The Messenger (a Gabriel Allon series) by Daniel Silva

Why does Gabriel Allon do what he does?  Why can't he restore his Bellini or Rubens without having to leave them in the lurch when Ari Shamron comes calling?  Why can't he say No to Ari Shamron?  Does it solve the problem or does it make it worse?  Is it worth losing his family to terror?  Finally, is it justice, revenge or vengeance he is seeking? 

Well, as he aptly puts it to curator turned amateur field agent Sarah Bancroft in The Messenger, "Everyone who engages in this fight loses something...We don't do this sort of work because we enjoy it.  We do it because we have to.  We do it because we have no choice..."

Silva writes that "a central aspect of The Messenger is inspired by Saudi Arabia's financial and doctrinal support for global Islamic terrorism."

There is no shortage of Silva's usual fare of terror threats, bombings, clandestine meetings, physical and electronic surveillance, dangerous men that are good with a gun, evil men with no conscience, manhunts, battlefields, dead bodies, money trails, nail-biting escape plans, unpredictable and tense situations, erratic operational sleeping habits, multi-travels including a new destination ie the Bahamas, and many many more in this book.

A poignant moment occured at the end of the book when Allon tells his wife about his future plans.  I cannot say more than that Silva is the hottest writer around and he makes you emotionally involved with the characters, old and new alike!  Silva's Author's Note and Acknowledgments at the end of each book give you an insight into the people, research and real events who/that guide, help and lead him to write his books.

Rating: 6/5 (brilliant, devoured this book in a day)

A Death in Vienna (a Gabriel Allon series) by Daniel Silva

Part-description taken from Silva's official website:

I will not tell all the things I saw. I cannot. I owe this much to the dead. - The testimony of Irene Allon, March 19, 1957

Art restorer and sometime spy Gabriel Allon is sent to Vienna to discover the truth behind the bombing of an old friend, but while there he encounters something that turns his world upside down. It is a face - a face that feels hauntingly familiar, a face that chills him to the bone and sends him on an urgent hunt for more: a name, a history, a connection.

Praise taken from Silva's official website:

"Silva's writing is perfect: just enough description to be precise and an undercurrent of tension that drives the action. As always, Allon's cause is justice, regardless of the means, and we can't help but rally behind him." --Chattanooga News-Free Press

I hope that the above part description of the book gives you enough of an allure into finding out who that face is, what Irene Allon is not telling and of course, the next chapter of Allon's double life!  I shan't say anything more.

The last book to wrap up the Holocaust trilogy, The Death in Vienna is captivating yet heart-wrenching. Although in my opinion it is a touch predictable, it is, as usual, skilfully and brilliantly written.  If you still have not picked up this book, I highly recommend that you do so as soon as.  However, a woman's job is never done because I have several Gabriel Allon books to get through before my trip to France!  I'm stepping on it!

Thanks to the superb Cambridge Central Library for the loan of this book.

Rating: 4/5 (Entertained)

Cruel Intent (an Ali Reynolds series) by Judith A Jance

A library is one of the best places to look for good books to read or browsing for authors we have never read before and this book is no exception.  J A Jance is the Top 10 New York Times bestselling author of a number of book series like the Ali Reynolds series and the J P Beaumont series.  You can find out more about her on her official website at http://www.jajance.com/

There are two categories of writers.  One that introduces the readers to a few possible suspects and leaves them guessing till the end and the other that introduces the killer and his modus operandi right at the beginning of the book and then goes on to detail how the killer is finally caught.  Well, this book falls into the latter category.

There is a sadist killer on the prowl.  He kills them, then takes pictures of them and stores them in a collection of DVDs where he can watch his brutal handiwork on his 52-inch flat-screen television.  The most recent murder victim is that of a wife and mother of two, Morgan Forester.  The discoveries of an internet dating website and a computer hacker sets the investigation off on a trot.  The major suspect is of course the dead woman's contractor husband, Bryan, whose marriage to his wife has not been all that rosy for awhile.  What is the reason behind these senseless killings?  Ali sets out to prove the innocence of her friend and major suspect while her detective boyfriend, Dave Colman, sets out to pin the murder on him. 

