Turn the Page, Excitedly: Latest Novels From Harlan Coben and Lee Child Keep the Thrills Rolling -- Book Reviews

Book Reviews & Personal Reading Recap

Harlan Coben
Don't Let Go
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Lee Child
The Midnight Line
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Both currently available in hardcover. 

My favorite active authors--in terms of novelists who write books I acutely enjoy reading--are the two represented here:

Harlan Coben and Lee Child 

This shouldn't come as much of a surprise to those who know me and/or have read this blog with some regularity over the years.

While I haven't written a ton of book reviews, when I have one or the other's latest works have typically been featured. (Coben examples: 1, 2, 3, 4; Child: 1, 2, 3)

In September 2016, I very much enjoyed meeting Harlan Coben after an excellent presentation at my hometown Skokie Public Library, and rue that a concert ticket kept me from attending a Lee Child event in 2015 even closer to my home.

As I've candidly admitted repeatedly, I am not a great reader.

At least of books.

I still read a daily newspaper and while I no longer subscribe to 10+ magazines, not a day goes by without me reading some long-form articles I find online.

And it's not like I don't read books; it's just that with most that I start, I have a hard time getting through them.

In 2017, I did read a rather substantive and terrific novel about slavery--Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad (see my article here)--and I finally made a point of reading Kurt Vonnegut's classic Slaughterhouse Five.

But for the most part, I made my way through thrillers & page turners, some quite good if not great literature.

These include three books by the fine Japanese suspense writer, Keigo Higashino--Salvation of a Saint, The Devotion of Suspect X and Malice.

And listed here much more for my own recollection than to impress anyone, I also read page-turners titled Dead Certain (by Adam Mizner), A Criminal Defense (William Myers, Jr.), I Found You (Lisa Jewell), The Old Man (Thomas Perry) and No Exit (Taylor Adams).

Including the first couple weeks of 2018, I also read the three Coben novels I never had--Shelter, Seconds Away and Found, aimed at Young Adults but nonetheless enjoyable--and the one Child novel I hadn't gotten through before (2016's Night School).

So with Coben's Don't Let Go--consumed in a few days last October--and Child's The Midnight Line, which I polished off just before New Year's, it seems I read 16 full books in 12-1/2 months. (I also read parts of several biographies and non-fiction books, but none in full.)

This is likely far fewer than many people read, but also more than others probably did.

Which only matters in not so sheepishly reiterating what has been true for years:

Harlan Coben and Lee Child are my favorite active authors. 

This isn't dubbing them "the best." Certainly, there are current authors writing far more substantive works, even in a fictional realm. Colson Whitehead would seem to be one of them.

But even with high quality books that I enjoy, reading is an activity that ranks behind many others for me (including attending shows, watching movies & TV, writing blog posts, etc., etc.)

With Coben and Child's latest works, as with many others--not only by them, but predominantly so--there was little I wanted to do more fervently than turn each page.

Don't Let Go is one of Harlan Coben's stand-alone novels, meaning that it doesn't center around the recurring characters of Myron Bolitar and Win Lockwood, who populate most of the writer's early novels and some newer ones such as 2016's fine Home.

Like most of Coben's books in either category, Don't Let Go is based in the writer's home state of New Jersey. And as unusual, it involves some kind of domestic mystery: a missing family member, a loved one long assumed deceased who may not be, etc.

But although this is ostensibly a book review, what the novel is about isn't as important as Coben's continued capacity to make me want to read it, as quick as possible.

Though I will say that there are some interesting twists as an adult man explores new strange new happenings regarding his long-thought-dead twin brother. And what makes Coben's writing--and Child's for that matter--so enjoyable to me is considerable glib humor and astute societal observations that accompany the action & suspense.

Some of Coben's books are obviously better than others, though I'm glad to have read them all. My memory isn't good enough to delineate many, though I know I enjoyed Tell No One, Gone for Good and Six Years more than some others.

And Don't Let Go is first-rate.

All of Lee Child's novels--he's also written some novellas and short stories, but I haven't read any of those--focus on a human superhero type character named Jack Reacher.

In a couple of movies now, Reacher has been played by Tom Cruise, but as written, the all-but-invincible character stands 6'5" and weighs 250 lbs.

And seemingly has never lost a fight, no matter how many opponents he faces simultaneously.

But as with Coben, that the Reacher books pull me in despite not much surprise in the end result is largely what attests to Child's writing quality.

Some of his recent books have seemed a tad lesser--I couldn't get through Night School on the first stab, despite getting a copy autographed by the author--but without representing anything astonishingly different, The Midnight Line is a fun read that was hard to put down.

If you're new to the Reacher series, I'd start with the early ones, especially as The Midnight Line is just out in hardcover (though I downloaded a free Kindle version via the Overdrive app and Skokie Public Library).

And if you're well-familiar, telling you the plot points of the latest book is kind of unnecessary. Basically, Reacher, who lives a nomadic existence, discovers a reason to get involved in a mystery of sorts, and follows it through while roughing up some bad people.

Again, this isn't much of a descriptive book review, but with both Coben and Child--who regularly top the best seller lists--it basically comes down to, "Is this a great one, good one, so-so one or disappointingly poor one?"

The Midnight Line is a very good one. Don't Let Go nearly great.

Both exciting to read, even for someone rarely all that excited about reading.

Harlan Coben's 'Home' Adds New Twists to Familiar Territory, Characters -- Book Review

Book Review

Home
by Harlan Coben
New in Hardcover
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Last Wednesday, September 21, I was thrilled to be able to meet my favorite contemporary novelist, Harlan Coben, after he gave an insightful speech at the Skokie Public Library, in my hometown.

I wrote about Coben's stellar presentation just a couple posts ago, noting that it wasn't a book review for his just-released Home, but surmising that in having bought it--and being able to have Harlan sign it--that night, my reading and reviewing of his latest thriller likely wasn't far off.

I don't think that any of Coben's 25 previous page-turners--not counting three aimed at teen audiences, though the author suggested in person they are also worthwhile for adult fans--have taken me more than a week to read, and although I only had evenings to devote to Home, the same can now be said of it.

Although I theoretically love to read, the truth is that I don't read that many books, and certainly not quickly for the most part. Often I start reading something but give up before getting too far, and cannot call myself a great reader.

So the fact that I voraciously devour Coben's works--and the "Jack Reacher" novels by Lee Child, but all that much else--must speak to his gifts as a writer.

Yes, he's writing quick reads not high literature, but whatever that may connote, the truth is that I look forward to finishing them...and do, quickly, as again with Home.

And with 9 straight #1 New York Times Bestsellers--I assume Home will make 10--Coben, who was the first author to win the three top awards for mystery writing (Edgar, Shamus, Anthony), clearly isn't only to my liking.

So if you're a Harlan Coben fan who's come across this review, you can consider this a rather strong recommendation.

In Home, Coben has brought back the characters of Myron Bolitar and Win Lockwood--a college basketball star turned sports agent-cum-detective and his preppy-yet-lethal best friend and partner-in-crime-solving--who were constants in his first seven published novels, but now intermittent among numerous "stand-alone" works.

The two pals, who as the book begins haven't seen each other in a year, have a rather fun rapport, and as always, Coben augments the mystery at hand with keen observations about modern life and human nature.

