Finished Tu 10/30/18
This is a hardback that I bought at last June's library sidewalk book sale.
I just flat-out loved the story-line and her writing style, and I wished that the book wouldn't end. And that's a rare thing for me.
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Quindlen
IN BROAD STROKES-
Rebecca Winter is a sixty year old divorced woman now living in a run-down cabin in rural NY state. She had an apartment on West 67th in NYC and she's rented this out to try to make money to pay her financial obligations. She has a mother in an old age home- this woman was a concert pianist and continues to play on tables, chairs, etc- she's suffering from dementia. Her ex- husband is a womanizer and has remarried several times- no contact with him except through her son. Ben, her son, is a college graduate and has been having a hard time getting established. He is working as a production assistant on a small film.
Rebecca links up with a roofer. The book opens with a raccoon that's trapped in her attic. The roofer, Jim Bates, traps the animal and shoots it. He's twenty years her junior- big blonde- headed muscular man.
Sarah- runs the coffee shop 'Tea For Two (and more)'
Kevin- her husband. Rips off people selling green firewood; an elderly slacker, lay-about, chiseler.
The title refers to one of her award winning photos. It was a shot of a sink full of dirty dishes. She was kind of a feminist "Kitchen Photographer/ Artist".
Intense close-ups of Ben
Close- ups of dogs Jack (Polly's dog) who Rebecca just calls 'Dog'.
Polly is Jim's sister. This woman has always had mental issues; Bipolar or schizophrenic. Jim was married and he and his wife lived with Polly. Jim's wife left for warmer weather. She has a rich husband and many children.
Rebecca learns to walk around her property and discovers small crosses with strange things. These are Polly's 'farewell to life' pieces. Basically they are one long suicide note.
On the night of a huge snowstorm Jim and Rebecca have slept together for the first time. He leaves and promises to come back with lasagna for the next day's supper. He doesn't return because Polly has committed suicide. She walked up on the roof of her trailer and just went to sleep in a drift of snow.
When Jim sees the pictures of the crosses at Rebecca's exhibit Jim is pissed. He hasn't talked to Rebecca in months and finally he confronts her and explained the real story behind the crosses. Rebecca understands and says she will not sell them.
In the end, they marry. Sarah divorces and finds 'The Other Jim"- her new husband's name is Jim. Ben marries and has a kid, Oliver. Jim and Rebecca build a new house on the property and use the old cabin as her studio.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
THE FORGOTTEN by David Baldacci
Finished Su 10/28/18
This is a paperback that Janny loaned to me the last time that Joe and Janny visited Westview for pizza.
A crackling plot-line, and the writing is better than Lee Child, but not as good as Michael Connelly or Greg Iles.
The title refers to the abject poor of the world. The central theme of the novel is the smuggling of people. They are even color-coded; 'Green' for future prostitutes, 'Red' for common laborers, 'Blue' for drug mules. Obviously, 'Labor' is a major cost to business and slave labor is very enticing to their bottom line. Modern day slavers might be the next illegal Big Business that will become more lucrative than the drugs or that it will become a major part of the business; smuggle drugs AND smuggle people.
John Puller is on leave from a major case that he has solved for the Army, CID. The details of this case are not in the novel, and Puller is probably a character in a Baldacci series.
NOTE: There are four books in the Puller series. 'THE FORGOTTEN' is book #2.
Puller's father is a retired three star general who is suffering from the initial stages of dementia. He has received a strange letter from his sister. John Puller was basically raised by his father's sister. Nothing is mentioned about what happened to his real mother.
John Puller travels to Paradise, FL. to contact his Aunt Betsy, his father's sister. She has drowned in her reflecting pool. It's called an accident, but Puller thinks it might be murder.
A parallel plot involves Mecho, a giant of a man from Bulgaria. Late in the novel it's revealed that his sister had been kidnapped by these modern day slavers.
The slaves are imprisoned on an abandoned drilling platform in the Gulf. Mecho was rounded up by the slavers, but he easily swims to the Florida shore. He witnesses two people, a couple, shot in the head and pulled back into the bay.
The reason that this couple, Puller's aunt, and her neighbor were murdered is that these people witnessed the staging area on the beach where the slaves were brought in from the off-shore drilling stations.
