Echo Burning by Lee Child

Reacher suffers a temporary bout of self doubt as his gullibility is tested by a desperate Latina seeking his help.  Set in Texas, this book questions the savage prejudice and ponderous justice system in south Texas.

After having read so many Reacher books, it was somewhat refreshing for him to have a bit of self doubt, it humanized him.   This has the typical Reacher plot of his reluctant entry into a dangerous situation and settling it with his normal, physical justice metering.

Texas was not portrayed as a hospitable place in this novel.   One can only hope that the rampant prejudice and self serving corrupt local justice system has improved in the twelve years since the book was published.   Lee Child does not hesitate to attack and depict social issues with Jack Reacher as the proponent of harsh justice.  I'm not sure head butting is the best solution for social issues but aside from the resulting head ache, I suspect that many of us find a vicarious pleasure in physically dominating perceived villains. 

As in all the Jack Reacher books I have read so far, there is non-stop action and lots of violence.  

I enjoyed the book and I recommend the book.

Web Site: http://www.leechild.com/

 

 This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

King and Maxwell by David Baldacci

Baldacci has such enormous talent that one tends to forget how compelling his work is.  This rendition brings back Sean King and Michele Maxwell, the former Secret Service agents, who are now private detectives.  They unwittingly fall into the rabbit hole dug by a man bent on revenge.

Baldacci has a way of portraying his characters that you can almost reach out and pat them on the back.   They are believable.   They grab your attention and sate your appetite for thoughtful action.   Wack jobs exist and Baldacci paints them with meticulous detail and coats them with a veneer of reality. 

This was an excellent mystery, it started with nearly a bang and ended with a bang.   This is vintage Baldacci and I could not put it down!

I highly recommend it.

Web Site: http://www.davidbaldacci.com/web/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

The Innocent By Harlan Coben

 I have read several of Coben’s Mryon Bolitar books.  This was a departure and a captivating one.   An ex-con finds his life disrupted by unexplained attacks.  

Matt Hunter life is dramatically changed by one nights unforeseen circumstances.   Years later as an ex-con he discovers that the only constant in life is continual change.   Coben does a good job in portraying a man practically overwhelmed by circumstances.  Matt’s faith in his spouse and his own honesty provides him with the necessary resilience to survive a increasingly horrific scenario. 

The plot is intricate and almost confusing.  This is a book that you need to carefully read to keep abreast of the plot.  (pun intended)   There are enough twists and surprises to keep even the most jaded mystery aficionado delirious with delight.   Another hit by Coben who can’t seem to write a stinker. 

Web Site:  http://www.harlancoben.com/static/novels/nsc.htm

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Not Authorized by Whit Gentry

We met him in the first Whit Gentry book.  Jake is more of a bit player in this book.  Women are being abducted and Jake finds himself drawn into the seedy human trafficking trade.

Whit paints some pretty despicable villains.   His hero’s are also questionable folks.   Whit writes a story that portrays a current version of rough western justice.  

Old Testament justice is central to the theme of the book.   The bad guys discover that without the rule of law they are susceptible to the same type of violence that they so glibly dish out. 

Two private contractors, ex-military, are the Warriors in a very black op that until you read the book is information that is NOT Authorized!

Whit Gentry is crafting a niche with his gritty fiction.  The nature of his characters reflect the real emotions that normal people would have when faced with horrendous circumstances.   Most people would not have the courage or fortitude to purse the course taken by Jake and Bill Toliver.     

Once again Whit Gentry has evoked emotion with his story telling.  He, again, has made a masterful display of creative ambivalence that characterizes the plot.   Intellectually I find much the protagonists did very wrong but emotionally I can see the needful justification for the greater good. 

I look forward to reading more from Whit Gentry.

I highly recommend the book.

Web site:  http://whitgentry.com/bio

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

The Innocent by David Baldacci

Baldacci has another new hero, this one is an assassin.   This is a typical never boring cliff hanging, throat grabbing thriller.