The writer's stories almost always involve people from New Jersey or New York and some sort of domestic disappearance; in Home, Myron and Win are on the trail of two teenagers who went missing a decade ago from affluent Jersey environs.

Without giving too much away, there are some new variations on the theme, as the narrative begins in London with Win speaking in the first-person (Myron usually serves as the narrator, but not unilaterally here).

There are a few aspects that stretch credulity, and the protagonists actions aren't entirely admirable, but for the most part Home is a typical Coben runaway train that you read fast, don't want to put down and finds you rooting for the dynamic duo.

But for those who haven't read Harlan Coben before, and particularly not any Myron & Win tales, Home isn't the book with which I recommend you start, not just because of the cost of hardcover.

Although it isn't crucial that one be deeply familiar with the recurring pair (and as always Coben provides some background), at least one (if not all) of the Myron Bolitar novels of the '90s--as well as the more recent Promise Me, Long Lost and Live Wire in which they're central--would probably be beneficial to readers' appreciation of the tandem's backstory and interactions.

Obviously, use of a recurring protagonist or two isn't native to Coben, and in general it's a bit less than idyllic to jump in uninitiated. Which isn't to say newbies can't still enjoy Home, which shouldn't take anyone too long to ingest, but I would more so suggest beginning with Myron & Win of old, or one of Coben's excellent stand-alone novels, which also cover similar ground. (Six Years is a fairly recent favorite, Tell No One an older top pick and the new-in-paperback Fool Me Once also worthwhile.)

It's to Harlan Coben's great credit that he continues to churn out stellar page-turners at least once a year. As he noted at the library, he ascribes to Elmore Leonard's aim to "leave out the parts reader will skip," and as such, one rarely gets bogged down reading his books.

Of which his latest, Home, is another fine example, even if at this point acolytes who dive right in should feel a bit more at, uh, home, than those first encountering Myron and Win.

Ours Go to 11: Volume 14, Some Books I Recommend

I am not a great nor vociferous reader of books; I spend far more time reading newspapers and magazines and internet articles.

And when I do read books, I'm fairly predictable, as I've read virtually the entire oeuvres of page-turning novelists Harlan Coben and Lee Child--and always look forward to their newest efforts. (I've also read multiple works of other authors, most recently Jonathan Tropper.)

But I think I've read enough good books of various ills and writers to cobble together a list of 11 that I would recommend to almost anyone.

I will keep it to one title per author, but especially in the case of Coben,  Child, Tropper and also Michael Lewis and others, you may well enjoy almost anything they have written.

This is not a ranked list nor a "Best Books" survey; just a smattering of books I've found worthwhile. All should be readily findable at most public libraries, in paperback and in e-book form. 

1. Six Years - Harlan Coben
2. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
3. Flash Boys - Michael Lewis
4. Echo Burning - Lee Child
5. The Book of Joe - Jonathan Tropper
6. The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)
7. Predator Nation - Charles H. Ferguson
8. The Art Forger - B.A. Shapiro
9. Joyland - Stephen King
10. Griftopia - Matt Taibbi
11. Trust Your Eyes - Linwood Barclay

And a few more

Basket Case - Carl Hiaasen
Finishing the Hat and Look I Finished a Hat - Stephen Sondheim
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen (being released 9/27/16)

'The Stranger' is a Bit Stranger than Other Harlan Coben Thrillers, but Still a Worthy Page-Turner -- Book Review

Book Review

The Stranger
by Harlan Coben
now in Hardcover and eBook
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Even without the likelihood that the handful of people who visit this blog with great regularity know me well in-person, consistent Seth Saith readers have likely picked up on subjects I write about rather repeatedly.

Cherished concert performers like Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and Pearl Jam have been reviewed here several times each, my recent glowing review of a Les Misérables production was far from my first, and I have rarely missed an opportunity to sing the praises of Stephen Sondheim or the musicals he created.

Being not such a prolific reader, Book Reviews are somewhat few and far between, and more than not have covered page turners from my two favorite thriller writers, Harlan Coben and Lee Child.

On this blog, over the past 5+ years, I've reviewed at least 3 of each writer's books, though it looks I didn't write-up either of their 2014 releases, although I read and liked them.

So while this post is about Coben's latest hardcover release (I read it on Kindle), The Stranger, which I liked, particularly for the sake of my friend Dave who prefers paperback editions, I'll note that 2014's Missing You is now out in paperback.

And I liked it even more than The Stranger. 

Both of the books are stand-alone mysteries, as opposed to the books Coben writes around recurring character Myron Bolitar, or now, aiming at the popular Young Adult market, Myron's nephew Mickey Bolitar.

I have not read any of his YA titles--not to be confused with Y.A. Tittle--but have otherwise read every book Harlen Coben has published.

Certainly, I've liked some better than others, but not only do they become largely indistinguishable in my memory after a year or two, but every single one has been a quick, well-within-a-week read.

I'm not confusing Coben's thrillers with great literature, or proclaiming him a purveyor of high art, but the fact that each of his books has inspired me to read it quickly--as have Lee Child's Jack Reacher stories--is no inestimable accomplishment.

For as noted above, I am not generally a rapid or vociferous reader.

So while Coben takes a somewhat new tack in his set-up for The Stranger, and winds up somewhere unusual, I can't deny turning the pages with ceaseless anticipation.

Based in New Jersey, as almost all of Coben's books are, the storyline opens with a married lawyer named Adam Price being told something troubling about his wife by a complete stranger.

This sets off a series of conversations, confrontations and events best left for anyone so inclined to uncover themselves.

While the narrative certainly kept me ensnared, and left me surprised, making this a @@@@ (out of 5) work I would recommend to anyone looking for a good, fast-paced thriller, a couple things left me less infatuated than I have been by other Coben works.

The core plot device, regarding the stranger who approaches the protagonist--and his reasons for doing so--just struck me as somewhat implausible. I have all the regard in the world for a writer like Coben having to come up with new angles in churning out a book or more per year, but something about this one just didn't feel as finely-tuned or compelling as others, which largely cover similar ground about family members or loved ones who go missing.

But also, part of why I like Coben's writing so much is that beyond penning expeditiously page-turning plots, he typically offers a number of observant and/or humorous insights along the way, about modern society, technology, cultural inconsistencies, etc.

There is definitely a bit of this in The Stranger, but again, not as much as I previously recall.

If, like me, you're a Coben devotee, there's no reason to skip The Stranger, and for the right price--including free from your local library--it's a respectable read for anyone.

Yet for Dave, and others who understandably prefer the cost and convenience of paperback, not only does the format of Missing You make it a logical next Coben read over The Stranger, qualitatively--IMO--it does as well.

Missing You revolves around a female cop named Kat Donovan who sees a long-lost ex-fiancé on an online dating site and reaches out, thereby prompting a search that drives the narrative.

If you've never read any Harlan Coben, Missing You isn't a bad place to start, nor is The Stranger for that matter. But I think I would most recommend early stand-alone thrillers, Tell No One and Gone for Good, and any of the Myron Bolitar books, perhaps starting with the first one, Deal Breaker.

As reviewed here, I also really liked 2013's Six Years, which should be even less expensive in used paperback and on Kindle, as well as more immediately available at your local library or through the OverDrive e-book library app.

