Add your own reviews for me to post or add your own comments to my reviews! If you agree or disagree with my review, let mw know. Fill out the form below or just email me at:
dshostakovich@yahoo.com. Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you!
VECTOR
Robin Cook
medical fiction thriller
very highly recommended
This book is a great classic medical thriller, the best of Cook's many great books that I have read!! Here we are faced with the very real fear of use of Anthrax and Clostridium botulinum toxin bio-weapons by so called "skinheads" in a far right terrorist group, the "People's Aryan Army." As in several of his other novels, our protagonists are the forensic pathologists Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery (sort of but not quite lovers). We meet Yuri, a disenchanted Russian émigré taxi driver who formerly worked in a Russian bio-weapons factory. Yuri soon hooks up with Kurt, Steve, and the rest of a neo-Nazi fringe group and together they hatch a schemes to release Anthrax spores into a government building and/or in Central Park of New York City. The story begins with the mysterious death of a tailor. Soon Jack and his basketball buddies, Warren , Flash, and Spit are drawn into the web along with Laurie. Cook carefully builds the plot, shifting between Jack trying to piece seemingly unrelated facts together, Yuri growing and stockpiling the bio-weapons in his basement, and Kurt and Steve with their own twisted plans. Along the way we deal with Laurie's inadvertent involvement with a firearms dealer and a difficult romantic triangle between Laurie, Jack, and Lou, a police lieutenant on the case. It is fascinating to see how these disparate plots come together. We are constantly kept on the edge of our seats as the characters interact, often with violent consequences. Also, there is a wonderful clever twist at the end but maybe I have given away too much already.. Cook knows how to weave a plot and build suspense!! Also available on audiocassette.
A WALK IN THE WOODS by Bill Bryson
humorous nonfiction
highly recommended
An American returns from Britain with the ambitious plan to walk the 2100 mile length of the Appalachian Trail. Accompanying him is his high school buddy, Steven Katz. Both are middle aged, overweight, inexperienced backpackers (although Bryson did quite a bit of hiking around Europe in his youth), and very much out of shape. Filled with dry humor, fascinating historical minutia, bits of satire and parody, the book is a wonderful adventure for anyone who has ever backpacked or has plans to backpack, especially along the Appalachian Trail. Bill Bryson has a child's wide eyed view of the world, cultural differences, and people's foibles. Along the way, there are hilarious anecdotes and a sprinkling of earthy humor (mainly when Katz is the focus, so be forewarned). Bryson preaches conservation and the natural beauty and majesty of the forests, wild life, and mountains. But this isn't a "nature" book. Bryson's descriptions of his sparse preparations for the hike are pathetically funny. Most of his preparation seems to be reading horror tales of bear attacks (particularly their apparent fondness for Snickers bars, he says) and every conceivable hazard (tick, plant, or water borne illnesses). Of course, Katz shows up with a backpack full of Snickers bars. The hikers only finally begin to realize the enormity of their venture when, after days of extremely arduous hking (which includes Katz, in an exhausted rage, flinging most of his supplies off one of a mountain), they view a large map of the entire trail at a ranger station and realize that out of the four feet representing the trail's complete length, they have only gone two inches. I personally found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable book and would highly recommend it. Other "walking" books Bryson has written include "Neither Here Nor There" about his hiking through Europe and "Notes from a Small Island" about his travels in England.
THE FALLEN MAN by Tony Hillerman
mystery fiction
highly recommended
This book is one of a series of in which Navajo policemen Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn work together to solve crimes occurring on a Navajo reservation. In this installment, the story starts with the discovery of a dead white climber on a remote outcropping high on a Navajo sacred mountain. It is up to Acting Lieutenant Jim Chee with the aid of his former boss and mentor, now retired the "legendary" Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn to sort out the puzzle. We are also treated to a romantic subplot involving Jim Chee. Along the way in the story, we get some glimpses into the Navajo way of life. This is a great story with plenty of suspense, an intricately woven whodunit.If you like this book, read THIEF OF TIME, another great Chee/Leaphorn mystery by Hillerman.
