Red Moon – Kim Stanley Robinson

Any time I hear Kim has a new book it’s an auto purchase for me, no need to even read the blurb. After so many hits I just know whatever story he tackles next will be great and this book is no exception.

An interesting observation I noticed while reading this book was that I do find it quite interesting how books and movies and their choices in protagonists change over the years. Back in the 80s, the baddies were always Russians but now we see the Chinese being used more and more, no doubt a reflection of US politics. This change is a mixed bag in my mind, while I do enjoy the chance to explore characters of different backgrounds, it’s the names I struggle with. I’m completely clueless when it comes to their naming conventions and pronunciations, which leaves me unable to fully immerse myself in the characters. Hopefully, increased exposure to these types of characters may sort that out but only time will tell.

The best part of Kim’s stories is that they are always dosed with a touch of reality, the stories really feel like they could happen. I can fully see the Chinese sending people to the moon and that in turn starting another space race with the USA, so for the book to have this idea as the backbone of the story was great and easy to digest.

A simple technician (Fred) on an almost routine trip to deliver a product to the moon gets involved unknowingly in an assassination plot. Colour me intrigued. From there it’s a quick jump into political instability, power struggle and coup-de-tats, which seems more important than one of the main characters who might be the first to give birth on the moon, Chan Qi. While I thought Fred and Chan Qi were the main characters the events back on earth seem to overshadow the idea of a human born on the moon, with that story being given only a few lines, to my great annoyance.

That aside I really loved the political flavour of this story, trying to figure out along with the main characters what was going on and who was involved was quite a bit of fun. Definitely more of a political thriller than a sci-fi story but a great read nonetheless. I might even have a look at trying to read some more political thrillers now

 

Star Wars Ahsoka -E. K. Johnston

This was a great little story,  with the character of Ahsoka, first introduced in the clone wars cartoon but that there is the problem, the character is in a CARTOON not really a source of entertainment for adults and sadly Disney seems content in only making it’s non-movie material for kids.

There’s plenty of young adult and children’s books, the Rebels cartoon series but for an adult there is nothing but the main movies and the occasion sub par movie tie in book. Its as if Disney doesn’t care that adults like star wars

Which makes a dilemma for those not interested in children’s entertainment but want more Star Wars. This book is set after Episode 3 and the massacre of the jedi. Originally introduced as Anakin Skywalkers apprentice, Ahsoka was framed for a crime and left the jedi order when no one believed her innocence and that is when she left the Clone Wars series. She recently reappeared in the Rebels cartoon but we have no knowledge of what happened between the two series which is about 15 years

The story picks up after the fall of the Jedi and we find her in hiding, just trying to survive. After arriving on a planet she begrudgingly befriends some locals and finally starts to fit in when her past comes back to haunt her and she must choose to either run away or stand and fight. Great story that fills in the gaps between her appearances on the clone wars cartoon and in star wars rebels, with many flashback scenes taking us to past events as well. The events in this book help shape her and make her decision to return the fight

Home – Harlan Coben

I’ve been waiting 5 years for this book, granted for most of that time it didn’t exist but i had hoped for another book in the Myron bolitar series. Then new years day this year Harlan posted on his twitter a picture of page one of this novel being typed into his word program. After 5 long years book 11 was on its way, while not the longest wait between books in this series that belongs to to book 8 being 6 years after book 7, it was the hardest.

Book 10 Live wire, really wrapped a lot of story lines up. Myron shut down his Sports Rep company, so his employees  Esperanza and Big Cindy go there own way, and his best friend Win goes into hiding. It really felt like the story was over.

Set only 1 year after the previous book in the series, we find Win still in hiding but on the trail of a kid who went missing 10 years ago and after a disastrous encounter with the kid, Win decides  to call his friend Myron in to help as this case is personal. The kid is one of two who went missing 10 years ago, once of which is Win’s cousins kid, which i guess makes it his second cousin.

After the reunion between these best friends,  Win explains very little to Myron about his time away, however in a change of pace there are a few chapters that are from Wins POV and has him explaining stuff to the reader, something quite different for Harlan. It was through these POV expositions that we find Win was a lot closer to home than we realized. In the intervening year when with the help of his nephew Mickey, Myron final finds his brother long thought dead and in a touching tribute to the strength of their bromance we find Win was close by just in case.

This story was one of Harlan’s best, i loved it! I’m sure part of that love is being reunited with these characters after all this time. So one must wonder if another book was released in this series would i still feel so positive about this book?

While this book does in a sense have closure with the gang back together again, i still feel like there is the potential for another story dealing with Win’s absence and what occurred while he was in hiding and in true Harlan style it could easily be something from his past coming back to grab him, a recurring theme in his books.

A careful reader will also notice the shock revelation about Em’s long elusive father at the wedding.

 

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson

Who needs to describe the plot when the massively long title does it for you. But for those of you who hadn’t already figured it out, the story is about a 100 year old man who yes climbed out a window but its a bit more complicated that. Alan (the 100 year old man) is in an old folks home, not really by choice, he was sent there for blowing up his home, but that is a long story. He has a nasty nurse who keeps taking his hidden booze off him, so when he finds out that the old folks home intend to throw a surprise 100th party for him he has had enough and wants out. Being limited in his options and mobility, he decides to climb out the window and run away albeit very slowly since he is 100.