Even if not quite Coben's best, The Stranger was a fast, fun reminder of how much I enjoy my favorite contemporary author, at least in a thriller vein. And his--and Child's--books often jump-start my often all-too-languid reading, which is now focused on a book named by one source as the best of this decade, so far.

So perhaps another, more unique book review won't be all that far off. Not that, when it comes to my favorite things, I really mind being repetitive.

With Incisive, Insightful 'Flash Boys,' Michael Lewis Deftly Decodes the Dubious Blur of High-Frequency Trading -- Book Review

Book Review

Flash Boys
by Michael Lewis
Now in hardcover and on Kindle
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Truth be told, I'm not really a great reader.

I love the concept of reading and enjoy the knowledge that comes from it. I admire those who are literate and wish I was more so.

Every day, I read some combination of newspaper, magazine and Internet articles, and am always in the midst of one book or another.

But I'm lucky to finish one per month, and that average is largely abetted by my predilection for page turners I might complete in a week, such as by Harlan Coben, Lee Child, Linwood Barclay or John Grisham (though not so much the latter anymore).

I've read everything by Dan Brown, the late Stieg Larsson and--as I recently posted--I've enjoyed both of the mysteries J.K. Rowling has written under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

So it's not that I don't ever read, nor have I ever knowingly had problems with comprehension, reading speed, vision, vocabulary, ADHD or other obvious hindrances.

But even with time on my hands, and now the ease of reading on a Kindle or my iPhone, as an acute act reading books ranks below writing blog posts, watching movies & TV, attending theater, concerts & ballgames, mindlessly surfing the Internet and much else, perhaps just outranking cooking and walking on my treadmill.

It isn't just that when I do read I usually devour user-friendly thrillers, whereas several close friends and family members read much more substantive works of literature, or that they're likely to double, triple or quadruple my rate of about one book per month, if that. The truth is that while I would like to read, say, Infinite Jest--by the late David Foster Wallace and regarded as one of the best books of the 21st century--I gave up just a few pages into the 1104-page novel and perceived that it would take me a full year you even if I stuck with it.

Not to mention that my condo is strewn with biographies--on Lou Gehrig, Paul Newman, John Lennon, Ray Davies, Arthur Miller, Miles Davis, Natalie Wood, Stephen Sondheim, Sandy Koufax, Neil Young, Abraham Lincoln, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mozart and many more--that I really want to read...but only in theory.

So while it might not sound all that impressive to say I read a 272-page book in 10 days, especially when you consider that it was a non-fiction work covering the technology involved in high-frequency trading (HFT) of stocks, allegations of chicanery even many on Wall Street didn't understand, minutia about why differences in milliseconds and microseconds make billions of dollars of difference, the ruse of "dark pool arbitrage" and how a small group of traders tried to take a more ethical stand, this should connote how masterful a writer Michael Lewis is.

I have previously read his Moneyball, The Blind Side, Boomerang and The Big Short, the latter being an amazingly comprehensible chronicling of the byzantine malfeasance behind the financial crash of 2008.

More so than anything else--though I also derived great value from the writings of Matt Taibbi, Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Charles Ferguson (plus his splendid Inside Job documentary) and others--The Big Short helped me grasp the truths behind the subprime mortgage scandal, better understand such Machiavellian concepts as collateralized debt obligations (CDO) and credit default swaps (CDS) and glean the complicity among mortgage brokers, Wall Street investment banks and credit ratings agencies.

In Flash Boys, Lewis' sledgehammer is a bit more sly, his targets more oblique, the consequences of the chicanery he chronicles less obvious.

It's not the call to arms The Big Short should have been, if only it had one-tenth the mainstream penetration of your average reality TV show or summertime cineplex tripe.

But Lewis' writing is just as deft, if not more so, in making esoteric concepts not only understandable but truly enjoyable reading. And though the reader will have to connect more dots beyond the book to recognize the import and feel the ire of stock market machinations that seemingly only a select few would innately care about, Michael Lewis continues to not only be a master of his craft, but a seemingly rare and remarkable crusader for fairness. (Though he, and the book, also has a fair share of critics.)

Unlike The Big Short, Flash Boys isn't a book that I insist everyone read--not reflecting its quality, but in deference to the dense subject matter--yet anyone who invests money in the stock market definitely should.

And while in tackling complicated material with a colloquial finesse--largely through capsules of the characters who would come together to start a supposedly more principled stock exchange--Lewis does wander relatively deep into the woods of HFT technology, there are many points he makes that should have great resonance to anyone.

In the book's introduction, Lewis explains this, which I must admit I didn't know:

"Over the past decasde, the financial markets have changed too rapidly for our mental picture of them to remain true to life. ... Since about 2007, there have been no thick-necked guys in color-coded jacket standing in the trading pits; or, if they are, they're pointless. ... The U.S. stock market now trades inside black boxes, in heavily guarded buildings in New Jersey and Chicago."

In short (unless I've misunderstood something), stock trades are now made entirely through electronic means and can be done so through several entities beyond the the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq.

With the caveat that high frequency traders have supposedly taken issue with some of Lewis' claims and assertions, and the book includes no interviews with any current HFT practitioners, Lewis makes a strong case about how--having maneuvered to attain speed-of-trade advantages measured in microseconds (a millionth of a second)--high frequency traders have made billions of dollars gaming the system for no benefit beyond their own.

Without risking a thing.

Let's say you tell your stock broker you want to buy 1,000 shares of Proctor & Gamble at the $80.00 share price the broker quotes. The broker punches that into his computer and relays back that the buy went through at $80.01.

This may not seem like a big deal; on an $80,000 purchase, you're paying $10 more. But in the scenarios Lewis explains much more astutely than I ever can, the .01 jump wasn't due to other legitimate investors buying or selling P&G. It's because HFT traders were able to see the buy was ordered at $80.00, blazed through the electronic pipeline to the exchanges, bought up all 1,000 available shares and sold them back (essentially to you) for $80.01, before even your broker had a clue what was happening.

This cost you $10 and made the HFT firm $10, which millions of times over results in billions of dollars in profits. And unlike you, who could see P&G stock drop, say 10 points, while it's in your holdings, the HFT guys are taking absolutely no risk. They get "into the market" only as a consequence of the buy & sell orders that are already made, and then "jump the trade."

Because (again, per my understanding) HFT trades and those made in dark pools of large investment bands--a dark pool being a bank's private stock exchange, in which they have vast holdings of stock and make trades among their own customers, without going through the NYSE or other exchanges--aren't subject to the type of financial statements and disclosures one might expect, just how much money is made through high frequency trading and shady dark pool practices isn't exactly known, at least per Lewis.

But it certainly seems to be many billions. At least.

So sure, there are a whole lot of injustices in life and you'd go goofy thinking about even a few of them. But there are people mining coal, forging steel, building cars, fighting fires, teaching kids, driving buses, etc., etc., struggling to make a subsistent living and others reaping millions, perhaps billions, simply because their fiber optic connection to the "stock market" is a few millionths of a second faster than someone else's.

As Lewis conveys, HFT firms virtually never lose money, nor do they typically hold any stock at the end of each day. As they aren't actually "investors," they have no stake in the game, but they are making fortunes off of it. In essence, per Lewis, they are scalpers, except unlike ticket scalpers, they run no risk of losing their shirts if the ticket market is flooded; buyers (or sellers) are guaranteed before HFT types invade the market.