Jance writes easily and the story is full of twists and turns.  She writes admirably on the strong family ties that the Reynolds family share.  There are at least six other interesting characters in the book related and unrelated to the murder and all of them make for an enjoyable read.  It is also refreshing to read about a protagonist who is not a detective or a PI but who has a number of close friends at hand to help her out including family members.  Overall, fiction or not, it makes for a sensible read with references to identity theft, computer viruses and staying safe on the internet.  As this is my first Jance book, I must say Jance sure knows how to write a catching story and I will certainly be checking out her other books in future.  (In the end, Jance never followed up on the bloodstained hammer used by the murderer to kill Morgan and I wonder why that is so!)

To wrap this up, Jance talks about why she loves writing on this youtube video:



Rating: 5/5 (Good choice read)

Play To Kill (Monkeewrench series) by P J Tracy

I am going on holiday in two weeks and am looking forward to reading this book soon. 

I will be back with a review soon!  In the meantime, here is the trailer and a sneak peek at what the book is about:

The Confessor (a Gabriel Allon thriller) by Daniel Silva

Dangerous.

Solid characters.

Intriguing plots.

Controversial.

Original storyline.

Corrupting.

Thoroughly researched.

Intelligently written.

The above sums up my review of The Confessor, Silva's third book in the Gabriel Allon espionage series and the second of a trilogy (the first being The English Assasin, read my review: 4 June 2010 and the final one, A Death in Vienna, read my review: 28 June 2010) based on the unending business of the Holocaust. 

When Allon's friend, Benjamin Stern (youngest of Ari Shamron's wayward sons), is mysteriously murdered for working on a book, he puts aside the Bellini he is working on to investigate.  As usual, his investigation brings him to a few places of interest in Europe including the secretive and taciturn Vatican.  However, not all is holy and christian at the Vatican.  Allon eventually finds out that some officials of the Vatican would do anything to keep the long-buried secrets of the Holy See intact.  Read it and find out why!  I guarantee the elaborate and complicated twists and turns will keep you glued.

I think it is worth saying that apart from the many places Allon brings us to, his penchant for the local gastronomy always whet my appetite! 

Rating: 5/5 (Riveting)

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

Nobody says it better than the author herself. 

Watch this great video by Scottoline against a breathtaking backdrop of books:

I am a huge fan of Scottoline ever since I read her book Daddy's Girl (review: 13 May 2010).  Not only does she write great and unputdownable stories and about strong empowered women, she always surprises her fans and readers with a totally unexpected finale just when you think there is nothing more to be added or said or achieved to the conclusion of the story.  There is plenty of love to go round in this book and it is written in a genuine heartfelt way.  I will certainly be reading more of Scottoline in future.

Rating: 6/5 (Heart-wrenching storyline but Outstanding!)

The Whisperers (the Charlie Parker series) by John Connolly

Pandora's Box:  "A lead casket, Persian, 16th century, containing a slighly smaller sealed box and so on, a box within a box within a box, made of red painted iron.  [Date: unknown.  Provenance: unknown.  Value: minimal]  Come closer.  Something inside is speaking in unfamiliar tongues.  No, not speaking.  Whispering."

Connolly's tenth book focuses on the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and military suicides affecting returning soldiers of war, especially the injured, maimed and the scarred, whether physically or psychologically.  It is absolutely harrowing to read that the military and the government refuse to recognize PTSD as an illness.  Most soldiers are ignored or forgotten when they come home from the war.  They experience difficulties adjusting back to society and most often, do not know how to deal with it.

If you want to know more about this subject, Connolly has listed down a number of books on his acknowledgement page with a special mention to Richard Currey's Fatal Light.  (http://www.richardcurrey.com/)

Or Ilona Meagher's Moving A Nation To Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops which lays out personal accounts of returning veterans adjusting to civilian life and their families.  Meagher writes extensively and eloquently on this subject on her blogspot at http://www.ptsdcombat.blogspot.com/

I have only high praise for Connolly and will not be reviewing long winded because I think you should read the book for yourself and anyway, if you have not already scour the web, there are already plenty of reviews out there on this book.  Strongly recommended read for everyone. 

Check out Connolly's supernatural website at http://www.johnconnollybooks.com/  for his other books and further information. 

Rating: 5/5 (100% enthralling, terrifying and chilling)

The Other Family by Joanna Trollope

How does a family cope when a close family member and in this case, a husband and father, dies suddenly? 