Mr. Lampert is the richest man in the area and lives in the largest mansion. He is the brains behind the entire smuggling operation. His partner is a ruthless man from Columbia, Rojas. This man is not caught, but he's always been in the sights of the authorities.
Murdoch is a woman living on Lampert's compound. She is his mistress, but also is a south american agent working to stop the slaving operation.
Landry is a female cop from Paradise. She is actually working for Lampert, but in the beginning she is presented as a possible love interest for Puller.
Carson is a female one star general and a close friend of Puller's. He contacts her on the phone for information about his aunt, and Carson soon comes to Florida to help him. She's on leave or vacation.
THE BIG SHOOT-OUT- Landry, Puller, Carson, and Landry take a Rigid Inflatable Rubber Boat (RIB boat) to the drilling station (during a hurricane) to free the slaves. It's a big military style operation, and they win.
The Big Reveal is that Landry is shown to be working for the bad guys, and Puller had loaded her gun with blanks so that she wouldn't work against-kill- the good guys.
Although Mecho never finds his sister, he does convince Puller that Lampert can be smuggled back to Bulgaria and face charges there. He will be worked like a slave for the rest of his life.
There were various fights at Puller's hotel with a local gang. Puller is always able to take out a half dozen of them with little or no effort. In one case, Mecho is his next door neighbor (they didn't know each other) and Mecho took out two gang members that Puller hadn't counted on.
This is a paperback that Janny loaned to me the last time that Joe and Janny visited Westview for pizza.
A crackling plot-line, and the writing is better than Lee Child, but not as good as Michael Connelly or Greg Iles.
The title refers to the abject poor of the world. The central theme of the novel is the smuggling of people. They are even color-coded; 'Green' for future prostitutes, 'Red' for common laborers, 'Blue' for drug mules. Obviously, 'Labor' is a major cost to business and slave labor is very enticing to their bottom line. Modern day slavers might be the next illegal Big Business that will become more lucrative than the drugs or that it will become a major part of the business; smuggle drugs AND smuggle people.
John Puller is on leave from a major case that he has solved for the Army, CID. The details of this case are not in the novel, and Puller is probably a character in a Baldacci series.
NOTE: There are four books in the Puller series. 'THE FORGOTTEN' is book #2.
Puller's father is a retired three star general who is suffering from the initial stages of dementia. He has received a strange letter from his sister. John Puller was basically raised by his father's sister. Nothing is mentioned about what happened to his real mother.
John Puller travels to Paradise, FL. to contact his Aunt Betsy, his father's sister. She has drowned in her reflecting pool. It's called an accident, but Puller thinks it might be murder.
A parallel plot involves Mecho, a giant of a man from Bulgaria. Late in the novel it's revealed that his sister had been kidnapped by these modern day slavers.
The slaves are imprisoned on an abandoned drilling platform in the Gulf. Mecho was rounded up by the slavers, but he easily swims to the Florida shore. He witnesses two people, a couple, shot in the head and pulled back into the bay.
The reason that this couple, Puller's aunt, and her neighbor were murdered is that these people witnessed the staging area on the beach where the slaves were brought in from the off-shore drilling stations.
Mr. Lampert is the richest man in the area and lives in the largest mansion. He is the brains behind the entire smuggling operation. His partner is a ruthless man from Columbia, Rojas. This man is not caught, but he's always been in the sights of the authorities.
Murdoch is a woman living on Lampert's compound. She is his mistress, but also is a south american agent working to stop the slaving operation.
Landry is a female cop from Paradise. She is actually working for Lampert, but in the beginning she is presented as a possible love interest for Puller.
Carson is a female one star general and a close friend of Puller's. He contacts her on the phone for information about his aunt, and Carson soon comes to Florida to help him. She's on leave or vacation.
THE BIG SHOOT-OUT- Landry, Puller, Carson, and Landry take a Rigid Inflatable Rubber Boat (RIB boat) to the drilling station (during a hurricane) to free the slaves. It's a big military style operation, and they win.
The Big Reveal is that Landry is shown to be working for the bad guys, and Puller had loaded her gun with blanks so that she wouldn't work against-kill- the good guys.
Although Mecho never finds his sister, he does convince Puller that Lampert can be smuggled back to Bulgaria and face charges there. He will be worked like a slave for the rest of his life.