Will Robie does his job without a lot of soul searching.   He believes in his government and assumes that the people he is assigned to assassinate deserve it, that they are a threat to national security.  

When Will is thrust into a situation that doesn’t fit his personal mission parameters he is faced with hard choices.   This novel is centered on the ramifications and repercussions of his choices.

The impact of big money on ordinary people and how it changes them is a recurring theme in Baldacci books.    Human interaction under pressure is another Baldacci characteristic.    Showcasing the ability of man overcoming complacency or base nature is one of the things I enjoy about Baldacci’s books. 

Once again Baldacci paints such a vivid picture.  He sets his stage with clarity and depth.   His characters are both larger than life and realistically human forcing you to read long beyond your appointed bed time.

I highly recommend it.

Body of  work of <a type="amzn" > David Baldacci </a>

Web Site: http://www.davidbaldacci.com/web/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Zero Day by David Baldacci

Baldacci has a new hero, a new ethos and another, never boring cliff hanging, throat grabbing thriller.

John Puller takes over for John Carr without a Camel Club or a gang of cronies.  Although Puller is dedicated Army, he runs without a safety net throughout the book.   The Army is his life and his passion is it’s Criminal Investigative Division.  He is an elite Army cop and he is thrown into a situation involving mass mayhem.  Every time he turns around there is another murder.  

Puller ends up partnering with Sam Cole and the two of them bond through their mutual desire to find the perpetrators’ of mayhem in an impoverished coal mining community in West Virginia.

Once again Baldacci paints such a vivid picture.  He sets his stage with clarity and depth.   His characters are both larger than life and realistically human.  

I worked in an impoverished Appalachian coal community years ago.  Baldacci accurately captures the poverty and despair that often results from long term un or under employment. 

One can only hope that we see more of John Puller.  He was a complex, likeable character.

I highly recommend it.

Body of  work of David Baldacci </a>

Web Site: http://www.davidbaldacci.com/web/

Hell’s Corner by David Baldacci

Baldacci has the ability to grab your interest by the throat and hold on until you pass out. This is another Camel Club book with a complicated and convoluted conspiracy.
John Carr aka Oliver Stone is comfortable in his graveyard abode when conspiracy finds him again. The primrose path or the yellow brick road, neither leads in the direction that Carr expects. The usual suspects are here sans Milton Farb. The President invites John Carr’s involvement in the war on drugs which soon turns into so much more. Once again Baldacci touts personal relationships over bureaucratic authority.

The inter-agency friction posed by Baldacci is truly frightening in this age of global terrorism. If congress’s inability to develop any bi-partisan agreements is indicative of the state of Washington’s overall bureaucratic climate, it is a wonder any of us are still alive. Baldacci’s stories always entertain but in addition they make you think.

I highly recommend it.

Body of work of David Baldacci

Web Site: http://www.davidbaldacci.com/web/

Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci

Monsters are all the rage. Baldacci shows us that supernatural monsters aren’t really the scariest ones. This book tracks monster hunters. Two different groups of monster hunters run into each other while chasing the same mass murderer.

Baldacci is a master of character development. He does a superb job in depth colorizing of his protagonists. Shaw and Reggie play for different teams but have very similar goals. The discovery process in their relationship is tenuous but grows as the book progresses. Typically Baldacii has plenty of violence and action and this book is not stranger to either. My only complaint was what I saw as a breakdown of characterization on a specific protagonist late in the book. That character went into action without the forethought that was exhibited by the same character earlier in the book. Sometimes writing these things without spoiling the plot is difficult. You may not even notice what bothered me.

I recommend the book .
Body of work of David Baldacci

Web Site:

Divine Justice by David Baldacci

The Camel Club is back! Back with a vengeance and the action is non-stop. Oliver Stone, on the run, finds himself unable to extradite himself out of other folks problems. His friends in the Camel Club pull through and back him up.