Anyway, I am trying not to reveal too much that Lewis does, because Flash Boys is certainly worth your while, but I felt the need to expound on why the subject matter is important and compelling.

Even if you think you don't care.

And even if you really don't, Michael Lewis is such a gifted writer of non-fiction that his latest work--like his others--is a really good, insightful and informative read, nonetheless. 

Perhaps He's No Boy Wizard, but Slobbish Sleuth Makes for Satisfying Storytelling -- Book Reviews: 'The Silkworm' and 'The Cuckoo's Calling' by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling)

Book Reviews

The Silkworm

by Robert Galbraith

(pseudonym for J.K. Rowling)

now in hardcover/Kindle

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The Cuckoo's Calling

by Robert Galbraith

(pseudonym for J.K. Rowling)

now in paperback/Kindle

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Having never read any of the Harry Potter books, I can't say if I like J.K. Rowling as an author.

But now having finished--within a week--The Silkworm, the second novel revolving around an oafish detective named Cormoran Strike, just a few months after having read The Cuckoo's Calling, I can say I've enjoyed the writing of Robert Galbraith.

Which is the pen name Rowling used, initially covertly, to branch out into crime fiction, or perhaps more accurately, some sort of detective, mystery and thriller hybrid.

Certainly, in a rather literal sense for me, both The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm can be called page turners as they made me want to read them actively, rather than leisurely or even languidly as is often my wont.

While both of the Rowling-as-Galbraith books pretty much fit what the term "page turner" typically connotes for me--a deft but disposable suspense novel and not a highly insightful work of great literature--I think the books excel more for their characterizations than their mysteries, although both kept me guessing to the end.

Many suspense writers develop series around a central crime solver and--while unlikely to ever become anywhere near as iconic as Harry Potter--Cormoran Strike is a nice addition to the canon. 

Strike is described as being rather large in both height and girth, unkempt, often slovenly but rather resolute and self-sufficient, despite having a grievous war injury and being the non-bestowed-upon son of a wealthy and iconic father. (The book covers do nothing to aid my imagination of the detective's appearance, so whether apt or not, I can't help picturing Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces.)

Early in The Cuckoo's Calling, a pretty young blonde named Robin comes to work for Strike, and I don't think I'm giving anything much away by saying that she remains a fixture throughout The Silkworm (and conceivably, any continuations of the series).

The Cuckoo's Calling revolves around the death of a supermodel, with one of her relatives engaging Cormoran Strike to investigate the circumstances. 

In The Silkworm, Strike is enlisted by the wife of an author who has gone missing.  

To reveal anything more about the storylines or additional characters would be a disservice, but while Strike's private eye work drives the somewhat Agatha Christiesque whodunit plots, it is Rowling/Galbraith's description of the detective's thoughts and his interaction with Robin that provide the most pleasure. 

Even without having read the Harry Potter books, it isn't surprising that a writer who created one of the most iconic characters in literary history has a gift for characterization. 

So while at this point, other mystery writers are likely more adept at detailing the detective's deduction processes--it seems that Strike's "a-ha!" moments come almost out of nowhere--it isn't the specter of another crime but learning more about Strike's rather tortured-yet-impish existence (including a romantic implosion that has tickled and teased for more resolution) that already has me looking forward to the next adventures of Cormoran & Robin.

Satisfying, If Not Quite Spine-Tingling Thrills From Old Standbys -- Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Trust Your Eyes

by Linwood Barclay

now in paperback

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Never Go Back

by Lee Child

now in hardcover

(read via Kindle app)

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Along with Harlan Coben, Lee Child and Linwood Barclay are--likely in that order--my favorite contemporary authors, perhaps in any genre, but certainly in the realm of suspense thrillers, a.k.a. page turners.

Many of the book reviews I've posted here are about works by one of the three, so it's not as though I'm telling you about anyone I've newly discovered.

And I even have mixed feelings about penning brief reviews of Barclay's Trust Your Eyes, recently released in paperback, and Child's latest, Never Go Back, as while both are worthwhile, satisfying, even engrossing reads by writers I like, neither book approaches their best work, in my estimation.

So on the one hand, I'm happy to introduce you--well, any you for whom this isn't a reintroduction--to a pair of high-quality page-turner novelists, but these aren't the books with which I would suggest you start an exploration. Still, if you already know and like Child and Barclay, there's no reason to avoid these works.

For the uninitiated, Barclay's Trust Your Eyes probably works better as simply a good paperback for the train (not just because Never Go Back is still in hardcover). It deviates a bit from Barclay's usual premises about a loved one gone missing--Coben's common domain as well--and perhaps that's why it took me longer to warm to.

But in telling the story of brothers who get involved in a labyrinthian crime scheme, it is rather inventive.

The tale starts in the days just after their father has died, with the older brother, Ray, returning to the home where Thomas had lived with the dad. Due to some never specifically-defined behavioral health issues--perhaps autism--Thomas spends nearly all of his time in his bedroom, studying and memorizing online maps.

In one of the Street Views, Thomas sees what he suspects to be foul play taking place in a Manhattan apartment window, albeit months earlier. Although exasperated by Thomas' oddities, including a penchant for sending notes to the CIA and insisting he speaks to a former President, Ray helps to explore what Thomas has seen, and a pretty engaging mystery unfolds, complete with a mayoral candidate, his campaign manager, a nefarious ex-cop and an Olympic gymnast turned hitwoman.

--

As with all of Lee Child's 17 prior books--all of which I've read--Never Go Back is "A Jack Reacher Novel."

Reacher is a massive ex-military policeman turned nomadic superhero of sorts, essentially nothing like he was embodied by Tom Cruise in the forgettable 2012 film Jack Reacher.

Though he likely would've sold even fewer tickets than Cruise, I've imagined former NFL star Kyle Turley making for a fairly good Reacher, at least in terms of how Child describes him in the novels.

Most of the past Reacher novels have kind of blended together for me at this point, but in a previous one Reacher had spoken briefly by phone with a woman named Susan Turner, a military policewoman who now holds his former command.

Never Go Back opens with Reacher trying to meet Turner--uninvited--for the first time, but running into complications that threaten to ensnare them both.

Child is an artful enough writer, and Reacher a sufficiently-engaging character, that I never wanted to stop reading, but nothing much that happens in Never Go Back feels all that surprising. Much of it feels--for Reacher and legions of faithful readers, as all the books are bestsellers--like "been there, done that."

That doesn't mean that I won't look forward to the next Reacher novel, nor dissuade fellow Reacherites from rampaging through this one, but I wouldn't mind if Child takes Jack in a bit of a different direction.

Not that one needs to read the Reacher series in order, but if you have yet to be indoctrinated, I would suggest starting with Lee Child's first Reacher novel, 1997's Killing Floor. If you like it, I imagine you'd want to read several more, including eventually Never Go Back, which, for better or worse, is much the same old story.

While Not Quite Achieving Its Title, 'Brilliance' is a Smart Read -- Book Review

Book Review

Brillance
a novel by Marcus Sakey
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I can't provide any attribution on this, but I recall Marcus Sakey being referenced somewhere as the best Chicago-based contemporary crime fiction writer.

I have to imagine that anyone who has bestowed such praise on Sakey is not only more familiar with his work than I, but also that of local practitioners in the same realm.

