Damascus Countdown by Joel C. Rosenberg

Rosenberg puts together another page turner but intertwined in the espionage, bombs and intrigue are too many personal stories of characters finding Jesus. I don't know if he's trying to broaden his appeal or just doesn't realize how these ill fitting, forced and interruptive these subplots are to the story. PW: The Twelfth Imam Series, Book 3. Israel successfully launches a first strike on Iran, taking out all of their nuclear sites and six of their nuclear warheads. American president William Jackson threatens to support a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the Jewish State for unprovoked and unwarranted acts of aggression. And the Twelfth Imam prepares to order a genocidal retaliation. Meanwhile, CIA operative David Shirazi has infiltrated the Iranian regime and intercepted top secret intelligence indicating that two Iranian nuclear warheads survived the attack and have been moved to a secure and undisclosed location. In danger not only from the ongoing war between Israel and Iran but also from the increasingly hostile governments in multiple countries, Shirazi and his team are in a race against time to find the remaining nuclear warheads before the most cataclysmic event in the history of the Middle East comes to pass.

A Serpent's Tooth: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

Book 9 of this series is, like the rest of the series, very enjoyable. PW: In this ninth installment in the award-winning and New York Times best-selling Walt Longmire mystery series, the Wyoming sheriff follows his cowboy code of ethics in a religious range war that strikes a little too close to home.

When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and Jackie MacMullan

PW: From the moment these two players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most compelling rivalry in the NBA. These were the basketball epics of the 1980s - Celtics vs Lakers, East vs West, physical vs finesse, Old School vs Showtime, even white vs black. Each pushed the other to greatness - together Bird and Johnson collected eight NBA Championships, and six MVP awards and helped save the floundering NBA at its most critical time. When it started they were bitter rivals, but along the way they became lifelong friends.

Pines by Blake Crouch

A story where the main character has amnesia and painfully slowly and uneventfully figures out the trouble he's in. The author writes well but I was too bored to finish. PW: Wayward Pines, Idaho, is quintessential small-town America — or so it seems. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in search of two missing federal agents, yet soon is facing much more than he bargained for. After a violent accident lands him in the hospital, Ethan comes to with no ID and no cell phone. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into his colleagues’ disappearance turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he make contact with his family in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what’s the purpose of the electrified fences encircling the town? Are they keeping the residents in? Or something else out? Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face the horrifying possibility that he may never leave Wayward Pines alive…

The Survivor by Gregg Hurwitz

Do not listen to Hurwitz again, he spends too much time with silly and frustratingly obvious obstacles that add nothing to the plot. Instead of using plot to build tension, he uses these tiresome gimmicks. On top of that he's very graphic and depressing. PW Nate Overbay, a former soldier suffering from PTSD and ALS, goes to an 11th-floor bank and climbs out the bathroom window onto the ledge, ready to end it all. But as he’s steeling himself to jump, a crew of gunmen bursts into the bank and begins viciously shooting employees and customers. With nothing to lose, Nate climbs back inside, confronts the robbers, and with his military training, starts taking them out, one by one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning: “He will make you pay in ways you can’t imagine.” Soon enough, Nate learns what this means. He is kidnapped by Pavlo, a savage Ukrainian mobster and mastermind of the failed heist. Now blocked from getting into the bank vault to retrieve the critical item inside, Pavlo gives Nate a horrifying ultimatum: Either break in and acquire the item or watch Pavlo slowly kill the people Nate loves most - his estranged wife, Janie, and his teenaged daughter, Cielle. Nate lost them both when he came back from Iraq broken and confused. Now he’s got one chance to protect the people he loves, even if it’s the last thing he is able to do.

Inferno by Dan Brown

Mediocre, read the others in the series before this. PW: In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces: Dante’s Inferno. Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust...before the world is irrevocably altered.

The Second Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

Very good. PW Lawrence Sanders's masterpiece, The First Deadly Sin, set a standard for today's novels of psychological suspense. Now, retired Captain Ed Delaney returns to a distinctly urban milieu of paranoia and impulsive violence to solve a brutal murder that shocks New York's unshockable art world. The victim is Victor Maitland. Long-considered one of the world's greatest artists, he excelled in capturing the beauty of life on canvas. In private, he destroyed whomever he pleased: his wife, his son, his mistress, his dearest friends and family. Fittingly, Maitland has paid for his sins. But in a world where self-delusion is rewarded, where greed triumphs, and where murder is just another art, who else will pay the price?

Soft Target by Stephen Hunter

The first in the Ray Cruz series is just fair. They mention his father, Bob Swagger, but he doesn't play a role. PW: Recently retired marine sergeant Ray Kruz has been talked into a mall trip by his fiancé, the beautiful Molly Chan. For Ray, Molly represents a way to reconnect with normal life, something his 20 years in the service and five tours in two combat zones have prevented. But now he finds himself in the middle of the softest target of all, a huge consumer mall where a self-styled “Mumbai Brigade” has come to bring massive death to the heartland.

Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy, Grant Blackwood

Enjoyable. PW: Jack Ryan, the former president of the United States, is out of office, but not out of the loop about his brainchild, the "Campus" - a highly effective, counter-terrorism organization that operates outside the Washington hierarchy. But what Ryan doesn't know is that his son, Jack Ryan, Jr., has joined his cousins, Brian and Dominic Caruso, at the shadowy Campus. While a highly effective analyst, young Ryan hungers for the action of a field agent. The Campus has now turned their sights on the Emir, the number-one terrorist threat to Western civilization. A reclusive figure and mastermind of vicious terrorist acts, the Emir has eluded capture by the world's law-enforcement agencies. But now - with the help of ex-CIA agent John Clark and protégé Marine Colonel Ding Chavez - the Campus is in on the hunt.

Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan

The first Tres Navarre mystery, and my first too. I really enjoyed the story all of the way through, and am glad there are 7 books in this series. PW: It’s been a decade since his father was murdered and Tres left town. But he’s got an itch that can only be scratched by looking for answers. Returning to San Antonio with his enchilada-eating cat, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the Mafia and dirty politicians. It isn’t long before Tres stirs up more trouble than he can handle and finds himself the target of ill-willed bullets.

The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

Wow this book is really interesting (1973). The author plays with philosophical issues in a very interesting way, combining them with intriguing characters. PW: A well-dressed man stalks the high-class neighborhoods of New York City. He is armed with an ice axe. His victims are strangers. And one cop, Captain Ed Delaney must solve a series of bizarre, gruesome murders that defy logic or method.