There were various fights at Puller's hotel with a local gang. Puller is always able to take out a half dozen of them with little or no effort. In one case, Mecho is his next door neighbor (they didn't know each other) and Mecho took out two gang members that Puller hadn't counted on.
Friday, October 26, 2018
THE CROCODILE BIRD by Ruth Rendell
Finished Th 10/25/18
This is one of my very old hardbacks that I pulled because Janny lent me a copy of 'A SEVERED HEAD' by Iris Murdoch. This was an English social satire from 1961, I didn't read it, but it made me think of Rendell. And, several days later I stumbled upon 'THE CROCODILE BIRD'- very glad that I did.
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Rendell
I didn't realize she had written so many books, and that she also wrote under the name, 'Barbara Vine'. 'THE CROCODILE BIRD' is a stand-alone novel.
Plot summary from wikipedia-
"When her mother, Eve, tells Liza that she must leave their remote home, the gatehouse of a country mansion, Liza is terrified. Although sixteen years of age, she has never been on a bus or a train, has never played with a child of her own age. She has almost no knowledge of a world described by her mother as evil and destructive. Their strange, enclosed life together is over because Eve has killed a man. And he is not the first. With 1,000£ in cash, Liza is cast adrift. However, she is not alone. There is one particular secret she has kept from her mother - her love affair with a young man who worked in the gardens of the big house. With him, gradually Liza learns about the world, about herself, and must come to terms with the possibility that the murderous violence of her mother may be present in her".
The novel is set near Coventry, England in the late 80's and early 1990's. Coventry is near Manchester, England in the very central part of the country.
Eve is not exactly a 'female version of Blue Beard'. She grew up with Jonathan Tobias and his family owned Shrove House and he led her to believe that someday it would belong to her. In fact, years earlier a will was made in which Eve's mother and family would get the house. She kills three men and the first man tried to rape her, although this doesn't excuse her behavior. She set two doberman pincers on the man. The next murder is Bruno. This man was an artist and he probably wanted her to leave Liza and move away with him. Eve would never leave Liza or Shrove House, so this man had to go. And, finally she kills Jonathan when she finally realizes that she'll never get Shrove House and he never had any intention of marrying her,
Police are notified for the original murder- Trevor Hughes (she knew him as 'Hugh'). Matt the groundskeeper, the man who looked after the dogs probably alerted the police. The dogs were digging in the area where Eve had buried the body on the morning after the murder, and although they didn't find anything, but it seemed suspicious. Although many years had passed, Matt always remembered this incident. He never liked Eve because she despised him.
The novel begins with the police raid on Shrove House. Eve is preparing Liza to leave the gatehouse. She wants Eve to travel to London and live with Eve's college friend, Heather. Liza had only met this woman one time. And, to say that this would be ridiculously overwhelming for someone who had lived such a sheltered life would be seriously understating the obvious.
However, sixteen year old Liza had been having a secret affair with Sean, the gardener. Instead of going to London to live with Heather, Liza leaves with Sean in his camper van.
Sean is basically a good guy, but you can see that this could possibly grow into an abusive relationship. He wanted to be the man of the house and Liza (although she really hadn't grown into it) was infinitely smarter than Sean.
Basically, the novel is a big flashback in which Liza tells Sean the truly odd story of her life with Eve at the gatekeepers cottage at Shrove House.
The strange ending is that Liza realizes that she doesn't have the murderous impulses that her mother found so appealing. After Sean and Liza have been together for a couple of months, Sean gets a promotion and an opportunity to go to Scotland and train to become a manager in the chain that he is employed.
Liza is all set to sedate Sean with sleeping pills, and somehow murder him. She gets them from the house that she works as a house cleaner for Mrs. Spurdell. This old woman is a skinflint and hates to pay Liza anything at all, but here is where Liza meets her savior. Mrs. Spurdell's daughter, Jane Spurdell who lives on 76 Shrove Road ( Liza was born in 1976 and, of course, lived at Shrove House).
Instead of killing Sean and striking out on her own, she goes to Jane's house and asks Jane to help her get into school. She knows that she can live in the camper and if the authorities evict her, they are forced to provide her with housing. Also, Jane helps her arrange to contact Eve who is in jail for the murders of her lovers (or lover?)