For while I might also grant him that accolade, it's because I really don't know many other Chicago-based crime fiction--or suspense, thriller, etc.--authors.

There's one writer, Sam Reaves, who I met at the Printers' Row Lit Fest a few years ago and from whom I bought a signed copy of Mean Town Blues, which I liked. And Sara Paretsky seems to have a higher profile than Sakey, but I haven't read any of her works.

But though I am giving Sakey's latest, Brilliance, @@@@ (out of 5) and proclaiming it a worthwhile read from a talented author, based on his work that I do know it appears that others--including many reviewers on Amazon--hold him in considerably greater esteem.

A few years ago after having him come to my attention, I started to read his 2006 novel, Good People. But it never really hooked me and I gave up on it midway through.

And while I liked Brilliance, it wasn't a blaze-through-it-in-a-week-or-less page turner like books by favorites Lee Child, Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay. Towards the end of Brilliance, I couldn't wait to keep reading, but though it kept me interested enough throughout to stick with it, I wasn't all that enraptured for the first 300 pages or so.

Brilliance is based in the present day, but its title refers to human beings who are--to my awareness--science fictional in nature. In what seems like a metaphor for any number of minority groups, Sakey surmises a significant, though quite relatively small, population of people who are exceptionally gifted in different ways. Not as piano prodigies or math whizzes, nor as super-strong beings--though I couldn't help think of the X-Men--but with less obvious advanced capabilities.

The book's protagonist, Nick Cooper, is a "brilliant," or--as more disparagingly referenced since they represent a threatening minority to those without special gifts--an "abnorm" or a "twist." He is blessed with extraordinary "patterning" powers, which lets him instantly deduce what someone is thinking or about to do by their gestures, most commonly subconscious ones.

Working for a covert government organization--something akin to a Black Ops division of the CIA--Cooper is charged with tracking down "twists" who have engaged in terrorist behavior. I won't reveal too much else, but there are plot twists that reminded a bit of the TV shows 24 and Alias. That's not a bad thing, but one of the reasons I don't feel Brilliance is absolutely superb is because it doesn't feel entirely new.

And though I agree with the let's-all-live-together-with-tolerance-and-respect ideals that I believe are behind Sakey's metaphorical narrative, at times the messaging--and proselytizing--feels a bit too obvious and heavy-handed.

Still, simply as a thriller, Brilliance manages to be inventive and works rather well.

Not well enough to quite meet the promise of its title, nor even enough to inspire me to read the preview of Book 2 in the series that I discovered at the end of this one. But the writing is sharp with a number of shrewd observations, the overall theme is worthwhile (if excessively overt) and the action is crisp if not quite Usain Boltish.

So, long story short, if you're reading a great mystery, thriller, suspense novel, detective story, crime fiction book, etc., it may well be as good as this one, if not even better. But if you need a suggestion--particularly for a new release that's only $4.99 for a Kindle download--you could probably do a lot worse than pursuing Brilliance.

Shrewd Observations, Sly Thrills Make for an Appealing Trip to 'Joyland' -- Book Review

Book Review

Joyland

a novel by Stephen King

new but available in paperback

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I don't write this review as an expert on Stephen King.

I've actually read only one other of his books--2011's masterful 11/22/63 (my review)--and haven't even seen that many of the movies based on them, at least not recently.

So though I know he is a terrific writer whose oeuvre extends well-beyond the horror genre, I can't comment on how Joyland--part supernatural suspense novel, part coming-of-age story--compares to works such as Carrie, The Shining, It, Misery and Dolores Claiborne.

At just 288 pages, Joyland is an enjoyable read--well-worth $7.32 for the paperback (published by Hard Case Crime) on Amazon, though mine was borrowed from a friend--and though seemingly quite different from the 880-page 11/22/63 (and conceivably some of King's aforementioned classics), in one key sense it was rather similar:

It takes a good while to get where it's going, but the journey winds up being just as--if not more--fulfilling than the destination.

Per its title, 11/22/63 revolves around the John F. Kennedy assassination, but in being a tale of a man who finds a way to go back in time--and does so with hopes of changing history--the first 500 or so pages are largely about a 21st century adult acclimating to life in the late-50s, early-60s, with King providing many enlightening insights about how times have changed, and how they haven't. Only in the latter part of the book do events in Dallas acutely come into play.

This isn't all that different from Joyland, which is narrated as a present-day recollection about events occurring in 1973. With my sense of it being a thriller exacerbated by the Hard Case Crime imprint, it is ostensibly a fictional murder mystery regarding a death that had previously taken place in a North Carolina amusement park called Joyland. But the bulk of the book is devoted to detailing the experiences and emotions of its protagonist, a 21-year-old college student from New Hampshire named Devin Jones, who spends the summer of '73 working at Joyland.

King deftly puts the reader in the head of Jones as he experiences love, loss, friendship, "carny" life, valiant moments, wearing a key Joyland costume and, ultimately, engaging in a bit of crime-solving.

Thus, Joyland was not the rapid-fire page turner I was expecting--and in depth, not the equal of 11/22/63--but nonetheless rather satisfying as both a socio-cultural time capsule and, albeit a bit more subtly, as a suspense thriller. (Though as a reader review on Amazon points out, there is a flaw in the writing as things begin to unravel; ask me after you read the book.)

But whether or not you're well-versed in Stephen King, Joyland should provide plenty of pleasure as a end-of-summer paperback, one that notably--and aptly, given its regaling of an earlier time--isn't available electronically.

Dan Brown's 'Inferno' Isn't Bad, but Doesn't Truly Catch Fire -- Book Review

Book Review

Inferno

by Dan Brown

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I admittedly don't read enough--of anything, but especially great literature--to be a reliable arbiter of what makes a truly exemplary novel.

For me, a good book is any that I'm able to get through from start to finish. Which primarily means thrillers from the likes of Harlan Coben, Lee Child and Linwood Barclay.

This isn't to say that the myriad started-and-stopped biographies strewn around my condo aren't good, nor that never having made much headway with The Corrections or Infinite Jest should be taken as a critical assessment of those acclaimed tomes.

But given my penchant for mysteries and thrillers, whenever one has gone beyond bestseller to become a ubiquitous part of the popular zeitgeist, I've been compelled to read along.

Of course, this has only happened three times in my recollection, with John Grisham's The Firm (which inspired me to read most of his works until recently), Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (I read both sequels as well) and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

Although the latter was one of the rather rare novels I've bought in hardcover, I didn't read it on its first wave of popularity but after there were stories regaling how popular it was.

I enjoyed it. Whether it was as good as all the hoopla that came to surround it, who knows, but it was a pretty strong thriller, and as a world traveler I appreciated all the art and history Dan Brown wove in.

I subsequently read and liked Brown's Angels & Demons, which centers around the same character as Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon) and may even be better, as well as the much awaited Da Vinci follow-up, 2009's The Lost Symbol.

I also enjoyed the author's two non-Langdon novels, Digital Fortress and Deception Point, which are both satisfying thrillers.

Which brings me to Inferno, Brown's latest novel--also featuring Robert Langdon, an art historian and symbologist--one that I wasn't aware was on its way until I saw a thousand copies at Barnes & Noble.