Option to Kill by Andrew Peterson

Fun thriller that I don't remember except that the whiney portrayal of the young girl still grates my nerves. PW: When Nathan McBride receives a text message from someone who claims she’s been kidnapped, it triggers a deadly chain of events that has the potential to haunt him for the rest of his life. Nathan will soon learn that nothing from his past could ever prepare him for the crisis he’ll soon be facing. The girl’s name is Lauren and she’s just twelve years old. With virtually no experience with children, Nathan’s patience and compassion are about to be tested to their limits. In a violent confrontation, Nathan rescues Lauren from her kidnapper, but as he unravels Lauren's story, he realizes his troubles are only beginning. She says she's in the Witness Security Program, and doesn't trust the US Marshals because she thinks they're complicit in her abduction. Not only that, her stepdad was murdered last night.

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

I don't read many self help books, but I suspect a lot of them are like this one - a good idea that was hard pressed to fill a book. Insightful and educational. PW: Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.

Silken Prey by John Sandford

23rd book in the series and I don't think there's been a bad apple in the bunch. PW: Davenport is investigating another case when the trail leads to the man’s disappearance, then - very troublingly - to the Minneapolis police department, then - most troublingly of all - to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness, and sheer will to make it happen.

Locked On by Tom Clancy, Mark Greaney

Enjoyable. PW Although his father had been reluctant to become a field operative, Jack Ryan Jr. wants nothing more. Privately training with a seasoned Special Forces drill instructor, he's honing his skills to transition his work within The Campus from intelligence analysis to hunting down and eliminating terrorists wherever he can—even as Jack Ryan Sr. campaigns for re-election as President of the United States. But what neither father nor son knows is that the political and the personal have just become equally dangerous. A devout enemy of Jack Sr. launches a privately funded vendetta to discredit him by connecting the presidential candidate to a mysterious killing in the past by John Clark, his longtime ally. A shadowy mercenary team is dispatched to capture the former Navy SEAL. With Clark on the run, it’s up to Jack Ryan Jr., along with Ding Chavez, Dominic Caruso, and the rest of the Campus team, to stop a threat emerging in the Middle East: A corrupt Pakistani general has entered into a deadly pact with a fanatical terrorist to procure nuclear warheads, which can be used to blackmail any world power into submission.

The Hit by David Baldacci

Good but not great Baldacci, but sure kept my interest. PW Will Robie is a master of killing. A highly skilled assassin, Robie is the man the U.S. government calls on to eliminate the worst of the worst - enemies of the state, monsters committed to harming untold numbers of innocent victims. No one else can match Robie's talents as a hitman...no one, except Jessica Reel. A fellow assassin, equally professional and dangerous, Reel is every bit as lethal as Robie. And now, she's gone rogue, turning her gun sights on other members of their agency. To stop one of their own, the government looks again to Will Robie. His mission: bring in Reel, dead or alive. Only a killer can catch another killer, they tell him. But as Robie pursues Reel, he quickly finds that there is more to her betrayal than meets the eye. Her attacks on the agency conceal a larger threat, a threat that could send shockwaves through the U.S. government and around the world.

The Burglar in the Library by Lawrence Block

Book 8 in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series and I look forward to reading them all. This book comes close to being too cute but Block is just too cool. PW: Bernie's sweetheart has dumped him. But although his heart is broken, he hasn't lost his love for fine books - or for an occasional discrete burglary. So Bernie takes off for a snowy winter weekend at a country inn that just happens to have a rare, signed first edition of The Big Sleep in its library. It's not long, however, before Bernie's ex-girlfriend arrives with her new husband, a body is found in the library, and the book disappears. Bernie must sort out a tricky tangle of clues if he has any hope of nabbing the priceless edition for himself. Narrator Richard Ferrone captures Bernie's cool demeanor and his flair for perfect timing.

Thunder Horse by Peter Bowen

Re-read 3/17 most excellent. A real fun series nicely narrated by Christopher Lane.

Hard Stop by Chris Knopf

Re-read and enjoyed a lot November 2024.

A good follow up from the third in the series, I look forward to reading the next - or even the first two.

The Tehran Initiative by Joel C. Rosenberg

Rosenberg writes a very good plot but he needs an editor to remove his character backgrounds. You get the impression some of the descriptions about the people were separate exercises to develop a character. PW: The world is on the brink of disaster. Iran has just conducted its first atomic weapons test. Millions of Muslims around the world are convinced their messiah — known as the Twelfth Imam — has arrived on earth. Israeli leaders fear Tehran, under the Twelfth Imam’s spell, will soon launch a nuclear attack that could bring about a second Holocaust and the annihilation of Israel. The White House fears Jerusalem will strike first, launching a massive preemptive attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities that could cause the entire Middle East to go up in flames, oil prices to skyrocket, and the global economy to collapse. With the stakes high and few viable options left, the president of the United States orders CIA operative David Shirazi and his team to track down and sabotage Iran’s nuclear warheads before Iran or Israel can launch a devastating first strike. But will they be too late?

Monkeewrench by P. J. Tracy

Was dubious and it took a while to enjoy but the characters were likable and I found myself wanting to hear more. Buck Schirner is as good as narrators get and that brought home an enjoyable experience. I look forward to listening to another. PW: Haunted by a series of horrifying and violent episodes in their past, Grace McBride and the oddball crew of her software company, Monkeewrench, create a computer game where the killer is always caught, where the good guys always win. But their game becomes a nightmare when someone starts duplicating the fictional murders in real life, down to the last detail. By the time the police realize what's happening, three people are dead, and with 17 more murder scenarios available online, there are 17 more potential victims. While the authorities scramble to find the killer in a city paralyzed by fear, the Monkeewrench staff are playing their own game, analyzing victim profiles in a frantic attempt to discover the murderer's next target. In a thriller populated by characters both hilarious and heartbreaking, a rural Wisconsin sheriff, two Minneapolis police detectives, and Grace's gang are all caught in a web of decades-old secrets that could get them all killed.

Night of Thunder by Stephen Hunter

Another enjoyable saga in the Swagger series. PW: Stephen Hunter returns with his most riveting Bob Lee Swagger volume to date. The stakes are high - and personal - because this time, Swagger's daughter's life is at stake. Forced off the road and into a crash that leaves her clinging to life in a coma, Nikki Swagger had begun to peel back the onion of a Southern Fried scandal.

