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The Medici Secret by Michael White. Another grail-type adventure 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/30/2008 6:41 PM
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You know how these grail-type search books are. Scientists, lost papers found (but only scraps) clues to treasure hidden all over the place and encrypted, crypts, churches, baddies on the trail, murders, goodies only just ahead etc etc. The Medici Secret by Michael White [ISBN 978 0 099 52018 4] is a mixture of all of these and is mostly very contrived.
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Tainted Blood by Arnaldur Indriason. Icelandic Crime fiction 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/25/2008 9:40 AM
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Arnaldur Indriason’s novel Tainted Blood [ISBN 978 0 099 51312 4] is absorbing and fascinating in every way – not only is the Icelandic context interesting but the central mystery itself is really gripping
Its well-planned, well written and a good read.
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Death’s Door by Quintin Jardine. Scottish crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/19/2008 9:13 AM
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Death’s Door by Quintin Jardine [ISBN 978 0 7553 2911 3] does not really deserve a 8/10, but it is a pretty good read. I’m afraid that I cannot bear the overweening character of Bob Skinner – its lucky that he was on leave for most of the book. He is so nauseatingly macho and arrogant I’m sure the Scottish police force would manage so much better without him. Goodish plot, good narrative except where Bob takes over with little effect …..
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Absolute Power by David Baldacci. American thriller 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/17/2008 9:09 AM
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David Baldacci’s novel Absolute Power [ISBN 978 0 330 41964 2] kept me pinned to my seat for the duration (not that I made it at one session as it’s quite a weighty tome). The plot is brilliant, though much is revealed to the reader with its pacy double narrative (I like this, you can know so much more than the cops for ages) it doesn’t help you to necessarily work out what will happen.
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Triptych by Karin Slaughter. American thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/12/2008 12:12 PM
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Karin Slaughter’s novel Triptych [ISBN 978 0 09 948183 6] is well-constructed with a good plot a nicely structured and paced complex double narrative and a collection of psychologically flawed characters – both goodies and baddies – it’s a miracle how the former ever get near to the latter.
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The Secret Friend by Chris Mooney. American Crime fiction 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/9/2008 10:00 AM
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The Secret Friend by Chris Mooney [ISBN 978 0 141 03087 6] is not a bad read altogether, but I did feel the plot was reminiscent of more than one serial killer novels. The dual narratives (especially that of the killer) gave a growing disturbing creepy feel to the novel, which had a strange twist of having a renegade FBI bloke-turned killer beating her to find all the clues.
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Pursuit by Brian Gallagher. Thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/8/2008 1:31 PM
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The title says it all – Pursuit by Brian Gallagher [ISBN 1 84223 136 7] is just that – a chase. It’s a well-thought out plot though a little far fetched at times, though it’s the well-written narrative that creates a page-turner. The characters are fairly drawn, but not good enough to lose sleep over
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The Art of Dying by Vena Cork. British thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
9/5/2008 9:16 AM
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Newish author (2nd novel) Vena Cork has written a very readable novel, The Art of dying [ISBN 0 7553 2397 1]The plot is set up quite well with enough red herrings to keep you guessing –and the narrative is nicely structured to keep the reader turning the page (though readers like me who tend to skip the odd paragraph that clearly doesn’t move the plot forward much will turn them much faster at times). The ending is not of the most brilliant but at least she manages to keep you guessing for most of the book.
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