "hard men": Sean Dillon a former IRA hit man turned British operative, Billy Salter a London thug who is close friends with Sean Dillon and his fellow operative, and even Lady Monica Starling who can kill "if killing is needed". The PM's Private Army handles the situations that lawful means can not.
The President of the United States also a private army run by Blake Johnson and called the "basement", which is located in the basement of the White House.
This novel involves the "defection" of a Soviet Author who is really an agent who infiltrates the Prime Minister's Private Army to destroy it, there are several assassinations and the attempted kidnapping of the American agent Blake Johnson that gets foiled by an unlikely ally.
"Contagious" by Scott Sigler A sequel to the authors "Infected" the battle against the Extraterrestrial invaders continues. "Scary" Perry Dawsey can "hear" the people "infected" by the alien invaders and can track them down. Until the alien intelligence figures that out and blocks Perry's ability to sense the invaders.
The original cast of characters from the authors previous novel are there, except for those who died in the first novel, and at the end the really hard decision to nuke an American city to save the world is the last option.
There is one loose end at the end. There will be a third novel.
This being only Scott Sigler's second novel this author is off to an excellent start. His action is gripping, his characters believable, and his narrative vivid.
"Guilty" by Ann Coulter Liberal "Victims" and their assault on America A non-fiction book, her latest, written with her sharp, biting wit and from her radically conservative point of view. If it weren't for her wit the facts she presents would be too hard to bear.
She deals with Single mothers and their contribution to society. She deals with the crimes and emotional problems of the children of single mothers, the cost to taxpayers to support the single mother families, and the studies that prove that single parenting doesn't work.
She deals with the "Conservative Attack Machine" myth, liberals who are "Brave" and of course B Hussein Obama. She has a lot of strong opinions and has a rather wicked wit she uses to express it.
If you are a conservative and want some witty but cutting prose to fill your mind with "Hate Thoughts", read this. Ann is in her standard hand on hips pose in a black dress on the cover.
I've read other Ann Coulter books and thoroughly enjoyed them.
"Cuba" by Stephen Coonts Another of his "Jake Grafton" novels. Just finished reading this one. There are others but I will only read them, not review them.
Not because they are not worthy of reviews, it's just that this is a series of books with the same core group of characters so I'll just make this review "The mother of all reviews" about the "Jake Grafton" novels of Stephen Coonts.
The "Permanent" cast of characters:
Tommy Carmellini - a lawyer with a hobby of safe-cracking and jewellery theft. He gets "ratted out" by a friend who gets busted and he is approached by the CIA. Prison or "work for us". So he is sent to Cuba to get intelligence by breaking into secret laboratories and office safes. This 1999 novel is where Tommy and Jake first meet.
"Jake" as in Jake Grafton, the uberHero. He is a military tactics master who wins because he can think circles around even the most brilliant of foes. The boss of all bosses, the man is never seen behind a desk and even as an Admiral goes personally into combat.
Commander "Toad" Tarkington and his wife, Lieutenant Commander Rita Moravia. "Toad" is Jake Grafton's best friend and a fellow navy warrior and Rita is a navy pilot. Toad says Rita is his best friend and Jake is his second best friend. Toad and Rita are both warrior types and pilots who are very patriotic.
In "Cuba" Tommy Carmellini grows from someone who has been pushed into the CIA somewhat reluctantly to be a CIA thief to a true patriot who kills two people who, as they say, "really needed killin'".
Just read it. Read all the "Jake Grafton" novels if you like action/intrigue novels like those written by Tom Clancy.
"America" and "Liberty" by Stephen Coonts Jake Grafton, Stephen Coonts' uberHero, is one of the central characters in these two novels. One is about a hijacking of the newest and most advanced nuclear submarine in the US Navy and the other is about an Islamic terrorist organization that buys 4 nuclear bombs from a corrupt Russian General and sneaks them into the USA.
The action and story are excellent. Stephen Coonts is on par with Tom Clancy in writing terrorist thrillers. I'll be reading all the rest of the "Jake Grafton" novels in the near future.
"On The Grind" by Stephen J Cannell This is a Shane Scully novel, Shane in this one resigns in disgrace from the LA Police Department, his wife and son leave him, and he has to accept a job in Haven Park, the most corrupt police department in the LA basin.
But nothing is as it seems. Stephen J Cannell is a great story teller and I enjoyed this book.
"2001: A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C Clark A classic Sci-Fi story written by a master. This one I'm reading on my BlackBerry using the free Wattpad book reader. They miss-spelled the title: Odyssey as "Odissey" in Wattpad but otherwise the text is good.
The reason I'm mentioning this one: Leo LaPorte on his KFI Radio show was doing "HAL9000" imitations. Hal was the computer that ran the "Discovery" interplanetary space ship. Hal, shall we say, went insane during the journey to Saturn.
The Hal imitation was the voice from the movie version, which was really good, too.
My BlackBerry with the Wattpad free ebook reader makes a whole library "pocket-sized", literally fitting in my pocket. Perfect for those boring times when you are waiting for something (a bus, a friend, ect) and just want something to pass the time.