THE RETURN OF TARZAN by Edgar Rice Burroughs
adventure/fantasy
I read this book as a lark, because of all the hoopla about the Disney Tarzan movie and was pleasantly surprised. In spite of the embarrassing stereotyping of blacks as savage inferiors and the "noble" white man (although Tarzan must confront numerous remarkably evil whites whose horrible savagery is hidden only by a thin veneer of civilization) as well as the the characterization of gorillas as aggressive savage beasts, and placing tigers in africa...In other words, in spite of the blatant racist, sexist, and colonialist attitudes in the book, no doubt consistent (but not excusing it) with the time and culture in which it was written, Tarzan is, nonetheless, is an ever exciting adventure yarn.This is a meaty story and I think the above faults actually give the book a hard realistic gritty edge that we don't get in the smooth politically correct Hollywood versions. Practically each page of the book has some exciting cliff-hanger climax. And what else can you expect from a book filled with wild African animals, black as well as white savages, and all kinds of disasters, natural and man-made. In a brief span of a few pages, we have attempted murder, a shipwreck, people on the verge of cannabalism, as well as attacks by natives and wild beasts. The book has style, plots and subplots, wonderfully descriptive narration, and detailed characterization of the main antagonists and protagonists. In Burroughs' book , Tarzan is not the one dimensional character we see in the movies. He is highly educated at the best English schools and can speak quite eloquently. Burroughs gives him huge emotional depth, and the capacity to play the aristicratic Briitsh gentleman and, in the next instant, to become an incredibily strong and vicious, amoral wild beast, almost a terrifying demon. This is practically a Jekyll and Hyde story.
NATURAL OBSESSIONS: THE SEARCH FOR THE ONCOGENE by Natalie Angier
Science biographical nonfiction
If you have ever wanted to know what scientific research is really like, this is the perfect book. This true story, which reads like a novel, gets into the lives of a laboratory of medical researchers, detailing their personal and professional trials and triumphs as they uncover the nature of oncogenes, naturally occuring genes which , when modified, can cause cancer.
BARBARIANS AT THE GATE: THE RISE AND FALL OF RJR NABISCO by Bryan Burrough
nonfiction
Ouch, is this how big businesses operate at the top? Unbridled greed, total selfishness, and cold calculating ruthlessnes are the driving factors for the heads managment of RJR Nabisco. The bottom line is the dolar and keeping shareholders happy is the aim. The livelihoods of workers is not part of the equation according to this corporate tale. If you feel insecure about your job, if you feel that the corporate monster doesn't care a fig about you, this book will only further entrench you in your convictions of disenfranchisement and may leave you chiding as you read it, "oh, the humanity!"
THE TERMINATION NODE by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg
A cyber thriller set in the near future when nearly all money exchange is done on-line. Computer hackers are the heroes of this story. The story introduces Judy Carmody (hacker code name: TerMight) who works free lance testing security for banks. She monitors a mysterious cyber heist, happens as she watches on her computer, and leaves no trace. Then top hackers start being killed off and TerMight is forced into hiding, with help from other hackers. It soon becomes apparent that a major heist is in the works involving billions of dollars, and it is up to Judy to try to crack the code and avoid murder. The book uses a wealth of technical computer jargon, much of which was beyond my understanding. Even so, a reader can get the gist of what is happening and we are able to piece together the clues as details of the plot are carefully laid out. The book is highly suspenseful, makes enjoyable reading, and dramatically makes its point about the extreme vulnerability of internet security.
UNDER THE GARDEN by Graham Greene
fantasy
An unusual short story that creeps up on you and then will stick with you for a long time. Narrated as a wistfully somber reminiscence of a man who learns that he is near the end of his life and begins the task of revisiting people and events of his life one last time. Then, around the middle of the story, it veers into a fascinating childhood fantasy (or is it?) about an underground cave containing treasures, a woman who quacks like a duck, and an earthy philosopher who sits on a toilet throne. The author very effectively relates the different perspectives of an adult Vs a child. A child's lake filled with adventure and mystery, in the eyes of an adult, is merely a puddle. Revisiting past events can lead to interesting revelations. This is great story that will leave you remembering the uniquely crafted characters and wondering about hidden meanings.
"AT ANY COST, Jack Welch, General Electric and the Pursuit of Profit"
Thomas F. O'Boyle.
nonfiction audiotape.
The book is very similar to "Barbarians at the Gate". The author gives us a fascinating history of GE, from the early frenetic creative energy of Edison's and Steinmetz's research groups to later despicable "experiments" in which people were deliberately exposed to radiation. The author provides us with many detailed examples to let us know how much GE has changed under the direction of Welch, from a great company committed to industrial innovation and research, with pride in its work, and respect for its workers to a souless money machine only interested in profit margin, with no interest in creating new technologies. The author certainly makes no attempt at objectivity. He is clearly very bitter toward GE, and Jack Welch in particular.
Here is where you can post your own reviews or comment on mine.