It's really a trun-around to learn that Liza doesn't resort to killing. She's such an odd person, that this would seem to be logical to her, but I guess the point of the novel is that Eve didn't do such a bad job raising the girl, and maybe the isolated existence really did 'save' Liza from the ugliness of life.
This is one of my very old hardbacks that I pulled because Janny lent me a copy of 'A SEVERED HEAD' by Iris Murdoch. This was an English social satire from 1961, I didn't read it, but it made me think of Rendell. And, several days later I stumbled upon 'THE CROCODILE BIRD'- very glad that I did.
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Rendell
I didn't realize she had written so many books, and that she also wrote under the name, 'Barbara Vine'. 'THE CROCODILE BIRD' is a stand-alone novel.
Plot summary from wikipedia-
"When her mother, Eve, tells Liza that she must leave their remote home, the gatehouse of a country mansion, Liza is terrified. Although sixteen years of age, she has never been on a bus or a train, has never played with a child of her own age. She has almost no knowledge of a world described by her mother as evil and destructive. Their strange, enclosed life together is over because Eve has killed a man. And he is not the first. With 1,000£ in cash, Liza is cast adrift. However, she is not alone. There is one particular secret she has kept from her mother - her love affair with a young man who worked in the gardens of the big house. With him, gradually Liza learns about the world, about herself, and must come to terms with the possibility that the murderous violence of her mother may be present in her".
The novel is set near Coventry, England in the late 80's and early 1990's. Coventry is near Manchester, England in the very central part of the country.
Eve is not exactly a 'female version of Blue Beard'. She grew up with Jonathan Tobias and his family owned Shrove House and he led her to believe that someday it would belong to her. In fact, years earlier a will was made in which Eve's mother and family would get the house. She kills three men and the first man tried to rape her, although this doesn't excuse her behavior. She set two doberman pincers on the man. The next murder is Bruno. This man was an artist and he probably wanted her to leave Liza and move away with him. Eve would never leave Liza or Shrove House, so this man had to go. And, finally she kills Jonathan when she finally realizes that she'll never get Shrove House and he never had any intention of marrying her,
Police are notified for the original murder- Trevor Hughes (she knew him as 'Hugh'). Matt the groundskeeper, the man who looked after the dogs probably alerted the police. The dogs were digging in the area where Eve had buried the body on the morning after the murder, and although they didn't find anything, but it seemed suspicious. Although many years had passed, Matt always remembered this incident. He never liked Eve because she despised him.
The novel begins with the police raid on Shrove House. Eve is preparing Liza to leave the gatehouse. She wants Eve to travel to London and live with Eve's college friend, Heather. Liza had only met this woman one time. And, to say that this would be ridiculously overwhelming for someone who had lived such a sheltered life would be seriously understating the obvious.
However, sixteen year old Liza had been having a secret affair with Sean, the gardener. Instead of going to London to live with Heather, Liza leaves with Sean in his camper van.
Sean is basically a good guy, but you can see that this could possibly grow into an abusive relationship. He wanted to be the man of the house and Liza (although she really hadn't grown into it) was infinitely smarter than Sean.
Basically, the novel is a big flashback in which Liza tells Sean the truly odd story of her life with Eve at the gatekeepers cottage at Shrove House.
The strange ending is that Liza realizes that she doesn't have the murderous impulses that her mother found so appealing. After Sean and Liza have been together for a couple of months, Sean gets a promotion and an opportunity to go to Scotland and train to become a manager in the chain that he is employed.
Liza is all set to sedate Sean with sleeping pills, and somehow murder him. She gets them from the house that she works as a house cleaner for Mrs. Spurdell. This old woman is a skinflint and hates to pay Liza anything at all, but here is where Liza meets her savior. Mrs. Spurdell's daughter, Jane Spurdell who lives on 76 Shrove Road ( Liza was born in 1976 and, of course, lived at Shrove House).
Instead of killing Sean and striking out on her own, she goes to Jane's house and asks Jane to help her get into school. She knows that she can live in the camper and if the authorities evict her, they are forced to provide her with housing. Also, Jane helps her arrange to contact Eve who is in jail for the murders of her lovers (or lover?)
It's really a trun-around to learn that Liza doesn't resort to killing. She's such an odd person, that this would seem to be logical to her, but I guess the point of the novel is that Eve didn't do such a bad job raising the girl, and maybe the isolated existence really did 'save' Liza from the ugliness of life.