Wolf, No Wolf by Peter Bowen

Re-read 2/17 Excellent. Another very strong Montana mystery featuring Gabriel Du Pré.

The Burglar in the Rye by Lawrence Block

Very good and funny, want to read another in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series. PW: In this diverting caper, full-time bookstore owner and part-time burglar Bernie tries to do the right thing for a new friend, only to find himself accused of some terrible wrongs. All Bernie plans to do is steal some letters. A New York City literary agent is auctioning off her personal correspondence with enigmatic writer Gully Fairborn. Gully's attractive ex-girlfriend has asked Bernie to swipe the letters so she can return them to her old heartthrob. But when Bernie breaks in, the letters are missing, and the literary agent is in bed with no hope of waking up. With the police watching him very closely, Bernie relies on jiggers of rye and Caroline, his lesbian best friend, to sharpen his deductive skills and find the killer. Narrator Richard Ferrone expertly guides you on a laugh-filled journey through the twists and turns of the clever plot.

Total Control by David Baldacci

OK. 1995. Not one of Baldacci's best efforts. PW: Jason Archer is a rising young executive at Triton Global, the world's leading technology conglomerate. Determined to give his family the best of everything, Archer has secretly entered into a deadly game. He is about to disappear - leaving behind a wife who must sort out his lies from his truths, an accident team that wants to know why the plane he was ticketed on crashed, and a veteran FBI agent who wants to know it all....

Specimen Song by Peter Bowen

My second, and the second, book in the Du Pré series. I thinking I'm going to like this series. PW: A lost and frightened horse plods down the National Mall, startling the crowd. When Gabriel Du Pré spots the confused animal, the connection is immediate, for neither of these creatures belongs in the sweltering heat of a DC summer. Du Pré, a Métis Indian from the wilds of Montana, calms the horse and leads it to the nearest policeman. Du Pré is in Washington to play his people’s music for a Smithsonian festival, but after leading the horse to safety, he encounters a murder instead. The dead woman is Cree Indian, come down from Canada to sing in the festival. Du Pré tries to put her death out of his mind and returns to Montana, but more killings follow: each time with a primitive weapon, each time foretold by a local shaman. As the body count rises and the killer closes on Du Pré, the lawman vows to never again make the mistake of leaving Montana.

Coyote Wind by Peter Bowen

Unusual and disjointed in interesting ways, will try another in this series. PW: Montana, "the last best place" of the disappearing American West, is the setting of Peter Bowen's splendid first mystery novel in a series to feature Gabriel Du Pre. A cattle-brand inspector and occasional sheriff's deputy, Du Pre moves easily among the ranchers, cowboys, Native Americans, barflies, dreamers, and Eastern dudes who populate what's left of the frontier. In the desolate hills of the Fascelli family ranch, a skeleton has been discovered. The sheriff needs Du Pre's long experience in Montana to identify the bones. What Du Pre finds leads him on a search through the history of a troubled family, a search that brings him closer to a secret from his own past. Along the way, Du Pre meets a range of interesting folk, some to his liking, some decidedly not.

Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King

King is always a meandering, but this was too slow and afar from the plot. PW: In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north. Meanwhile, Holmes is pulled by two old friends and a distant relation into the growing war between France, Spain, and the Rif Revolt led by Emir Abd el-Krim—who may be a Robin Hood or a power mad tribesman. The shadows of war are drawing over the ancient city of Fez, and Holmes badly wants the wisdom and courage of his wife, whom he’s learned, to his horror, has gone missing. As Holmes searches for her, and Russell searches for herself, each tries to crack deadly parallel puzzles before it’s too late for them, for Africa, and for the peace of Europe.

Head Wounds by Chris Knopf

I enjoyed this, I'll try another in the series. PW: Part-time carpenter, full-time drinker and co-conspirator with an existential mutt named Eddie Van Halen, Sam tries to lead the simple life. But as always, fate intervenes, this time in the form of Robbie Milhouser, a local builder and blundering bully who shares with Sam an irresistible attraction to the beautiful Amanda. When Robbie is murdered, Sam finds himself in the crosshairs of a very determined chief of police.

A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block

Read again 2018. Very enjoyable, would like to read more in the Scudder series. 1981. PW: Nine long years have passed since the killer last struck - nine years since eight helpless young women were brutally slaughtered by an icepick-wielding maniac. The trail grew cold and the book was unofficially closed on a serial killer who stopped killing. But now "The Icepick Prowler" has confessed - but only to seven of the killings. Not only does he deny the eighth, he has an airtight alibi. Barbara Ettinger's family had almost come to accept that the young woman was the victim of a random killing. Now they must grapple with the shocking revelation that not only was her death disguised to look like the serial killer's work, but her murderer may have been someone she knew and trusted. Matthew Scudder has been hired to finally bring her slayer to justice, setting the relentless detective on the trail of a death almost a decade old, searching for a vicious murderer who's either long gone, long dead... or patiently waiting to kill again.

Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard

Not the best Leonard but very enjoyable. 1982. PW: The hero of Cat Chaser, George Moran, isn't looking for trouble but finds it anyway when he winds up in bed with the wife of a drug-dealing mob-connected Dominican cop - vicious, macho and ready to follow George to the ends of the earth, which in this case means Miami.

Silent Prey by John Sandford

Another enjoyable Lucas Davenport saga. PW: In Eyes of Prey, Bekker, an insane pathologist who experiments with his patients’ pain thresholds, is finally brought down by an unrelenting Lucas Davenport, who brutally maims the doctor’s beautiful face but leaves him alive. “You should have killed me,” were Bekker’s parting and prophetic words. In this sequel to Eyes of Prey, Bekker endures the indignities and horrors of imprisonment, taking comfort in the fact that it is only a matter of time before he will make Lucas Davenport pay.

The Last Refuge by Ben Coes

Coes can write an excellent story but his characters are silly. PW: Off a quiet street in Brooklyn, New York, Israeli Special Forces commander Kohl Meir is captured by operatives of the Iranian secret service, who smuggle Meir back to Iran, where he is imprisoned, tortured, and prepared for a show trial. What they don’t know is that Meir was in New York to recruit Dewey Andreas for a secret operation.