"The Assassin" by Stephen Coonts Jake Grafton is a character that many of Stephen Coonts' books contain as a central character. In this one a lesser character, Tommy Carmellini, takes the center stage in the narrative but Jake Grafton is the genius behind the success of this anti-terrorist operation.
The ending is a real heart-stopping thriller with a big surprise. And yes, the "hero", Tommy Carmellini, gets the girl.
I finished this one late last night...
"Deep Black: Conspiracy" by Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice While at the library I saw this book and decided I would read it. Has a bunch of glowing reviews, including one by Tom Clancy. This one is number 6 in a "Deep Black" series, of which I'm now going to read. They are on my list.
Stephen Coonts is a new author for me. I've seen a lot of his books around and after reading this one he is an author on my "checkout list".
Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice have come up with a deep deep secret operation ("Deep Black") within the NSA that "takes care of" matters that can't be taken care of through regular channels, Like Tom Clancy's Black Ops type books.
Ted,White, and Blue by Ted Nugent The "Cat Scratch Fever" Ted Nugent, in case you have doubts. This book was a total surprise. I had no idea that Ted was such a total whack job politically.
However, Ted is a whack job in a completely opposite direction from say, Pamela Anderson, Michael Moore, Al Gore, Danny Glover, Ozzy Osborne and such other "great thinkers".
Why did I pick up this book? The cover. On the top: "Mega-Rock Star, Deerslayer, Patriot and Best Selling Author", on the bottom "The Nugent Manifesto" and in the middle a caricature of Ted wearing a cross between a Top Hat and a Cowboy hat, waving an American Flag, and pointing at you with a real shit-eating grin. - Just reporting the facts.
In the book, basically a well laid out Ranting similar to my own musing but far better said are chapters on War is the Answer, Global Warming, Taxes, Working for a living, Health care, Excessive Government Spending, Politics and Religion and even one on Immigration. A chapter on "If I Were President". All said in an entertaining but sometimes (well, often) irreverent Rock and Roll Tone.
Ted states one of his heros is "Chesty" Puller. I know who "Chesty" Puller is. GOOGLE that!
In the center of the book are pictures. Including one of his beautiful wife Shemane with her "girly" assault rifle. Loved the one with Ted shooting a "Ma-Deuce" 50 Caliber machine gun. The caption of that picture says something politically incorrect about Border Enforcement.
"Rough Justice" by Jack Higgins Jack Higgins is an international intrigue thriller writer and his new one, "Rough Justice", is reviewed by Publishers Weekly: "After almost two score books, Higgins knows how to fire up a thriller." "It's all pure Higgins: almost every shot hits square between the eyes, and all the characters are hard lads indeed."
This story starts off in troubled Kosovo with a chance teaming up of a British government agent and an American government agent, a Russian officer who (deservedly) gets a bullet in the forehead, and the consequences end up involving the Americans, the British, The Russians and even former IRA thugs (of course, it's a Higgins novel).
"Your Heart Belongs To Me" by Dean Koontz Dean Koontz is one of my "read on sight" authors, like Stephen King is. This, his latest, is a story about a 34 year old multimillionaire Internet entrepreneur who finds out that he has a heart defect and only has a year to live unless he gets a heart transplant.
He gets his heart transplant. And something unexpected and horrible. Dean Koontz is a suspense horror thriller writer with his horror being human evil in it's darkest shades.
In the center of this story is love between a man and woman, but this time it ends differently. Hey, I enjoyed it!
"I AM NOT A COP!" by Richard Belzer A writer writes from what he knows. Stephen King knows Maine, Dean Koontz knows Southern California and both authors use places they know in their books. Richard Belzer knows about playing a cop on TV, because he plays "Detective Sergeant John Munch" on first "Homicide: Life on the Street" and then "Law and Order:SVU". Belzer is on the cover and I recognized him. The title of the book: "I AM NOT A COP!" and the inside of the cover made me decide to read it.
Richard Belzer plays Richard Belzer, who as in life is both an actor who plays a cop and a former stand up comic. The book Richard Belzer gets off a days filming and meets a friend for dinner. After dinner they are mugged by two muggers. New York? Muggers? Well it is fiction. To the surprise of the two badd-ass tough muggers Richard Belzer is an accomplished Martial Artist who wipes the street up with the muggers. A Paparazzi takes pictures of Richard thrashing the two muggers and he ends up on the front page of a newspaper.
Which begins his real problems. The two muggers? Not a problem, just two punks. When his TV show's assistant producer sees his pictures in the papers he assigns him an "Assistant", actually someone to keep Richard out of trouble. "Kalisha" or "Kali" for short, ends up being quite an assistant, but not at keeping him out of trouble.
The book is well written, conversations are witty, and the everyday glimpses into an actor's life make this a very interesting book that "took over". I had started reading the newest book by Dean Koontz and I put that on hold to read this one.
"Just After Sunset" by Stephen King First printing in November 2008. King hasn't written short stories for years but he's back. 13 stories, each well written with King's creative imagination providing the disturbing or scary element.