Monday, October 22, 2018
THE ROUND HOUSE by Louise Erdrich
Finished Su 10/21/18
The October, 2018 selection for The Contemporary Book Club
Ojibwe Indians; North Dakota
In broad strokes, an Indian woman is raped on the Indian Reservation. Although she recovers from the attack, she is emotionally destroyed and becomes a recluse. Her 13 year old son and three of his friends try to right this injustice. The book is meant as a 'cautionary tale' about 'Maze of Injustice'. One in three Indian women are raped at some time during their lives, and the perpetrators are overwhelmingly non-Native men. Vote- YES- for the Tribal Law and Order Act.
Link to the act-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_Law_and_Order_Act_of_2010
Amnesty International MAZE OF INJUSTICE-
https://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/mazeofinjustice.pdf
Joe- Father is a lawyer/ judge; expert on Indian matters. Mother- Geraldine
Cappy- Joe's closet friend. His father was Doe Lafournais was tribal chairman. Randall- Cap's brother was an Indian dancer and knowledgeable of Indian mysticism.
Zack- father a musician and always on tour. Mother ran the tribal newspaper. His stepdad, Vince Madwesin was the tribal police officer.
Angus- He's from the poorest part of the Reservation.
Clemence and Edward- Joe's aunt and uncle; they live close to Joe and are like second parents when Geraldine has her breakdown.
Pearl- Joe's dog; named after Janis Joplin.
Linden Lark/ twin brother of Linda Wishkob (Lark). She works at the post office and was born very damaged. Her parents wanted to let her die.
Father Travis- Catholic priest; covered with scars from an explosion when he was a Marine. Handsome and very fit and cares about his congregation.
Mooshum- lives with Clemence and Edward; Joe's grandfather. Expert on The Indian Life- tells tales while he is asleep and Joe listens.
Sonja- a retired stripper and lives with Whitey. They run the local gas station/ store. The Lark family hates them because Sonja and Whitey got Lark's store and they lost everything.
Joe finds $40,000 in cash in a doll in a pond. The doll belonged to the baby that was abducted when Linden kidnapped the governor's girlfriend, Wolfskin. Linden did it to gain influence over the governor, Curtis Yeltow.
The only negative about the book is that it seems a little too much 'Young Adult', but still a very compelling read.
The October, 2018 selection for The Contemporary Book Club
Ojibwe Indians; North Dakota
In broad strokes, an Indian woman is raped on the Indian Reservation. Although she recovers from the attack, she is emotionally destroyed and becomes a recluse. Her 13 year old son and three of his friends try to right this injustice. The book is meant as a 'cautionary tale' about 'Maze of Injustice'. One in three Indian women are raped at some time during their lives, and the perpetrators are overwhelmingly non-Native men. Vote- YES- for the Tribal Law and Order Act.
Link to the act-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_Law_and_Order_Act_of_2010
Amnesty International MAZE OF INJUSTICE-
https://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/mazeofinjustice.pdf
Joe- Father is a lawyer/ judge; expert on Indian matters. Mother- Geraldine
Cappy- Joe's closet friend. His father was Doe Lafournais was tribal chairman. Randall- Cap's brother was an Indian dancer and knowledgeable of Indian mysticism.
Zack- father a musician and always on tour. Mother ran the tribal newspaper. His stepdad, Vince Madwesin was the tribal police officer.
Angus- He's from the poorest part of the Reservation.
Clemence and Edward- Joe's aunt and uncle; they live close to Joe and are like second parents when Geraldine has her breakdown.
Pearl- Joe's dog; named after Janis Joplin.
Linden Lark/ twin brother of Linda Wishkob (Lark). She works at the post office and was born very damaged. Her parents wanted to let her die.
Father Travis- Catholic priest; covered with scars from an explosion when he was a Marine. Handsome and very fit and cares about his congregation.
Mooshum- lives with Clemence and Edward; Joe's grandfather. Expert on The Indian Life- tells tales while he is asleep and Joe listens.
Sonja- a retired stripper and lives with Whitey. They run the local gas station/ store. The Lark family hates them because Sonja and Whitey got Lark's store and they lost everything.
Joe finds $40,000 in cash in a doll in a pond. The doll belonged to the baby that was abducted when Linden kidnapped the governor's girlfriend, Wolfskin. Linden did it to gain influence over the governor, Curtis Yeltow.