The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry

Not great Perry but still very enjoyable. Excellent narration by Robertson Dean. PW: Jack Till, who has retired from the LAPD after a respected career as a homicide detective, now works as a private investigator, comfortable chasing down routine cases while visiting his 24-year-old daughter, Holly, who has Down Syndrome. But when the parents of a recently murdered young girl, about Holly's age, ask for his help when the police come up empty, Till reluctantly takes the case.

Lions of Kandahar by Major Rusty Bradley, Kevin Maurer

Enjoyable macho special forces stuff. PW: One of the most critical battles of the Afghan War is now revealed as never before. Lions of Kandahar is an inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces commander, an unparalled warrior with multiple deployments to the theater who has only recently returned from combat.

In the Frame by Dick Francis

Re-read 9/27/16 and enjoyed it a lot. Reading a Dick Francis book is like being with an old friend. His characters are so likable as to draw you in.  The book was released in 1976 and captures a naiveté of the time. The narrator Ralph Cosham was excellent. PW: Charles Todd is an English artist who is well known and respected for his renderings of sleek and athletic horses. What he now faces at his cousin Donald's house is also art - the art of a perfectly brutal murderer. Donald's home has been burglarized and his wife, Regina, is lying on her back dead, her face the color of cream. Donald is shattered, shocked, and a prime suspect. And Todd suddenly finds himself involved in a dangerous man-hunt as he searches, against all odds, for an elusive killer and some murderous answers.

Hard Target by Howard Gordon

Didn't like it, stopped reading early on.

Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney

Very enjoyable telling of the creation of Delta Force by someone who took part in it.

Falcon Seven by James Huston

What an usual scenario. Huston writes an intriguing thriller despite an unlikeable hero. The story really has to be good to continue on with this hero, I'm glad I resisted early temptations to put it down. PW: Jack Caskey, a Washington, D.C., criminal defense attorney and former navy SEAL, tries to prevent the judicial railroading of two U.S. Navy aviators by the International Criminal Court in this timely and provocative thriller from bestseller Huston (Marine One). When navy officers Doug Raw Rawlings and Bill Dunk Duncan bomb an approved target in Pakistan, they hit not a meeting between Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, as expected, but European aid workers and their patients. After their F-18 Hornet is shot down during the mission, the captured pilots wind up in The Hague, where they're charged with war crimes. Jack, who leads a hastily assembled team to defend Raw and Dunk, travels to Pakistan in a dangerous effort to find witnesses. Meanwhile, the U.S. government maneuvers to avoid the trial. Huston provides an intriguing look at international law, current American policies, and modern war.

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen

Fun. PW: Tourist season is swinging into high gear in Miami. So are the activities of a bizarre terrorist group determined to keep the hapless "snowbirds" away. Armed with bombs, weed, and jumbled credos, they move toward their grand target, the Orange Bowl Parade, with plans to bring Miami and its tourist trade to a halt.

Threat Vector by Tom Clancy, Mark Greaney

This was good and could have been excellent if it wasn't so long. The embellishments about daily life and family history for non impactful characters distracted from an exciting plot. PW: Jack Ryan has only just moved back into the Oval Office when he is faced with a new international threat. An aborted coup in the People's Republic of China has left President Wei Zhen Lin with no choice but to agree with the expansionist policies of General Su Ke Quiang. They have declared the South China Sea a protectorate and are planning an invasion of Taiwan. The Ryan administration is determined to thwart China’s ambitions, but the stakes are dangerously high as a new breed of powerful Chinese anti-ship missiles endanger the US Navy's plans to protect the island.

Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell

This is the best I've encountered in the Sharpe's series - very enjoyable. PW A guttersnipe who has risen through the ranks of the British army, Ensign Sharpe is sailing home to England from his latest campaign against Napoleon. Anticipating an uneventful voyage, the dashing young maverick discovers the intriguing and very married Lady Grace Hale on board the Calliope. But just as he wins his way into her heart, the ship is fired upon and, suddenly, he finds himself in the thick of one of history's most spectacular incidents: the Battle of Trafalgar.

Echo Burning by Lee Child

Entertaining. PW: Reacher is hitching through the heat of West Texas and getting desperate for a ride. The last thing he's worried about is exactly who picks him up. She's called Carmen. She's a good-looking young woman, she has a beautiful little girl...and she has married into the wrong family.

The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg

Think I'd try this author one more time. PW Jon Bennett is a top Wall Street strategist turned senior White House advisor. But nothing has prepared him for the terror that he will face. Saddam Hussein dispatches his top hit men to assassinate the President of the United States. Iraqi terrorists spread carnage throughout London, Paris, and Riyadh...and the Butcher of Baghdad has a nuclear ace in his hand that he has not yet played. Only a solid Arab-Israeli coalition against Iraq can keep the U.S. and other Western nations from certain devastation. And only Bennett and his beautiful partner, Erin McCoy, can make that happen. Their secret project - a billion dollar oil deal off the coast of Gaza - could be the basis for an historic peace treaty and enormous wealth for every Israeli and Palestinian. But just before the treaty can be signed, Israeli commandos foil an Iraqi scud missile launch, recovering a nuclear warhead and evidence that the next attack will level Washington, New York, and Tel Aviv.
Now, the Israeli prime minister gives the American President an ultimatum: melt down Baghdad within one hour...or Israel will do it herself.

Eyes of Prey by John Sandford

Very enjoyable. You get the sense that Stanford is developing his craft before you, trying new things sometimes awkwardly but usually deftly. PW: The death of the doctor's wife horrifies the Twin Cities, especially what the killer did to her eyes. A report comes in of a troll-like man near the murder scene, his face a patchwork of scars, but that bizarre clue is all Lieutenant Lucas Davenport has to go on as he attempts to sort out the murder. Still trying to recover from a pair of particularly brutal cases, bone-weary, his nerves fraying, Davenport isn't sure he's up to it — until it happens again, the same savagery, the same mutilation of the eyes, and he realizes he has no choice. Little by little, Davenport is drawn into the web of a man of extraordinary intelligence and evil, a master manipulator fascinated with all aspects of death: the dark mirror of Davenport's own soul. As the hunt winds through darker and ever more frightening events, Davenport knows there is no turning back. This is the case that will lift him back to life — or push him irrevocably over the edge.

And One Last Thing... by Molly Harper

It wasn't terrible and it was funny but boy is this a 'chick' book. No more. PW: Lacey Terwilliger's shock and humiliation over her husband's philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike's company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of "administrative support" his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike's family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before one can say "instant urban legend", Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town, a media punch line, and the defendant in Mike's defamation lawsuit.