How do they cope if he has also left behind an estranged first wife and a son, both of whom has had no contact with him ever since he left them 25 years ago?

Two surviving women.  One legally married with a son and one a live-in partner with three daughters.  How will these two differing families come together to resolve their grief, betrayals, heartaches, resentments, relationships, changes and challenges in their lives and last but not least, the elusive inheritance will?

Trollope is well-known for writing stories about the trials and tribulations of the modern, middle class family.  The Other Family, her 15th book, is no different.  Overall, it is acutely written in terms of social and psychological points of view.  If you are a fan of Trollope, do read it.  It is more a woman's book than a man's.  

Trollope's website is a wealth of information.  Pay her a visit on http://www.joannatrollope.com/

Here is a youtube video of Trollope talking about her latest book and how she got her friend to write three songs for the book:



Rating: 3/5 (Bittersweet)

The Tenth Case (the Jaywalker series) by Joseph Teller

Joseph Teller is another lawyer turned author from New York whom I discovered in my local library.

The Tenth Case is his first book.

The protagonist, Harrison J Walker or better known as Jaywalker, is a criminal defense lawyer who breaks rules. Name it, he breaks or bends it. In short, he does not play by the book but to the Jaywalker Method of practising law.  However, he is very passionate about his work and takes his work and clients seriously.  When he fights, he fights hard.  He is likeable. 

Teller has presented us with the simplest murder I have read in a long time. No complications. No twists and turns. No fast pace but a simple classic murder case.  A young wife sticks a knife into her elderly billionaire husband's chest.  A bloody knife, blouse and towel are found hidden in the wife's house, specifically in her upstairs guest bathroom.  There is no one else involved.  Money is the obvious motive.  Simple plot, not so easy to deliberate.  Read it and you will find that sometimes, you just don't know how things will turn out.

This youtube video introduces you to the renegade lawyer:



Basically, the book is clearly divided into two sections - 1) the murder and 2) the trial and verdict. 

It is written in two forms: 1)  narrative and 2)  dialogue of the Q & A type.

Teller is a unique writer.  He is different.  It is almost as if he is talking directly to us through his book, if that is at all possible.  He has the gift of the gab.  He writes succintly about the workings of the law and in the courtroom and portrays a satisfying and amicable relationship between the defense and the prosecution.  Although at times, the book can become quite explanatory like a textbook but as a whole, it is convincing and captivating.  I love it when I do not know who the bad guy is till the a-ha! moment.  As we all know, a first-time writer is still finding his/her niche and because of this reason, I am eager to know how Teller has developed his writing and his protagonist as I progress onto his second Jaywalker book, Bronx Justice, in a few weeks' time!

To know more about the author and the Jaywalker series of which the fourth book, Overkill, is being released on 1 August 2010, check out his website at http://jaywalkercases.com/

Rating: 4/5 (Intriguing read)

BOOKSHELF PORNOGRAPHY!

For those booklovers out there (including me), it is a FACT that bookshelf pornography can achieve Zen enlightenment far better than meditation.

Check it out:  http://bookshelfporn.com/  (Click on "Archives" at the bottom of the page to view more).

Rating: Extraordinary pics!

What Does It Take To Be A Writer Nowadays?

I love this youtube video about "the world of the 21st century writer" by Dennis Cass.

He calls it book launch 2.0. 

He made this video to mark the paperback release of his book HEAD CASE: How I Almost Lost My Mind Trying To Understand My Brain.

This video won him the 2010 Moby Award for Best Performance by an author on 20 May 2010 at The Griffin in New York.

Cass is an author, journalist, adjunct college professor, public speaker, book doctor and former literary agent. 

His website is at http://denniscass.com/

Watch it here: 



Rating:  Hilarious!

The Perk by Mark Gimenez

How many ways can one look up a book for the purpose of reading?  How do you find the next book to read after you have finished a current one?

Well, I found this book (shown below) on the display shelf by chance just as I walked into the library last Saturday.  It was a "Hey, I haven't read Gimenez for awhile, let's check him out!" choice.  Have read The Colour of Law and The Abduction before.