The only negative about the book is that it seems a little too much 'Young Adult', but still a very compelling read.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
THE CAMEL CLUB by David Baldacci
Finished Tu 10/16/18
This is the first book in 'The Camel Club' series by Baldacci. I got this as an e-book from the library.
Plot-
A CIA agent is found dead on a river near Washington DC. The killing was made to look like a suicide. This man was trading identities with dead terrorists.
There is a huge plot to kill the president. But, not to kill him, but to kidnap him. Brennan, the president, goes back to his home town. They are re-naming the town after him. At the ceremony, a veteran with a prosthetic hand is working with the terrorists. He has a nerve agent on the hand, and when he shakes the president's hand, he transfers the poison. The president goes down as if he had a heart attack, and the terrorists open fire, but using drug darts- not bullets.
A terrorist group takes credit and says that the president has been taken to Medina. He has, but not Medina in the middle east, but Medina, Ohio.
The Vice President, now in command, threatens a nuclear strike against Syria unless the president is not returned unharmed.
The Camel Club saves the day.
THE CLUB-
Oliver Stone- works as a caretaker in a cemetery and looks homeless- long hair/ beard
Milton Farb- dresses preppy. round eye glasses. Can remember any document that he's read one time- regardless of how complex. Crippled with OCD.
Reuben Rhodes- hulking hippie. Several tours of Vietnam and veteran of various spy agencies.
Caleb Shaw- a collector of rare books and works at the Library of Congress. dresses in 19th century garb.
Alex Ford- Secret Service Agent assigned to protect the president
All Baldacci's books are good, but the writing is pedestrian, but the story-lines are compelling.
This is the first book in 'The Camel Club' series by Baldacci. I got this as an e-book from the library.
Plot-
A CIA agent is found dead on a river near Washington DC. The killing was made to look like a suicide. This man was trading identities with dead terrorists.
There is a huge plot to kill the president. But, not to kill him, but to kidnap him. Brennan, the president, goes back to his home town. They are re-naming the town after him. At the ceremony, a veteran with a prosthetic hand is working with the terrorists. He has a nerve agent on the hand, and when he shakes the president's hand, he transfers the poison. The president goes down as if he had a heart attack, and the terrorists open fire, but using drug darts- not bullets.
A terrorist group takes credit and says that the president has been taken to Medina. He has, but not Medina in the middle east, but Medina, Ohio.
The Vice President, now in command, threatens a nuclear strike against Syria unless the president is not returned unharmed.
The Camel Club saves the day.
THE CLUB-
Oliver Stone- works as a caretaker in a cemetery and looks homeless- long hair/ beard
Milton Farb- dresses preppy. round eye glasses. Can remember any document that he's read one time- regardless of how complex. Crippled with OCD.
Reuben Rhodes- hulking hippie. Several tours of Vietnam and veteran of various spy agencies.
Caleb Shaw- a collector of rare books and works at the Library of Congress. dresses in 19th century garb.
Alex Ford- Secret Service Agent assigned to protect the president
All Baldacci's books are good, but the writing is pedestrian, but the story-lines are compelling.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
STONE COLD by David Baldacci
Finished Fr 10/5/18
This is a hardback that Janny loaned to me. She is a Baldacci Fan...and so am I. He is most definitely a 'heavy hitter' among the Usual Suspects- Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and Greg Ils.
However, I felt that there were a few too many moving parts in this novel. It is the third in a series by Baldacci concerning, 'The Camel Club- which is a small group of Washington DC mercenaries working under an ex-CIA hit-man, called 'Oliver Stone'.
Oliver Stone- works as a caretaker in a cemetery and looks homeless- long hair/ beard
Milton Farb- dresses preppy. round eye glasses. Can remember any document that he's read one time- regardless of how complex. Crippled with OCD.
Reuben Rhodes- hulking hippie. Several tours of Vietnam and veteran of various spy agencies.
Caleb Shaw- a collector of rare books and works at the Library of Congress. dresses in 19th century garb.
Although STONE COLD is a stand-alone novel I felt a little confused with all the characters since I wasn't aware of their past relationships.