Shadow Prey by John Sandford

Book 2 in this fabulous series. PW: In Shadow Prey, the crackling sequel to Rules of Prey, Twin Cities Sleuth Lucas Davenport teams up with NYPD Lieutenant Lily Rothenberg to track down an elusive killer, known only as Shadow Love. Among the victims are a Minneapolis slumlord, a judge from Oklahoma City, and a Manhattan politician. The murder weapon is a Native American ceremonial knife.

The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter

I really enjoy this series and the narrator is excellent. Wacky premiss but somehow this was really entertaining. PW Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived. More than 60 years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest.

Suspect by Robert Crais

Audible gave the first two chapters away for free. Not bad, but I don't think this author is for me.

Stick by Elmore Leonard

Excellent. Leonard is the Shakespeare of dialog. After serving time for armed robbery, Ernest "Stick" Stickley is back on the outside and trying to stay legit. But it's tough staying straight in a crooked town - and Miami is a pirate's paradise, where investment fat cats and lowlife drug dealers hold hands and dance. And when a crazed player chooses Stick at random to die for another man's sins, the struggling ex-con is left with no choice but to dive right back into the game. Besides, Stick knows a good thing when he sees it - and a golden opportunity to run a very profitable sweet revenge scam seems much too tasty to pass up.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

OK, but I was disappointed. One of the few times the movie is better than the book.

Bloodmoney by David Ignatius

Too much back story. To many details about non relevant parts of the story. It's like he writes an hour a day and includes all of the details that came out of that day's writings. Too bad, because Ignatius is a good writer.

The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva

Very entertaining.

Mind Prey by John Sandford

More great entertainment with Lucas et al.

Certain Prey by John Sandford

Man this guy just keeps putting out winners. Another entertaining Lucas Davenport thriller with the excellent narration of Richard Feronne.

Black Site by Dalton Fury

Sniper with most kills autobiography. Lots of interesting insights, but you don't end up caring much about the main character.

The Inside Ring by Michael Lawson

First in the series is a solid enjoyable read.

American Sniper by Chris Kyle , Scott McEwan

Fascinating subject matter, un-engaging author. The author comes across as smart and brave but narrow minded, angry and not likable. PW: From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyles kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

House Blood by Mike Lawson

The 7th Joe DeMarco thriller is at least as good as it's predecessors. Looking forward to the next one. Joe Barrett is a great narrator. PW: n House Blood, Lawson introduces us to Orson Mulray, CEO of Mulray Pharma, a cold and calculating man obsessed with profit and prestige. Mulray believes he has discovered a drug that could prevent a previously incurable disease. It could be the salvation of millions of people and earn him billions of dollars. But the drug needs to be tested on human subjects, and Mulray needs more than blood samples - he needs autopsy results. When DeMarco is asked to look into the murder conviction of a lobbyist, he has other worries on his mind: His boss is no longer Speaker, his girlfriend has left him, and his friend Emma may be dying. DeMarco doesn’t expect to free the lobbyist - much less become the target of two of the most callous killers he and Emma have ever encountered.

Vigilante by Stephen J. Cannell

Abridged audio. A fun and light entry into the Shane Scully series. PW: Lita Mendez was a thorn in the LAPD's side. An aggressive police critic and gang activist, she’d filed countless complaints against the department. So when she's found dead in her home, Detective Scully and his partner Hitchens fear the worst: that there's a killer in their ranks. Outside the crime scene, Nixon Nash and his television crew have set up shop. Nash is the charismatic host of a hit reality show called "Vigilante TV," dedicated to beating the cops at their own game: solving murders before they can. Now he has the murder of Lita Mendez in his sights. He presents the detectives with a choice: either join his team, or prepare for a public takedown.

Dream Team by Jack McCallum

Interesting insights into the Dream Team.

Coup d'Etat by Ben Coes

Over the top patriotism and length back stories that are not important to the plot detract from this otherwise interesting book. PW: When a fragile peace breaks down and promptly devolves into a rapidly escalating shooting war between Pakistan and India, the United States is forced to intervene. With only hours remaining before the conflict reaches a deadly point of no return, the White House must find a way to shut it down immediately - or risk the likelihood of a new global war. A radical cleric has become the democratically elected president of Pakistan and uses a brutal incident in the Kashmir region as an opportunity to ignite war with India. The highly lethal conventional war spins out of control when Pakistan initiates a nuclear attack. India is on the verge of launching their own nuclear response, one that will have unimaginably disastrous results for both the United States and the world at large. With only one chance to head this off, the president of the United States sends in his best people to do whatever it takes to restore the fragile peace to the region. With the clock ticking and Pakistan in the hands of a religious radical willing to do anything to destroy India, there remains only one viable option: to execute a coup d’état in Pakistan.

Power Down: Dewey Andreas, Book 1 by Ben Coes

This book needs an editor. Reading entire chapters that develop the back story of a character that gets killed and then has no impact on the plot is tiresome. Lots of interesting bits here, but equally there are side stories that an editor should help the author see are unnecessary. Coes has lots of potential if he can learn to focus on the plot. PW: A major North American hydroelectric dam is blown up and the largest off-shore oil field in this hemisphere is destroyed in a brutal, coordinated terrorist attack. But there was one factor that the terrorists didn’t take into account when they struck the Capitana platform off the coast of Colombia - slaughtering much of the crew and blowing up the platform - and that was the Capitana crew chief, Dewey Andreas. Dewey, former Army Ranger and Delta, survives the attack, rescuing as many of his men as possible. But the battle has just begun. While the intelligence and law enforcement agencies scramble to untangle these events and find the people responsible, the mysterious figure of Alexander Fortuna - an agent embedded into the highest levels of American society and business - sets into play the second stage of these long-planned attacks. The only fly in the ointment is Dewey Andreas - who is using all his long-dormant skills to fight his way off the platform, then out of Colombia and back to the U.S., following the trail of terrorists and operatives sent to stop him.

The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake

Fun, light and forgettable. PW The Hot Rock introduces John Archibald Dortmunder, the thief whose capers never quite come off, as he and his convict friends plot to steal the fabulous Balaboma Emerald.