Particularly as I was going on a trip, during which a good thriller can be good company, I opted to download the Kindle version of Inferno, which I could read on my iPhone.

Although I didn't begin reading it until my journey home, over the last couple weeks I have been flipping its virtual pages with continue interest if not rapt fervor. As referenced above, just by virtue of getting through its 465 pages, I'd call Inferno a decent read, but I think it's the weakest of Brown's efforts to date.

If you've read and enjoyed Da Vinci Code / Angels & Demons / The Lost Symbol, there's no reason to avoid this one, though waiting for it to become available at your local library (even in digital form) or in paperback should suffice. If you haven't read any of the others, it shouldn't hamper your understanding or enjoyment, but this isn't where I'd start with Brown's oeuvre.

Though the suspense in Inferno, which leans on Dante's epic poem as a primary point of reference (don't worry if you've never read it; I haven't), is somewhat soft--without wanting to give anything away, Langdon finding himself in a precarious situation but escaping unscathed seems to endlessly reoccur--his overt use of setting and artistic landmarks remain fun.

As Langdon and his primary cohort in this one, a woman named Sienna Brooks, traipse through Florence in search of clues pertaining to Dante's Inferno and a modern-day threat to mankind, I frequently found myself accessing Wikipedia and Google Images to learn more about the places and artworks mentioned.

I'll leave the specifics unstated, but after beginning in Florence the action moves to two other historic cities, which furthered the art, architecture and history lesson.

Brown also weaves in an ethical debate of sorts about population control, and likely perils if the current birthrate isn't stemmed. 

So there is a good deal of value in Inferno, and in Brown as an author. But as opposed to, as I recall, Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, which are first-rate thrillers and travelogues--though the movie versions are lame--Inferno kindled my interest, but never truly set me ablaze.

Harlan Coben's Latest Thriller, 'Six Years,' Makes Time Fly

Book Review

Six Years
by Harlan Coben
now in hardcover
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Reading--and liking--page-turning thrillers by Harlan Coben is nothing new for me.

Since Tell No One was recommended to me, perhaps 10 years ago or so, I have read 21 of his novels, which is essentially everything he has published except two books aimed at young adults and one early, previously out-of-print work (Miracle Cure).

For those unfamiliar with Coben, his output is split between mysteries featuring the recurring character of Myron Bolitar (and his motley crew of cohorts) and "stand alone" thrillers, such as Tell No One, Gone for Good and the new Six Years.

I am certainly not going to suggest that Coben's books be confused with great literature. While I believe he deserves high praise for writing fictional works that I and millions of others--as they're almost always bestsellers--want to read, and read quickly, what he does is not quite high art.

That said one of the reasons why I like Coben so much--and he stands as my favorite current author--is not just because I find myself turning the pages quickly.

More than others of his ilk--though there are other mystery writers I enjoy; predominantly Lee Child and Linwood Barclay--Coben infuses his thrillers with shrewd wit and insight which add considerably to the pleasure derived from his suspenseful story lines, primarily involving a loved one gone missing and the like.

I've said pretty much all of the above in reviewing two other Coben stand-alone novels on this blog Stay Close and Caught. But I think Six Years is even a bit better, if only measured by my reading time. 

While I have never been a fast reader and trudge through great literature and biographies, I have devoured each of Coben's books in less than a week.

Six Years, which deals with a man who is prompted to rekindles his interest in deducing why his fiancé  chose to marry another man six years prior, took me just two days to read. 

There's no point in me revealing anything more that happens, as all the twists and turns are much of the fun with reading Coben, and Six Years is filled with plenty, several of which I didn't see coming.

As Six Years is just out in hardcover, unless you can get it from your local library--as I did from the Skokie Public Library--there is no reason not to start with another of his thrillers and wait until this one turns up in paperback.

But if, like me, you are a Coben fan who puts each of his latest thrillers on the "Hold List" at your local library, this is one you'll look forward to devouring.

In six days, tops. Maybe even six hours.

'A Wanted Man' Gets You In Its Grasp -- Book Review

Book Review

A Wanted Man
a Jack Reacher novel
by Lee Child
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A Wanted Man isn’t a great book.

It’s certainly quite far from being fine literature and I can’t really say that the story is truly compelling.

I wouldn’t even call it a first-class thriller, even in the not always exalted realm of page turners. There was a twist midway through that I thought was rather suspect, and the outcome isn’t particularly surprising (especially for anyone who’s read any of Lee Child’s novels revolving around Jack Reacher).

But it is a great read.

Before having my crack at a reserve copy from the Skokie Public Library, I was surprised at how many scathing user reviews I was seeing on Amazon, with several 1-star slams coming from readers claiming to have been longtime fans of the Reacher series.

If such reviews came from legitimately dismayed Reacher Creatures, I don’t understand what they were expecting nor why they were so grievously disappointed. Having read all 16 of Lee Child’s previous thrillers featuring Jack Reacher, an ex-military policeman turned nomadic superhero-of-sorts, sure, some are a bit better than others. And though I’d be hard pressed to recall any specifics of the previous books, all devoured well within a week, I don’t think I’d put A Wanted Man in the very upper echelon.

But at the very least, it accomplished what Child’s past works—like those by my other favorite thriller writer of recent years, Harlan Coben—have: it made me want to read it at any moment I had time to spare.

One night, rather than go out to a play I was thinking of seeing, I opted to stay in and read A Wanted Man. Likewise on other evenings, instead of watching a DVD that was due back to the library the next day or paying close attention to a baseball playoff game, I chose to read the book because I acutely wanted to find out what would happen next and how it would end.

I can’t say I learned a whole lot, although through Reacher, Child always includes some interesting societal insights, trivial tidbits and an occasional mindbender (such as how you can easily speak for a full minute while knowingly not saying a word that includes the letter “a”).

And though I could provide a minor synopsis of the plot, it doesn’t really matter except to say that A Wanted Man finds Reacher hitchhiking through the Plains states and getting entwined in some nefarious doings for which he has to come to the rescue.

 As I mentioned above, Child employs a twist about halfway through that seemingly comes out of nowhere, but it doesn’t really derail things so much as to simplify them.

At this point, all of Child’s books go straight to #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and A Wanted Man is no exception. But the series is primed to get even more exposure when the first film adaptation, titled Jack Reacher and starring Tom Cruise in the title role (despite Reacher being 6’5" on paper), is released near Christmas.

The movie is based on 2005’s One Shot; that’s a really good one (as my friend Dave recently confirmed) and it’s not as if the Reacher series needs to be read in order. So while, IMHO, there’s no reason to avoid A Wanted Man if you’re a fan of the Jack Reacher series, if you can’t get it at your library and/or prefer waiting for the paperback, start with One Shot, or Killing Floor (the first book to be released) or The Affair (the book preceding A Wanted Man, now in paperback and set earlier than any previous Reacher story).

But if you are a Reacher devotee, puzzled perhaps by the plethora of poor reviews on Amazon, I say ignore them. It may not be a masterpiece, it may not be a great book, but in library parlance, A Wanted Man is well-worth checking out.

'Stay Close' Is Far From Awful, but Doesn't Approach Coben's Best

Book Review

Stay Close
by Harlan Coben
now in hardcover
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I can't judge a book by it's cover, or so an adage long ago admonished, but I often wonder about the veracity of judging a book by how long it takes me to read.