PLOT-
Harry Finn works for US Security. He is to infiltrate American installations (airports/ dams/ US Congress/ nuclear facilities) to test their security systems. This was the most interesting part of the novel and it's revealed that Americans are probably not as safe as they believe.
Decades ago Finn's father was a major player in the CIA and was murdered by the agency to cover-up his involvement in a successful plan to kill two Russian heads of state so that Gorbachev could run the country. Finn's mother is alive and in hiding. She was believed to be a Russian spy and she is 'running' Harry to assassinate all of the agents that were responsible for her husband's death. Harry's work life is secret from his suburban wife and children.
Annabelle Conroy is one of the world's greatest con artists. She has recently conned Jerry Bagger, an Atlantic City casino owner/ mobster out of $40,000,000. She is at odds with her father, Paddy. She believes that he abandoned the family when her mother died. Later it's learned that he was in jail at the time and loved her mother dearly.
A major sub-plot is how Bagger tries to capture and kill Annabelle. Annabelle is kind of a member of The Camel Club (still don't know why it's called this name).
Alex Ford is an agent with the Secret Service and is helping Annabelle and the Camel Club.
Carter Gray is the evil head of all US intelligence services and he is trying to kill just about every other person in the novel and then keep it covered up. He has had a past relationship with Stone and this is not exactly clear.
When I finished STONE COLD I checked THE CAMEL CLUB out of the library on Kindle. This is the first in the series, STONE COLD is the third of five, and I think this will help my understanding greatly.
I liked the book, but I should have been more familiar with the series.
This is a hardback that Janny loaned to me. She is a Baldacci Fan...and so am I. He is most definitely a 'heavy hitter' among the Usual Suspects- Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and Greg Ils.
However, I felt that there were a few too many moving parts in this novel. It is the third in a series by Baldacci concerning, 'The Camel Club- which is a small group of Washington DC mercenaries working under an ex-CIA hit-man, called 'Oliver Stone'.
Oliver Stone- works as a caretaker in a cemetery and looks homeless- long hair/ beard
Milton Farb- dresses preppy. round eye glasses. Can remember any document that he's read one time- regardless of how complex. Crippled with OCD.
Reuben Rhodes- hulking hippie. Several tours of Vietnam and veteran of various spy agencies.
Caleb Shaw- a collector of rare books and works at the Library of Congress. dresses in 19th century garb.
Although STONE COLD is a stand-alone novel I felt a little confused with all the characters since I wasn't aware of their past relationships.
PLOT-
Harry Finn works for US Security. He is to infiltrate American installations (airports/ dams/ US Congress/ nuclear facilities) to test their security systems. This was the most interesting part of the novel and it's revealed that Americans are probably not as safe as they believe.
Decades ago Finn's father was a major player in the CIA and was murdered by the agency to cover-up his involvement in a successful plan to kill two Russian heads of state so that Gorbachev could run the country. Finn's mother is alive and in hiding. She was believed to be a Russian spy and she is 'running' Harry to assassinate all of the agents that were responsible for her husband's death. Harry's work life is secret from his suburban wife and children.
Annabelle Conroy is one of the world's greatest con artists. She has recently conned Jerry Bagger, an Atlantic City casino owner/ mobster out of $40,000,000. She is at odds with her father, Paddy. She believes that he abandoned the family when her mother died. Later it's learned that he was in jail at the time and loved her mother dearly.
A major sub-plot is how Bagger tries to capture and kill Annabelle. Annabelle is kind of a member of The Camel Club (still don't know why it's called this name).
Alex Ford is an agent with the Secret Service and is helping Annabelle and the Camel Club.
Carter Gray is the evil head of all US intelligence services and he is trying to kill just about every other person in the novel and then keep it covered up. He has had a past relationship with Stone and this is not exactly clear.
When I finished STONE COLD I checked THE CAMEL CLUB out of the library on Kindle. This is the first in the series, STONE COLD is the third of five, and I think this will help my understanding greatly.
I liked the book, but I should have been more familiar with the series.
Friday, October 5, 2018
THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD by Margaret Atwood
Finished Th 10/4/18
I read this book to about page 342, PREDATOR DAY, and then I skimmed to the end. At first I really enjoyed the book, but as I read farther it got more confusing, and it became far too apparent that a poet was at the controls. The compelling narrative seemed to become overwhelmed by an overweening sense of the environment of the book. I was hooked on the story, but puzzled and disoriented by the setting. That's why I skimmed to the end. When the delightful and pleasant details become more important than the story-line, I have to go with something else. In this case, a David Baldacci novel was just what I needed.
