Monday, February 25, 2013

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.

Friday, February 22, 2013

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.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

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.

Saturday, February 09, 2013

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.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

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.

Saturday, February 02, 2013

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.