Gimenez is another lawyer who turned to writing sometime in the course of his career but unlike most authors in the same category, did not give it up completely to pursue it.  He is still a practising lawyer with a private practice of his own outside Fort Worth in Texas where he lives with his wife and two sons.

What interests me in The Perk is the vast amount of interesting historial information about a small close-knit German established town called Fredericksburg in Gillespie County in the middle of Texas which Gimenez dubbed "the ugly duckling who had undergone an extreme makeover."  It is a place where high school football is an Obsession and a Religion. 

In such a small town, everyone knows everything about everyone whether you are a judge or whether you are an illegal Mexican who works in the turkey factory.  Word travels fast.  Segregation is still common.  Locals do not appreciate diversity.  They want life as they used to be ie the perfect all-American, all-white, crime-free town.  The long-standing tradition is that public office is handed down from father to son, German to German.  They welcome tourists to their town every weekend where the tourist trade is doing hearty.  Locals can walk down the street after dark and not be afraid of crime.  People leave their homes unlocked at night.  It has been said that Texans are the nicest people in the world, well, until they get behind the wheel of a pickup truck!  It is like a private country club where members are carefully vetted before they can join.  Turkeys and grapevines have become the main livelihood since Bill Clinton killed the mohair incentive in 1996.  Good ol' Texas. 

But...what actually lurks underneath the nice facade of this small town?  This is the part where fiction comes in.

Chicago lawyer and father of two, Beck Hardin, returns to his birthplace after 24 years away when his wife dies of cancer.  When he meets up with his best friend, Aubrey Geisel, Geisel tells him of his daughter's unsolved murder which has haunted him for 4 years, 6 months and 4 days.  The statute of limitations is running out pretty fast and Hardin promises to help Geisel out to clear a debt of the past. 

Hardin also learns that the town as he left it has changed tremendously.  When a fluke of luck makes him the district judge, he uses his wisdom and more than 17 years of practicing law in a city to mete out justice to the troubled town which is very much undermined by money, power and full-blooded Germans. 

Will he succeed or fail?

How does the 'law of unintended consequences' rear its ugly head on this picture-postcard town?

As I've mentioned at the top, what strikes me about this book is that there is a lot of detailed information on Fredericksburg, Texas, Pop. 8, 911 and I say it in a good way because I find history fascinating and have enjoyed reading every single word of it.  I only wish they could have been more of it, if possible.  Nothing beats reading a book written by someone who knows what they're writing about.  It's like that adage I mentioned in Linda Fairstein's review (20 May 2010) - Write what you know.

Gimenez is another master of storytelling.  It is written in an easy to read style topped off with legal speak when needed.  Everything you want to know about family relationships, friendship, small-town camaraderie, race segregation, heritage, history, secrets, greed, forgiveness, courtroom dramas, old rivalries, law, justice, death, love, grief, life and human drama is in this book.  Phew! 

It is an all-out fiction interspersed with real life history.  It is entertaining, gripping and fascinating to say the least.  I feel comfortable and familiar with this book (do all small-town books make me feel this way?) and am not ashamed to say that I've skipped hours of housework just to get to the last page. 

I wouldn't say that Gimenez is the next Grisham because I believe every author is different and unique and they write what they write based on personal experiences, motivation, inspiration, likes/dislikes, etc, even if undoubtedly both writers share some similarites in terms of occupation and genre. 

I wouldn't say No to another book by Gimenez and also wouldn't mind blowing the dust off this book to read it again in future.

If you want to know more about Gimenez, his books and reviews, click on http://www.markgimenez.com/ to bring you straight to his official website. 

Rating: 6/5 (Winning read)

The English Assassin (a Gabriel Allon thriller) by Daniel Silva

This is the first Allon novel in a trilogy (with The Confessor and A Death in Vienna) which is set mainly in Switzerland involving an innocent woman's suicide, Nazi art theft, ruthless assassins (of course!), deep-rooted conspiracies and Switzerland's shameful past during WWII. 

Having once experienced life as a musician in my younger days, I am very impressed with
1)  Silva's take on the lengths a professional musician goes to to prepare himself/herself before a recital and
2)  his understanding of the technically difficult "The Devil's Trill" as should be rendered and performed.

I have enjoyed reading about the very real events of the looting of private and public collections of art during WWII and the exhilarating twists and turns that Silva usually adheres to in his books.