From the novel's page at wikipedia-
"The plot follows two characters, Toby and Ren, whose stories intertwine with each other and, at points, with major characters from Oryx and Crake. Much of the story is told through flashbacks with the two main characters separately surviving the apocalypse described in the previous novel, each reminiscing about their time in the God's Gardeners religious movement and the events that led to their current situations.
Toby is a young woman who loses her parents under tragic circumstances that may or may not be due to the corporations, and is forced to live off of the grid in a shady meat burger joint (SecretBurgers- the 'secret' is that you don't know what kind of meat you are eating). She soon encounters the unwelcome attentions of Blanco, the psychopathic manager of the chain who has a reputation for sexually assaulting and murdering the women in his employ. The leader of God's Gardeners, Adam One, is looked up to as a charismatic holy man but perceived by outsiders as a cult leader. He saves Toby from Blanco and takes her to the sanctuary of his rooftop garden. Toby becomes an influential member of the gardeners and encounters Ren, a child member of the gardeners.
Ren eventually grows up to become a prostitute and trapeze dancer in the sex-club Scales and Tails (this seems to be more of a 'fetish bar' than a traditional strip club), and happens to be locked in a bio-containment unit in the club when the pandemic occurs. Similarly, Toby is barricaded within a luxury spa where she has begun to work following a raid on the gardeners by Blanco and his brutish pals."
The book's page at wikipedia does an excellent job of listing the various characters, organizations, events, locations, and a glossary of terms for the novel.
Three simple paragraphs clearly outline the plot, yet it requires a rather tedious list of extraneous detail to provide information to fully understand the novel.
I honestly can say that I liked the novel because I could very much get caught up and lost in many sections of the book, but in the end it just became too tiresome because it seemed that Toby and Ren's dire predicaments got lost in the massive setting of the novel.
I read this book to about page 342, PREDATOR DAY, and then I skimmed to the end. At first I really enjoyed the book, but as I read farther it got more confusing, and it became far too apparent that a poet was at the controls. The compelling narrative seemed to become overwhelmed by an overweening sense of the environment of the book. I was hooked on the story, but puzzled and disoriented by the setting. That's why I skimmed to the end. When the delightful and pleasant details become more important than the story-line, I have to go with something else. In this case, a David Baldacci novel was just what I needed.
From the novel's page at wikipedia-
"The plot follows two characters, Toby and Ren, whose stories intertwine with each other and, at points, with major characters from Oryx and Crake. Much of the story is told through flashbacks with the two main characters separately surviving the apocalypse described in the previous novel, each reminiscing about their time in the God's Gardeners religious movement and the events that led to their current situations.
Toby is a young woman who loses her parents under tragic circumstances that may or may not be due to the corporations, and is forced to live off of the grid in a shady meat burger joint (SecretBurgers- the 'secret' is that you don't know what kind of meat you are eating). She soon encounters the unwelcome attentions of Blanco, the psychopathic manager of the chain who has a reputation for sexually assaulting and murdering the women in his employ. The leader of God's Gardeners, Adam One, is looked up to as a charismatic holy man but perceived by outsiders as a cult leader. He saves Toby from Blanco and takes her to the sanctuary of his rooftop garden. Toby becomes an influential member of the gardeners and encounters Ren, a child member of the gardeners.
Ren eventually grows up to become a prostitute and trapeze dancer in the sex-club Scales and Tails (this seems to be more of a 'fetish bar' than a traditional strip club), and happens to be locked in a bio-containment unit in the club when the pandemic occurs. Similarly, Toby is barricaded within a luxury spa where she has begun to work following a raid on the gardeners by Blanco and his brutish pals."
The book's page at wikipedia does an excellent job of listing the various characters, organizations, events, locations, and a glossary of terms for the novel.
Three simple paragraphs clearly outline the plot, yet it requires a rather tedious list of extraneous detail to provide information to fully understand the novel.
I honestly can say that I liked the novel because I could very much get caught up and lost in many sections of the book, but in the end it just became too tiresome because it seemed that Toby and Ren's dire predicaments got lost in the massive setting of the novel.
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