Hidden Prey by John Sandford

Very good. PW Six months ago, Lucas Davenport tackled his first case as a statewide troubleshooter, and he thought that one was plenty strange enough. But that was before the Russian got killed. On the shore of Lake Superior, a man named Vladimir Oleshev is found shot dead, three holes in his head and heart, and though nobody knows why he was killed, everybody - the local cops, the FBI, and the Russians themselves - has a theory. And when it turns out he had very high government connections, that's when it hits the fan. A Russian cop flies in from Moscow, Davenport flies in from Minneapolis, law enforcement and press types swarm the crime scene - and, in the middle of it all, there is another murder. Is there a relationship between the two? What is the Russian cop hiding from Davenport? Is she - yes, it's a woman - a cop at all? Why was the man shot with ... fifty-year-old bullets? Before he can find the answers, Davenport will have to follow a trail back to another place, another time, and battle the shadows he discovers there - shadows that turn out to be both very real and very deadly.

The Black Box by Michael Connelly

Very enjoyable. PW In a case that spans 20 years, Harry Bosch links the bullet from a recent crime to a file from 1992, the killing of a young female photographer during the L.A. riots. Harry originally investigated the murder, but it was then handed off to the Riot Crimes Task Force and never solved. Now Bosch's ballistics match indicates that her death was not random violence, but something more personal, and connected to a deeper intrigue. Like an investigator combing through the wreckage after a plane crash, Bosch searches for the "black box", the one piece of evidence that will pull the case together.

The Poet by Michael Connelly

Excellent, a great thriller - Connelly at his best. PW: Our hero is Jack McEvoy, a Rocky Mountain News crime-beat reporter. As the story opens, Jack's twin brother, a Denver homicide detective, has just killed himself. Or so it seems. But when Jack begins to investigate the phenomenon of police suicides, a disturbing pattern emerges, and soon suspects that a serial murderer is at work - a devious cop killer who's left a coast-to-coast trail of "suicide notes" drawn from the poems of Edgar Allan Poe. It's the story of a lifetime - except that "the Poet" already seems to know that Jack is trailing him. . .

City Primeval by Elmore Leonard

Another exciting and fun ride with Leonard. PW: Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The seriously crazed killer is already back on the Detroit streets - thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his crafty looker of a lawyer - and he's feeling invincible enough to execute a crooked Motown judge on a whim. Homicide Detective Raymond Cruz thinks the "Oklahoma Wildman" crossed the line long before this latest outrage, and he's determined to see that the hayseed psycho does not slip through the legal system's loopholes a second time. But that means a good cop is going to have to play somewhat fast and loose with the rules - in order to maneuver Mansell into a wild Midwest showdown that he won't be walking away from.

Deep Sky by Patrick Lee

Started but didn't finish. Author had interesting ideas but spent so much time going on side trips that main objective was lost.

Get Real by Donald E. Westlake

My first Westlake read and I'm excited to read more of the Dortmunder series. Light, funny, witty dialog... PW: Eluding the law has always been high on Dortmunder's list. But getting caught red-handed is inevitable in his next caper, when a TV producer convinces this thief and his merry gang to star in a reality show that captures their next score. The producer even guarantees to keep the show from being used as evidence against them. They're dubious at first, but the pay's good, so they sign on.

Endgame by Frank Brady

Fascinating account of Bobby Fischer's life.

The Forgotten by David Baldacci

Baldacci can generate great stories - this one is not great but entertaining. PW: Army Special Agent John Puller is the best there is. A combat veteran, Puller is the man the U.S. Army relies on to investigate the toughest crimes facing the nation. Now he has a new case - but this time, the crime is personal: His aunt has been found dead in Paradise, Florida. A picture-perfect town on Florida's Gulf Coast, Paradise thrives on the wealthy tourists and retirees drawn to its gorgeous weather and beaches. The local police have ruled his aunt's death an unfortunate, tragic accident. But just before she died, she mailed a letter to Puller's father, telling him that beneath its beautiful veneer, Paradise is not all it seems to be. What Puller finds convinces him that his aunt's death was no accident… and that the palm trees and sandy beaches of Paradise may hide a conspiracy so shocking that some will go to unthinkable lengths to make sure the truth is never revealed.

The Last Man by Vince Flynn

9/14 Listened to this again and really enjoyed it.

Another enjoyable Mitch Rapp episode, though one of the weaker adventures. PW: The four dead guards didn’t concern Mitch Rapp as much as the absence of the man they’d been paid to protect. Joe Rickman wasn’t just another foot soldier. For the last eight years Rickman had ran the CIA’s clandestine operations in Afghanistan. It was a murky job that involved working with virtually every disreputable figure in the Islamic Republic. More than a quarter billion dollars in cash had passed through Rickman’s hands during his tenure as the master of black ops and no one with a shred of sense wanted to know the details of how that money had been spent. At first glance it looks as if Rickman has been kidnapped, but Rapp knows certain things about his old friend that cause him to wonder if something more disturbing isn’t afoot. Irene Kennedy, the director of the CIA, has ordered Rapp to find Rickman at all costs. Rapp must navigate the ever-shifting landscape of Afghanistan as the Taliban, Iranians, Pakistanis and Russians all plot to claim their piece of the war torn state. With Afghanistan crumbling around him, Rapp must be as ruthless as his enemies and as deceitful as people in his own government if he has any hopes of completing his mission.

Moscow Sting by Alex Dryden

My first book by Dryden and while the book was a little slow, I'd try another one of his future books. PW: When Finn, a former British spy, is poisoned by a Russian assassin, his ex-boss Adrian, chief of MI6, wants vengeance. He also wants answers - information that only Finn's widow, Anna, knows. But the former KGB colonel who betrayed her country for love vanished with their child shortly after Finn's death. Adrian isn't the only one eager to find Anna. Finn accessed intelligence so sensitive that the KGB are willing to kill again to protect it - a chase that has piqued the interest of the major intelligence agencies, be they government-sponsored or private, around the world. Though Medvedev has assumed the presidency, everyone knows that Putin continues to pull all the strings. Just what is Russia concealing beneath its immense new oil wealth and veil of political cordiality? Anna holds the key to unlocking the secrets of her motherland. Taken to America for protection and information, the former Russian agent faces her greatest test: to ensure her freedom and protect her child, she must uncover the full truth before anyone else - even as friend and foe both set her in their sights. Moving from Paris to New York, the Kremlin to the American Southwest, Moscow Sting is an absorbing and timely tale of intrigue, betrayal, fatal lies, and complex truths, told with the authentic detail and chilling insight of an experienced insider.