I realize that quality literature is frequently defined by depth, density, insight and originality that doesn't always dovetail with the expedient page-turning thrills that a great suspense novel can offer.

But as someone who likes books far more than I acutely enjoy reading many of them, it seems that though many of the brand name suspense novelists who routinely top New York Times Best Seller list aren't often acclaimed as brilliant authors, a certain amount of success must be equated with writing books that people can't wait to read...and never want to put down.

Over the past decade, Harlan Coben has become my favorite author. Not because he writes on the legendary level of Twain, Dickens, Hemingway or whomever else I should extol, but because I've read 20 of his novels--quickly--and always look forward to reading the next one.

Coben's novels almost always take place in New Jersey or somewhere close by. Most of his early ones featured the recurring character of Myron Bolitar, a basketball star turned sports agent who solves mysteries with the assistance of a preppy badass named Win and other regulars. Coben still pens Myron mysteries, but intersperses them with stand-alone books, which typically feature a main character trying to resolve the disappearance of a loved one.

Other authors, including Linwood Barclay, write mysteries in a pretty similar milieu, but what makes Coben my favorite is the wit and wisdom he often tangentially tosses in, whether about modern society, trends and technology, suburban culture, etc. Dear to my heart, he'll often cite Springsteen or reference Howard Stern or otherwise touch upon something with which I can identify.

That he's done so, engagingly, over 22 novels--the only ones I've yet to read are one targeting young adults and a recently re-released, long out-of-print early work--is pretty impressive. Coben is one of those guys who churns out a new bestseller every year, and the artistic ability required to do so must be much, much harder than the regard often bestowed.

So this review of his latest, Stay Close, is meant as much to praise him for writing yet another book I've enjoyed reading in less than a week, as it is to note that it took me a bit longer than some others and didn't seem quite as fun. Which, given my pondering above, may suggest some greater qualitative heft.

Perhaps. But I suspect that it's just missing a touch of anticipatory oomph.

I've noted that Stay Close is going to be made into a movie--though many Coben novels would seem to lend themselves to the screen, only Tell No One has been adapted so far, and in French at that--and there's certainly enough here that can lend itself to a pretty good one.

And if like me, you're a Coben devotee who--regardless what anyone opines--is planning to read Stay Close as soon as your library hold pickup notice hits your inbox, I'm not here to dissuade you. There's more than enough of what Harlan does well here to make it worth your while.

But if I'm here to pretend that this blog might turn the uninitiated onto things they might enjoy, for those who have never read a Harlan Coben novel, Stay Close isn't where I suggest your exploration should begin.

I can't clearly explain why, except to say that unlike many of his books, this one didn't make me stay up reading into the wee hours. I was intrigued enough to want to reach the conclusion, and was a bit surprised by the twist at the end, but I just didn't care all that much about what took place, or even the proverbial "whodunit."

There was nothing specifically off-putting about the tale of a broken-down photojournalist, former stripper turned soccer mom and how their shared past has complicated the present. On paper--or whatever the Kindle equivalent of a book jacket may be--the scenario sounds as ripe with possible tension as any Coben set-up, but using whatever metaphor one prefers for a great thriller--rollercoaster, runaway train, racecar--Stay Close just never went into overdrive for me.

If you're tastes run similar to mine, Harlan Coben is an author you should know about, but start with any of the Myron Bolitar books--you may want to go in order, though it's not mandatory--or stand-alones like Tell No One, Gone For Good, No Second Chance, Hold Tight or Caught, which I reviewed here.

Stay Close doesn't stray so far as be avoided by fans, or anyone seeking a good quick read, but shows that even for outstanding practitioners, writing a truly mesmerizing thriller isn't automatic. This isn't Coben's best book, by some distance, but actually makes me appreciate what he does a bit more.

Book Reviews: '11/22/63' Kindles New Interest; a mixed bag from page-turning faves Child, Grisham and Barclay

11/22/63
by Stephen King
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Quite substantial in its own right, this book had personal significance on a number of levels, and I'm not even referencing its content. Although the man had written 48 previous novels, virtually all best sellers, published over the past 38 years, 11/22/63 is the first book by Stephen King I've ever read. At 849 pages, it may well be the longest book I've ever read, at least recently or that I can readily recall. And it is the first book I've ever read, in full or anywhere near it, in electronic form. I got through it on a Kindle--and occasionally on my iPhone Kindle app--in a little over 2 weeks.

Though King's work in itself is wonderful, I do believe there is much correlation among the points above. While I was intrigued from the moment I saw the recent release in hardcover, the girth of it was not only a bit intimidating, but meant I couldn't readily take it on a plane, train or elsewhere I might have a realistic chance of delving into it. Thus the Kindle, and the app, proved ideal. I doubt I would have read 11/22/63 yet, or perhaps ever, in analog form (even if such is still my preference). And I enjoyed it tremendously.

Ostensibly, the story is about a modern day high school teacher who is shown a way to travel back in time--but only to a specific date in 1958--and does so to position himself to stop the JFK assassination. This was enough of a thumbnail description to make me want to read the book, but 11/22/63 actually succeeds due to its breadth and intelligence far beyond Kennedy, Oswald, Dallas and conspiracy theories. I don't want to divulge very much about the storyline, for that discovery is much of the fun, but what keeps the protagonist occupied between 1958 and titular date is just as compelling as King's twist on the events of that fateful day. And along the way, King provides plenty of shrewd insight about modern times versus what things were like in the relatively recent past.

Any great book winds up being about so much more than its in-a-nutshell synopsis, and that is certainly the case here. In other words, never judge a book by the cover. Even if you read it on a Kindle.

The Affair
by Lee Child
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All of Lee Child's 16 novels revolve around a nomadic and imposing ex-military cop named Jack Reacher, who utilizes both brains and brawn to get himself and others out of difficult situations and/or to right wrongs. While these books clearly fall into the thriller/page-turner category, and I've enjoyed them all on that level, Child does a good job of imbuing them, through Reacher's deductive processes, with keen insight regarding a variety of situations, large and small.

Now out in hardcover, The Affair is Child's latest book, but its story goes back to 1997 to chronicle an episode that would lead to Reacher becoming ex-military. So as an avid Reacherian, I enjoyed it as a bit of flash-backstory. But as usual with works from this series, it reads like a rollercoaster, so there's nothing to stop anyone from starting here. In fact, it might well make sense as the first Reacher novel for the uninitiated to explore.

Though I have a hard time recalling which Reacher novel is which at this point, I don't think The Affair stands among the very best of them. But it's a fun and exciting read, especially if you know Reacher, yet even if you don't. The story involves Reacher arriving in a small town with a military base to explore how a local woman wound up dead, and I have to admit that per a good thriller, the twists and turns kept me guessing. (You can read the first three chapters of The Affair for free on Child's website)

The Litigators
by John Grisham
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With seemingly all of his books going instantly to the top of the New York Times best seller list, John Grisham stands clearly as one of the world's most successful authors. Though even early on, with huge hits like The Firm, A Time To Kill (which he actually wrote first) and The Pelican Brief, he seemed to take knocks from some corners for not being a great literary writer, just a popular one. But I was an unabashed fan and had no problem citing him as one of my favorites.