Two of the stories are about what might or might not happen after we shuffle off our mortal coil. Others are about people's psychosis and fears. One is about being stuck in a porta-potty.
There is even one story about 9-11 and "survivor's guilt".
Short stories are an art. Stephen King is back, practicing that art like a master with this newest book.
"Ender in Exile" Orson Scott Card's new "Ender" book. Card is a master story teller who has written many "Ender" books, describing Andrew "Ender" Wiggan's life as first a child military leader and then as "Speaker for the Dead".
In "Ender's Game" Andrew "Ender" Wiggan moves up the ranks in "battle school" and becomes a war hero. How he gets there is quite the story.
Read "Ender's Game" first, then the others. All in the Science Fiction area of the library. Written by a true genius of storytelling and they are excellent reading.
"Foreign Body" by Robin Cook - has kept me up late the last two nights. Jennifer Hernnandez, a young medical student, hears of her beloved Grandmother's death on CNN. Her grandmother had secretly traveled to India to have her hip replacement surgery because it was a lot less expensive. But the news report somehow was aired before the death was discovered by the hospital staff. Jennifer gets suspicious that "Something is rotten in Denmark" but India is a really a different world and the story takes many wild turns.
After reading the book you can watch the 50 "Prequel" web videos. Each is a well-done 2 minute mini-peek into the visuals of the book and are filmed on-location in Malibu, USA and India. The last episode leaves you with "What is Veena's purpose that the God's spared her for?" Watch the Videos on Foreign Body.tv and go on to finish Veena's story by reading the book "Foreign Body" by Robin Cook.
"Infected" by Scott Sigler Scott Sigler is the world's most successful podcasting author. Podcasting is Internet audio shows that are popular and numerous. This time he wrote a novel named "Infected" that combines horror, government intrigue, and science fiction into a single, intense and fast moving story. Started reading it about 7PM and finished at midnight... didn't want to put it down.
"shooting at midnight" and "Critical Space" Two of Greg Rucka's non-youth books: "shooting at midnight" and "Critical Space". Greg Rucka has created a number of really interesting characters who have real strengths and real weaknesses. Won't give details except for a small teaser: there are Private Investigators, Elite Body Guards, professional Assassins (two of "The Ten"), FBI agents , CIA spooks, NYPD cops, heroin addicts and even a woman writer. Some characters fall into more than one category. Enough said.
Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism by the Blond Bombshell Ann Coulter In this book she makes the irrefutable case that liberals are anti-American. Furthermore, they hate America and covet it's downfall. Read the book. Ann Coulter is much more elegant in both words and appearance than little old me.
Ann Coulter recalled to my formerly liberal leaning fuzzy mind Reagan's joke that he supposedly told into what he thought was a dead microphone: "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you today that I have signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes". I remember the way the media went ballistic and even back then, before I had realized just how brain-dead liberals were, I still had found Reagan's joke funny.
"Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy" by M. Stanton Evans The author isn't as witty as Ann Coulter but is very heavy on substance and facts. The book is dry reading (I fell asleep after a while) but it is a real eye-opener. Socialists are the children of Communists (though they would never admit that) and closely related and sometimes the same as Socialists are the liberals. Just remember Hillary Clinton and her failed attempt to shove socialized medicine (by a less offensive name) down our throats during the first year of the Bill Clinton Presidency.
To tie these three together I will only make one point, a characteristic found in all three (Communists, Socialists, and Liberals). To get at the beginning you must read "The Communist Manifesto" by Carl Marx. In the Manifesto it lays out the concept the the people can not govern themselves (due to their essential greediness), need to be governed by the educationally elite with the government owning everything (no Private Property), and to get the people to accept those facts any lies that need to be told should be told. And lies told often enough and shrilly enough start getting accepted as the truth.
In his book about Joe McCarthy M. Stanton Evans reveals the real Joe McCarthy, a patriotic American who was portrayed as a witch hunter and evil man by the media in a frenzy of cartoons, editorials, slanted stories and other liberal media tactics. Much like George W Bush is treated these days.
"You've Been Warned" by James Patterson & Howard Roughan . A new direction for author James Patterson as it's a psychological horror novel. Kristin Burns is a young woman in New York City who gets herself into a real nightmare. Speaking of nightmares, a pest exterminator in the story looks like Stephen King to Kristin. Won't do any spoilers but I'll to say that reality and dreams become very intertwined and the end is very, shall we say, open to interpretation . Good, thrilling, and intense. James Patterson is one prolific and consistently good author.
"War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells I had previously seen a movie starring Tom Cruise set in the US and parts of a much older movie also set in the US. Had no idea the original book was set in England nor was the book not pure science fiction. It was more of a catastrophe survival tome with some pretty heavy psychological themes. The British flavour (notice the spelling of "flavour") made this old story quite interesting. Kept my interest, anyway.
This "book" was one that I read on my BlackBerry using the free Wattpad book reader, which has a on-line library of thousands of books, all in a 5 oz pocket sized device.