Leader of the Pack by David Rosenfelt

I like Rosenfelt's formula. Just like the other Andy Carpenter books, fun, light, forgettable. Wish there were more of them. PW: Over the course of his legal career, Andy Carpenter has lost a few cases. But that doesn’t mean he forgets his clients. Andy has always been convinced that Joey Desimone, a man convicted of murder nine years ago, was innocent and believes that Joey’s family’s connections to organized crime played a pivotal role in his conviction. While there isn’t much Andy can do for him while he serves out his prison sentence, Joey suggests that he check up on Joey’s elderly uncle. He’d rather not, but as a favor to Joey, Andy agrees to take his dog, Tara, on a few visits. The old man’s memory is going, but when Andy tries to explain why he’s there, it jogs something in the man’s mind, and his comments leave Andy wondering if Uncle Nick is confused, or if he just might hold the key to Joey’s freedom after all this time. Andy grabs on to this thread of possibility and follows it into a world where the oath of silence is stronger than blood ties, and where people will do anything to make sure their secrets are kept.

The Gray Man by Mark Greaney

Greaney regurgitates good bits from lots of modern spy thrillers but the net result is stiff and underwhelming. I'd try another of his books as this was his first and maybe he'll get a groove. PW: Greaney's debut novel - and future feature film - introduces the enigmatic and elusive Court Gentry, a former CIA operative and a legendary hired gun. With a terrifying ability to vaporize targets and a strict moral code, he stalks the gray margins of the world, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, then fading away. When his government and former employers turn on him, there is no safehouse to run to, no way to lie low. In a constant state of escape and pursuit, Gentry tears through the Middle East and Europe in a riveting life-or-death race against time.

Raylan by Elmore Leonard

This, the third book in the Raylan series is the strongest. I marvel at how well Leonard writes dialog. There is no one better. Even though the ending is weak, as a whole, this is a fun book. PW: With the closing of the Harlan County, Kentucky, coalmines, marijuana has become the biggest cash crop in the state. A hundred pounds of it can gross three-hundred thousand dollars, but that’s chump change compared to the quarter million a human body can get you - especially when it’s sold off piece-by-piece. So when Dickie and Coover Crowe, dope-dealing brothers known for sampling their own supply, decide to branch out into the body business, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens to stop them. But by the time Raylan finds out who’s making the cuts, he’s lying naked in a bathtub, with Layla the cool transplant nurse about to go for his kidneys.

Nightlife by Thomas Perry

Perry is a clever writer and often brilliant. Nightlife shows both but is so diluted with back stories that the plot suffers. The characters are so well developed, it would be nice if Perry exposed them like Elmore Leonard, without telling us about them and letting their personalities fill us in. The characters are very well defined and likable. PW: When the cousin of Los Angeles underworld figure Hugo Poole is found shot to death in his Portland, Oregon, home, police find nothing at the scene of the crime except several long strands of blonde hair hinting that a second victim may have been involved. Hotel security tapes from the victim's last vacation reveal an out-of-focus picture of a young blond woman entering and leaving his room. Could she also be a murder victim? Portland homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is determined to solve the case and locate the missing blonde, but her feelings, and the investigation, are complicated when Hugo hires private detective Joe Pitt to perform a parallel investigation. As Joe and Catherine form an uneasy alliance, the murder count rises, and both realize that the pretty young woman in the security tapes is not a victim at all. As Catherine follows the evidence, she finds herself in a deadly contest with an unpredictable adversary capable of changing her appearance and identity at will. Catherine must use everything she knows, as a homicide detective and as a woman, to stop a murderer who kills on impulse and with ease, and who becomes more efficient and elusive with each crime.

As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson

The latest in the Walt Longmire series is excellent. I don't think there's been a weak link in the chain and this episode is at the top of them all. PW: Embarking on his eighth adventure in As the Crow Flies, Sheriff Longmire is searching the Cheyenne Reservation for a site to host his daughter’s wedding, when he sees a woman fall to her death. Teaming up with beautiful tribal chief Lolo Long, Walt sets out to investigate the suspicious death.

The Safe Man by Michael Connelly

Safe cracker "box man" opens a safe with evil and can see the future. Didn't do it for me.

The Racketeer by John Grisham

Like so many Grisham books the antagonist is again an overwhelming force that makes the world seem bleak. But also like the best Grisham books the plots are creative and intriguing. The book starts of slow and angry and gets better as it goes. Didn't really enjoy the narration. PW Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s untimely demise? His name, for the moment, is Malcolm Bannister. Job status? Former attorney. Current residence? The Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland. On paper, Malcolm’s situation isn’t looking too good these days, but he’s got an ace up his sleeve. He knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and he knows why. The judge’s body was found in his remote lakeside cabin. There was no forced entry, no struggle, just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.
What was in the safe? The FBI would love to know. And Malcolm Bannister would love to tell them. But everything has a price—especially information as explosive as the sequence of events that led to Judge Fawcett’s death. And the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday....

Honor Bound by W. E. B. Griffin

First book in the Honor Bound series was enjoyable. May listen to more in the series, but the narrators are not as interesting as Dick Hill. PW It's 1942. A Marine aviator, an Army paratrooper and demolitions expert, and a non-com radio man are on an impossible mission for the OSS - sabotaging the resupply of German ships and submarines by any means necessary! First Lieutenant Cletus Frade is fresh from Guadalcanal. He teams up with Second Lieutenant Anthony Pelosi and Sergeant David Ettinger for the most critical OSS operation of the war. Under the direction of the mysterious Colonel Loman, they venture into a simmering stew of German and Allied agents, collaborators, and government security thugs, of men and women hiding their pasts and plotting their futures - all in supposedly neutral city of Buenos Aires.

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young

I don't know if I'd say this is a good book, but I enjoyed it. Keith Carradine's narration didn't do it for me. I liked the books composition of short stories that wandered around and crossed paths from time to time.

Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter

Passable entertainment, the worst book I've read by this author. Even so I look forward to reading more by Hunter, particularly in the Bob Lee Swagger series, this book was about Earl, his father. PW Earl Swagger is tough as hell. But even tough guys have their secrets. Plagued by the memory of his abusive father, apprehensive about his own impending parenthood, Earl is a decorated ex-Marine of absolute integrity — and overwhelming melancholy. Now he’s about to face his biggest, bloodiest challenge yet. It is the summer of 1946, organized crime’s garish golden age, when American justice seems to have gone to seed for good. Nowhere is this more true than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the reigning capital of corruption. When the district attorney vows to bring down the mob, Earl is recruited to run the show. As casino raids erupt into nerve-shattering combat amid screaming prostitutes and fleeing johns, the body count mounts — along with the suspense.