Once again, Baldacci ROCKS! In case you are not familiar with that accolade, David Baldacci is a story teller of tremendous magnitude who engages the imagination and enflames the passions while rending the heart with honesty, loyalty and steadfastness. Once again I was walking while reading, running into walls and reading while eating and other unmentionable activities. I couldn’t put the darn book down. John Carr is successfully portrayed as a razor sharp weapon combined with humility and all the noble characteristics. The plot doesn’t move, it charges! There are other characters in the book who develop long buried traits due to the example of Oliver Stone.

I recommend the book and am truly dismayed that it looks like the demise of the camel club.

Body of work of David Baldacci

Review:
Web Site:

Italian Justice, An Oxymoron?

If you don’t know who Amanda Knox is, you are probably living in a cave. I am sure I don’t know enough to rant about the jury’s verdict but I do have to question how it was reached. If the news reports are accurate, there was no, repeat NO forensic evidence to show that Miss Knox was ever in the room where the murder took place. Somehow that seems to indicate reasonable doubt. Of course reasonable doubt is part of the judicial process in the good old US of A. It doesn’t appear that is the case for the Italian judicial process. One hesitates to suggest that the seeming mindless pursuit of a guilty plea regardless of evidence may be indicative of the European dislike of Americans in general. It would truly be a tragic miscarriage of justice if a young woman is sentenced to 26 years in prison primarily due to her nationality.

The Hunted by Brian Haig

A frightening story of corruption and violence, Haig shows that lack of morals is not restricted to foreigners. A lurid story of corruption at the highest level in the “new” Russia, “The Hunted” showcases the KGB role in modern Russia. A young entrepreneur finds that democracy doesn’t truly exist when a mafia, KGB consortium conspires to steal his fortune. He discovers the corruption is as rampant in the USA as in his home country. The depths that politicians sink to further their own goals with out regard to human rights is depressing, especially considering the book is a fictional account of a true story.

Haig portrayed an ambitious, talented couple with compassion and interest. Alex and Elena would be likeable and interesting without the violent story line. The character development was superb. The story line was dismayingly frightening. There was a surreal feel about the story that suggested improbability. In historic perspective the story may have been less lurid than reality in the “new” Russia. The lack of concern by high officials in both governments for human rights was depressing. It put totally new perspective on the whole illegal immigrant debacle.

I enjoyed the book, I recommend it. It was unpredictable and depressing on occasion but it didn’t just hold my interest, it snatched it, grappled with it and squeezed it without mercy until I turned the last page.

Body of work of Brian Haig

Defiance by Alex Konanykhin is the non-fictional account of the trials and tribulations faced by the author as a young Russian entrepreneur. It is reviewed here.

Web Site: http://www.brianhaig.com/

Review: http://genregoroundreviews.blogspot.com/2009/06/hunted-brian-haig.html

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Little Brother is a play on George Orwell’s Big Brother in “1984”. This may be the most frightening book I have read in decades. It is a near future United States where a paranoid security apparatus under the control of a political party “king maker” runs amuck. A valid terrorist act provides the opening for the universal implementation of draconian security measures by the “legitimate” government. The story is portrayed through the eyes and experience of a young hacker.

I have seldom been made more uncomfortable by a book. Most of the fiction I read has serious probability issues. Considering the recent history of our nation, there was a sense of probability in this book that provoked near despair. One issue I see with the book is that those who most need to read it and ponder it’s message are those least likely to read it. Technuts such as my self have a propensity to be fascinated by gear head protagonists. Technologists are often more open minded about social issues as well. There are in every society people who fear so greatly that they will gladly suffer abridgements of their constitutional rights to feel more secure. Doctrow clearly illustrates the fallacy in this belief through the experiences and mind changes of Marcus’s father when faced with enforcement actions he supported when they were applied to others. I found the book entirely too believable and the strength of character of the teenagers enormously admirable. Growing up in a time period where slogans ranged from “Better dead than red”, to “hell no we won’t go”, provides a perspective that finds Doctorow’s books premise a reasonable extension of an increasingly paranoid society.