I highly recommend it for hours of international espionage fun. 

Rating: 4/5 (Entertained)

Caught by Harlan Coben

Above: a 1:55 minute clip of Harlan Coben talking about his latest stand alone Caught.

Reading Harlan Coben is a curse.  It is unavoidable.  No, not a bad curse but a good curse. 

I have read all his books and only just managed to get ahold of his latest.

What a sensational storyline, Mr Coben!  I have actually seen this programme on television but have never really thought beyond it.  The process of catching the paedophile is fascinating enough but once a paedophile is caught on camera, that is the end, case closed.  This is the book to read if you want to know beyond the beginning and the end.

Another theme in this book is the issue of a missing child and for any parents whose child is missing, it is the worst feeling on earth.  There is no right or wrong when this happens.  All one wants to do is to find the missing child and get him/her back home safe and sound. 

It is always harrowing to read about people who are innocent of any wrongdoing yet wrongly blamed for the crime either because they are at the wrong place at the wrong time or because they have been set up.  What do one do when this happens?  How do you fight for your integrity and innocence?  How do you get people to believe you are good when you are already ostracized and isolated from society?  Whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty?'  Ironically, most lawyers will tell you that in crminal law, the word innocence all but disappeared.

Or, what if a child you are responsible for dies unexpectedly not due to anything that you have done or not done but it happens just because?  What would you do?  Tell a friend?  Hide the body?  Report the death to the police?  Would you be believed if you were already an outcast in society? 

Yes, what would you do?  Sadly, these scenarios do happen in real life too.

Guess this calls for a very trying test of patience and faith.  Having said that, there are people who were never exonerated and had to suffer their whole life as a consequence and even if they were exonerated, life as they knew it would never be the same again.  In short, life sucks if no one believes you. 

On a lighter note, Coben's wicked sense of humour is at play in this book and if you like his humour, it is also present in his previous sixteen novels.  I've caught myself chuckling through his novels and trust me, he's hilarious! 

Not only that, his books make sense.  His observations and insights on life, people and their concerns, mundane or otherwise, are thought-provokingly accurate.  There are a lot of "real-world stuff" in there.  In other words, Coben knows what he is talking about.  He writes wisely.

There are probably hundreds of great reviews already done on Caught.  I cannot say more other than a big resounding Read It!

Check out his other books on his official website at http://www.harlancoben.com/

Final six words on Caught:  Crafty, clever, captivating and classic Coben!

Rating: 6/5 (awesome)

Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline

Is it right and human for a mother to kill to protect her child?

What would you do if you found yourself caught between justice and law? 

Well, this is the ethical dilemma that Mary DiNunzio found herself in one day.  A normal day as a lawyer at Rosato & Associates turned chaotic when her old high schoolmate Trish Gambone showed up at her office to ask for her help because she feared for her life from her abusive mobster boyfriend.  Trish was a bully, brash and mean and her attitude did not help matters between her and Mary right from the beginning.  Neither did Trish's girl gang, the Mean Girls, comprising of Giulia, Yolanda and Missy, who played secondary roles in this book.

Suddenly, Trish's abusive boyfriend turned up dead in an alley and Trish went missing.  Mary then went on a one-woman crusade to go in search of Trish, alive or dead, at the expense of her job, friends and love life.  However, nothing is as easy and clean cut as they seem.  Not every ending can be a happy one, not even in fiction.

I find this book riveting from start to finish.  Scottoline is a master of drawing out unexpected and shocking endings out of unexpected and shocking endings out of unexpected and shocking endings.  Her protrayal of Mary's Italian parents and the community she lives in is spot-on, that is, full of warmth and togetherness.  The heroine, Mary, comes across as strong and determined yet indecisive, impulsive and vulnerable at times, in other words, she is real.  It does not disappoint in its plot, characters, pace, suspense and entertainment value.  Overall, the story is well told and engaging much like Daddy's Girl (review: 13 May 2010). 

Scottoline is the true master of the art of storytelling and now has a top place on my bookshelf.

This is my first Mary DiNunzio book.  There are eleven others before Lady Killer!

Moral of the story: Grief, anger and guilt destroy.  Let it all go. 

Rating:  5/5 (Hooked)