The Panther by Nelson DeMille

Enjoyable but the weakest book in the series. Throughout the book the main character cracks unspoken jokes and as I didn't find them funny, it quickly became tiresome. PW Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have been posted overseas to Sana'a, Yemen - one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. While there, they will be working with a small team to track down one of the masterminds behind the USS Cole bombing: a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as The Panther. Ruthless and elusive, he's wanted for multiple terrorist acts and murders - and the U.S. government is determined to bring him down, no matter the cost. As latecomers to a deadly game, John and Kate don't know the rules, the players, or the score. What they do know is that there is more to their assignment than meets the eye - and that the hunters are about to become the hunted.

Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda

Read this in high school but it was too boring to complete 30 years later.

Mad River by John Sandford

Boy these Virgil Flowers books are sure fun, I think even better than the Lucas Davenport series. Can't wait for the next... PW: Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what’s-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns. The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers’ cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn’t realize what’s about to happen next.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child

Enjoyed book #17 of the Jack Reacher series. Oddly slow in some places but still kept me interested. PW Four people in a car, hoping to make Chicago by morning. One man driving, eyes on the road. Another man next to him, telling stories that don’t add up. A woman in the back, silent and worried. And next to her, a huge man with a broken nose, hitching a ride east to Virginia. An hour behind them, a man lies stabbed to death in an old pumping station. He was seen going in with two others, but he never came out. He has been executed, the knife work professional, the killers vanished. Within minutes, the police are notified.  Within hours, the FBI descends, laying claim to the victim without ever saying who he was or why he was there.

 

Contact by Carl Sagan

Couldn't get interested, didn't read very much of it.

Dead Zero by Stephen Hunter

Really enjoyed this Lee Swagger episode where he teams up with his younger version. PW The idea that Stephen Hunter could write a Bob Lee Swagger novel in which the legendary Vietnam sniper doesn’t pull a single trigger seems inconceivable. Not that there isn’t plenty of trigger-pulling by others in this tale of a contemporary marine sniper gone rogue. Swagger, now in his 60s, is drafted by the FBI to find Sergeant Roy Cruz, who was presumed dead after his attempted assassination of an Afghan warlord went awry. The warlord has now changed sides and is being groomed as “our man in Kabul,” but the resurfaced Cruz isn’t buying the conversion and appears determined to finish his original mission. Swagger, charged with stopping any attempt on the Afghan leader’s life, soon finds himself sympathizing with his fellow sniper and convinced that CIA generals are behind a secret program to ramp up the war on terror. It’s a juicy premise, which Hunter admits adapting from Patrick Alexander’s 1977 Death of a Thin-Skinned Animal; transformed to a contemporary setting, it evokes the government-treachery themes of 24 but does so with less cartoony derring-do and a considerably more nuanced exploration of the psychology of the soldier. Only the revelation of a connection between Swagger and Cruz seems a bit artificial, but this is a top-notch thriller all the same, showing that Bob the Nailer is just as (well, almost as) compelling a hero without his guns.

Storm Prey by John Sandford

Very good just what you'd expect from the Lucas Davenport series. PW: And this time, there's a storm brewing...Very early, 4:45, on a bitterly cold Minnesota morning, three big men burst through the door of a hospital pharmacy, duct-tape the hands, feet, mouth, and eyes of two pharmacy workers, and clean the place out. But then things swiftly go bad, one of the workers dies, and the robbers hustle out to their truck-and find themselves for just one second face-to-face with a blond woman in the garage: Weather Karkinnen, surgeon, wife of an investigator named Lucas Davenport.

Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Enjoyable and level handed. The bailout is looked at from many points of view.

The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum

Excellent. Ludlum was the best spy writer and his stuff still stands up after many years (1983) and re-readings. PW: Michael Havelock's world died on a moonlit beach on the Costa Brava. He watched as his partner and lover, Jenna Karats, double agent, was efficiently gunned down by his own agency. There was nothing left for him but to quit the game, get out. Until, in one frantic moment on a crowded railroad platform in Rome, Havelock saw his Jenna alive. From then on, he was marked for death by both U.S. and Russian assassins, racing around the globe after his beautiful betrayer, trapped in a massive mosaic of treachery created by a top-level mole with the world in his fist.

Riptide by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Mediocre. PW: A centuries-old, cursed pirate's treasure, valued at over $2 billion, lies deep within the treacherous waters off the coast of Maine. Men who have attempted to unearth the fortune have suffered gruesome deaths. Will a high-tech expedition meet the same fate?

Stolen Prey by John Sandford

Like all the Lucas Davenport books in this series (this is #22) this is solid entertainment. I would have rated it 5 stars if the torture wasn't so graphic. Even includes a guest visit from Virgil Flowers. PW: Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes. This is one of the worst. In the small Minnesota town of Deephaven, an entire family has been killed - husband, wife, two daughters, dogs. There’s something about the scene that pokes at Lucas’s cop instincts - it looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he’s seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank. It just doesn’t seem to fit.

Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard

Leonard is a master and this is him at his best. Other than a weak ending this book is outstanding. PW: World-class gentleman felon Jack Foley is busting out of Florida's Glades Prison when he runs head on into a shotgun-wielding Karen Sisco. Suddenly, he's sharing a cramped car trunk with the classy, disarmed federal marshal, and the chemistry is working overtime - and as soon as she escapes, he's already missing her. But there are bad men and a major score waiting for Jack in Motown. And the next time his path crosses Karen's, chances are she's going to be there for business, not pleasure.

Covert Warriors: Presidential Agent Series, Book 7 by W. E. B. Griffin

The soap opera continues as strong as ever...

The Trinity Game by Sean Chercover

Chercover is very good, I hope he writes a lot of books. This was the weakest of his three but still very good. Deep characters make for an interesting discussion on religion while untangling the mystery/thriller.

The Outlaws: Presidential Agent Series, Book 6 by W. E. B. Griffin

Loved it! This is a figgen macho soap opera and I can't turn the channel. The fella's have fallen out of grace with the new president and have to contend with that whilst saving the world.