The recent ironic brouhaha regarding Amazon’s exercise of DRM (Digital Rights Management) by deleting George Orwell books from Kindles is illustrative of a voluntary relinquishing of rights by consumers. Realistically most Kindle consumers didn’t realize that Amazon could access their Kindle and delete things they had purchased under the erroneously impression they actually owned it. In addition had they understood that action was possible, they certainly hadn’t anticipated a major company so flagrantly invading personal space.

It seems that there is a cyclic pandemic of lack of responsibility that invades our national psychic. We go through periods where large groups of people are not willing to accept responsibility for their own actions and not willing to accept the responsibility that maintenance of our way of life is a participatory process. Doctrow’s book clearly points out that when a majority of voters lack the responsibility to participate in the democratic process, the resulting elected officials reflect the views of a minority that may be grossly unpalatable to the lackadaisical majority.

Technology has made us feel more secure. The bank security camera that captures the image of the thief is a good thing. We transmit our financial data securely across the web daily. The Internet and social sites such as Facebook have played a part in the current Iranian governmental crisis. Doctorow uses his understanding of technology to show how this pervasive technology can be perverted to hold us hostage. He also shows how the pervasive aspect of communication technology today can encourage freedom.

Security is the linchpin of the book. Security of your data, your home, your lives and the fact that draconian security measures generally only offer a false sense of security is made clear. The abridgement of your rights may make me feel more secure, any infringement on my rights is an aberration of justice.

If you are going to read one thought provoking book this year, make it this book. It is easy to read, the characters are clearly people you know and see, and it will hopefully impact you sufficiently enough to accept your personal responsibility to defend the rules of law under which we live. This book truly illustrates the need for every citizen to accept the responsibility of maintaining their freedoms through support of the democratic process.

Cory Doctorow obviously believes in the ideas he promotes in the book. His belief is illustrated by his having the novel available on his web site as a free download. So if you don’t run out and buy this book, go download it and read it on your computer/ipod/iphone/pda.

BTW the book isn’t just thought provoking, it is also a darn good story.

I strongly recommend it.

Body of work of Cory Doctorow

Review: http://worldsandtime.blogspot.com/2007/10/little-brother-by-cory-doctorow.html

Web site: http://craphound.com/

The Killing Man by Mickey Spillane

Ever since I stumbled on to a John P. McDonald story that was serialized in a newspaper, I have been a fan of the hard boiled detective. Glen Cook’s Garret combines two of my favorite genres, fantasy and hard boiled detective. Spillane is known as a mainstay of this type of story. The book was dated, the technology was obsolete and the vernacular was outmoded. Nevertheless the story was very entertaining. Mike Hammer has a clear picture of how justice should be served and he does his best to give the bad guys their just deserts. A brutal murder in his own office with his faithful Velda injured sets the tone of the book, retribution. A very quick, yet entertaining read.

Body of work of Mickey Spillane

Review: http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/thrillers/bullets-broads-blackmail-bombs-a-hammer-and-tongs/


Web Site: http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/thrillers/bullets-broads-blackmail-bombs-a-hammer-and-tongs/

Not really his web site, but a good bibliography. I use this site a great deal to make sure I buy and read series in order. (I know, anality runs amuck.)

Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn

If you are into Old Testament justice, you will love Vince Flynn’s work. In an action laden format, set as about as current as you can get in today’s world, Mitch Rapp is an “out of control” CIA operative who takes terrorism very, very personally. Flynn’s Mitch Rapp makes John Wayne look like a reticent sissy. He believes in himself and his country and hates politicians. This is a very sobering book on the intricacies of the Middle East political arena. I have read Flynn, I have been able to find. I have enjoyed them all, this is no exception.

Body of work of Vince Flynn

Review: http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/9780743270410.asp


Web Site: http://www.vinceflynn.com/protectanddefend.html