At his best, his legal thrillers were not only great page-turners, but served to offer a good deal of societal observation and commentary. I recall The Runaway Jury informing me about class-action lawsuits and corporate malfeasance (in that case, regarding big tobacco) well before movies such as The Insider and Erin Brockovich traipsed similar ground.

Though I think I've read at least 15 of his novels, plus a non-fiction work called The Innocent Man, at some point I became less passionate about Grisham's books. Perhaps it was just me--though apparently not--but his thrillers somehow seemed less thrilling. So when his latest, The Litigators, seemed to be heralded as a return to form, I grabbed it eagerly when I saw it available on the Skokie Public Library's Bookmobile.

Unfortunately, I was tremendously disappointed. Grisham's tale of two ambulance-chasing Chicago lawyers who, in conjunction with a young refugee from a large firm, undertake a class-action lawsuit of dubious merit, is a rather tepid affair. I got through it in just a few days, but more because I wanted to be done with it than due to caring about the outcome. None of Grisham's characters were particularly likable, adding to the tedium, though perhaps this was his intent. I have no innate affinity for the legal profession, but the author's condescension towards its practitioners--of many stripes--came across as rather ugly. At some points, he seemed to take an almost absurdly farcical tone--a la Carl Hiaasen or Tim Dorsey--but while failing to make its case on many levels, The Litigators also wasn't a winning work of humor.

To be fair, toward the end the book got a bit better and I almost cared about the conclusion. But not enough to make having gotten there worthwhile.

The Accident
by Linwood Barclay
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A few years ago, my friend Dave turned me onto the works of Linwood Barclay due to my enjoyment of a similar author, Harlan Coben. Though Coben also has a series of mysteries with the same central characters, his "stand-alone" books (Tell No One, Gone For Good, etc.) and Barclay's thrillers typically take place in New Jersey, New York or nearby--in this case Connecticut--and involve a protagonist searching for a missing or dead family member or significant other (or trying to solve a related mystery).

I tend to prefer Coben due to his ability to bring more extemporaneous humor and insight to his thrillers, but Barclay does good work in a similar vein. The Accident, which involves a woman dying in a car accident under mysterious circumstances, a string of subsequent deaths among her acquaintances and her husband's attempts to unravel what happened, is no exception.

It's a quality page-turner and I was rather surprised by the ending, even if the thrill-ride acceleration throughout didn't quite equal Barclay's Never Look Away, Fear the Worst, No Time for Goodbye or Too Close to Home. This one came out in hardcover in August, so should be available at your local library a bit sooner than the titles above, and is certainly worth "checking out."

A Truly Devastating Account of How America Got Taken For (Nearly) All Its Worth -- Book Review: Griftopia by Matt Taibbi

Book Review

Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America
by Matt Taibbi
Non-Fiction; published by Spiegel & Grau in November 2010
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This Wednesday, I imagine at least 25 million people will watch the season premiere of "American Idol." Nothing wrong with that, even if I won't be among the huddled masses, but I can't help but think that if, at most, one-third of domestic American Idol viewers--or roughly the 8.45 million who watched the season debut of "Jersey Shore"--also chose to read Matt Taibbi's 250-page book, Griftopia, there would most likely be a revolution in the United States.

That's how powerful and precise Taibbi--who regularly writes incredibly incisive pieces on similar subjects for Rolling Stone--is in explaining, in as close-to-layman's terms such esoteric information can get, the root causes of the financial collapse of 2008 and the complicit culprits who continue to swindle the American public.

Matt Taibbi

His skewer is surprisingly non-partisan and impales both Republicans and Democrats (including Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel) and not simply the obvious targets such as the Wall Street investment banks--particularly Goldman Sachs--and subprime mortgage brokers (although the depths of their duplicity is descriptively detailed). The caustic but never churlish Taibbi also rips Alan Greenspan a new asshole (or more accurately, calls him one) in a remarkably revelatory chapter that debunks any notion of the former Federal Reserve chief as some sort of economic oracle. With in-depth research, much historical context and numerous substantiating sources, Taibbi shows how continuously and catastrophically wrong Greenspan has been about most economic forecasts and decisions.

As a Chicagoan--actually a suburbanite--it was also interesting to read Taibbi's take on Mayor Daley's decision to sell the city's parking meters, for, as it turns out, a fraction of their true worth and to a consortium comprised largely of Arab wealth funds. You'll also be stupefied by the real reasons behind skyrocketing gas prices.

And though at odds with what I would like to believe, Taibbi's arduous accounting of the manipulative reality behind President Obama's health care bill--mainly that it was concocted by Emanuel as a deal to give insurance companies oodles more cash in exchange for a few election cycles' worth of campaign contributions--really helped me see the ever-dimming light about the American political power structure.

In sum, Griftopia further and more comprehensively clarifies what a variety of other sources--including the books The Big Short and The Two Trillion Dollar Meltdown and documentaries Inside Job, Capitalism: A Love Story and Casino Jack and the United States of Money--have already put into my head. Namely that A) Unless you are a member of the top levels of government, the Wall Street investment banks or their co-conspirators, you have been directly screwed by them in ways you can't even imagine, and B) the 2008 financial collapse (and resulting recession) was not caused by everyday citizens buying homes beyond their means and being unable to pay their mortgages when home values dropped.

This is what the powers that be want the American Idol-worshipping public to believe, but as Taibbi does a great job in explaining--as did Michael Lewis in the more mortgage meltdown-specific The Big Short--outright criminality was at play, not merely misfortune or consumer overreach. (I tried explaining what happened a bit more in this piece, but you really owe it to yourself to read Taibbi's and Lewis' user-friendly expositions.)

I have never been much of a conspiracy theorist and I am not an anti-capitalist. But having lost my job amid the fallout from the financial collapse of September 2008--and Taibbi reveals how it may have been avoided, not just by redressing years of deregulation, collusion and avarice, but had Goldman Sachs not pulled an unnecessary, cohorts-in-the-Treasury-aided power play to push AIG over the precipice--I've felt obligated to investigate the root causes a bit further than the mainstream media has presented. (Taibbi, who has only been on the financial beat for a couple years, embarrasses most of the press by revealing so much that the general public has never known, but should have.) And though in my case, Griftopia was a tremendous complement to other coverage I'd read and seen, I recommend it as strongly as possible to anyone as a place to start in deciphering what has brought us to where we still are today.

It won't be easy, throwaway reading, but Taibbi artfully keeps it from becoming too dense, with considerable humor to mitigate the detailed explanations of complex matters (like financial derivatives). And while Taibbi never advocates specific actions that us Main Streeters should take, he includes more than enough fodder for anyone looking for a reason to take to the streets.

I don't want to give away too many of Taibbi's numerous great tidbits, but this was one that especially made me cringe:

In 2008, the year by which the routinely immoral actions of Goldman Sachs, among others, would wipe out roughly 40% of the world’s wealth, the investment bank paid out $10 billion in compensation and bonuses—including $42.9 million to CEO Lloyd Blankfein—and made a $2 billion profit, they paid just $14 million in taxes. Ruin the world, get bailed out by the American taxpayer and give back less than what a superstar athlete makes in a year.

Where's my pitchfork?

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Next up, from the Skokie Public Library, I will be reading Washington Rules by Andrew Bacevich, about how Congress is in bed with the military-industrial complex, and Travel as a Political Act, by my favorite travel writer, Rick Steves.