First stop after a sloth like crawl out the window is the nearby bus station, a short walk away for most but for him it was tiring, he approaches the sales person and asks how far he can get for 500 crowns, well its set in Sweden so all the currency is theirs too. Google converter tells me its about 20 bucks. Which seems a far more reasonable amount for a senior to have on them.The money wont get him too far, guess bus travel is expensive over there. So while he waits a few minutes for the bus arrive he sits down. Then a stranger approaches him and asks if he could hold his suitcase while he goes to the bathroom, before Alan can respond the man is off running for the toilet, just as Alan’s bus arrives.

Here is where the story takes an interesting turn, Alan looks at the bus, then looks at the suitcase and pretty much thinks ahh screw it, and takes the suitcase. At the end of the bus journey Alan with the help of a new friend opens the suitcase and discovers it is filled with millions of crowns, not actual crowns of course but the currency used in Sweden, what follows is an hilarious adventure and accidental heroism that would put the Pink Panther or Mr Bean to shame.

A hilarious adventure of Alan avoiding the police looking for him (our of concern) and of the gangsters looking for their money, Along the way Alan gathers new friends including an Elephant. We find out all about Alan’s past including meeting Presidents, Dictators, Secret police. We learn of his albeit almost unbelievable good luck and Alan finds out once again what it means to feel truly alive.

A fantastic read full of laughs

 

 

 

Templar Series – Raymond Khoury

Picked up the first book in this series along time ago but never read it. Didn’t even know it was part of series back then, i just saw it involved the Templars and thought it might be in a similar vane to Da Vinci code.

The Last Templar

The story in the is broken into 2 plot lines. The first set in the modern day world follows on from a heist at The Metropolitan Museum, where men on horseback dressed as Templars steal an artifact and the second plot line is set in the past first starting in 1291 and follows the Templars as they try and hide the artifact, as the city of Acre falls to invaders. Both lines do not initially discuss the nature of the artifact we find that out later.

What follows is very Da Vinci Code style hunt for treasure with Archaeologist Tess Chaykin(who was in the museum when it was robbed) and FBI Sean Reilly which leads them to a shocking discovery about the artifact. Which then leads us to the most disappointing part of the book. Tess talks about her job as an Archaeologist as uncovering the truth and how it is important to let the people decide etc, but then when she discovers what the artifact was she lets it be destroyed because it could upset some religious people, what a joke, a betrayal of her character. I just couldn’t believe this hogwash ending it just felt so wrong it almost turned me off the whole series luckily i persevered

The Templar Salvation

This book follows a similar vane with the same duo from the first book hunting down another Templar artifact. This time with a crazed Iranian hit man after them and the treasure. I never thought i would hope for a terrorist to win but after the bullshit ending in the first book i wanted the terrorist to find the artifact and reveal it to the world which was his intent.  Fortunately when the duo uncover it they too decide to share it and luckily it includes a copy of the artifact lost in the first book so their idiocy was undone

The Devil’s Elixir

I was disappointed to find that  this book goes on a different path and has nothing to do with the Templars. This one deals with figures from Sean’s past coming back to take him down and also to dispense a knew drug to the world with crazy hallucinations properties. I liked this one a lot, i thought it was going to go a bit too crazy with some of its mumbo jumbo but turned out there was a very logical basis for it. Very creative writing by the author.

Rasputin’s Shadow

My favorite book so far, the first book was the authors debut and now 8 years later with this book you can really feel how much the author has come into his own writing style and groove. This is much more structured and has the characters behaving in logical ways. Far better writing to be honest. The plot follows A Russian who is the son of a man very close to Rasputan, as he discovers a shocking secret behind Rasputan’s powers and builds a weapon following designs left by his dad. Realizing its power could be used by the wrong people he destroys it and flees to the US. Now in his last years of life he has been found and begins a race between the US n Russia to capture him and this deadly weapon before it is used

While originally i thought this was a series about Templar knights, its actually about Tess and Sean, which works since they are very like-able people and aside from some stupidity in the first book are quite fun to read. There are some issues from Seans past that are being slowly pieced together over these 4 books and looks like coming to a forefront in the next book. I’m really looking forward to it as i feel the author has come into his stride the characters make logical choices now and the plots and intrigue are just sucking me in each time. This series is very Da Vinci Code like for the first two books and then delves into a more thriller/adventure story as the themes move away from the Templars and focus more on Sean than Tess’s vocation.

Stalin’s Hammer: Cairo – John Birmingham

Part 2 of the ebook trilogy for Axis of Time series, follows straight on from Part 1 (Rome). Here we find ourselves still trying to piece together what is happening with the Soviets. Why there is so much focus on a scientist in Cairo for a talk.Will all be revealed in the soon to release Part 3 Paris.

Loving these brief returns to the world created in Axis of Time. Cant wait for Part 3 but i’m still not liking this whole ebook trend. I understand this author is in disputes with some Publishers so has chosen the self-publish ebook route for these books, but the concern is why are they always so short? There seems to be a real trend of publishers wanting shorter stories to fuel the ebook market. Aiming at people with short attention spans or busy schedules who don’t have lots of time to be able to read. Instead of releasing these ebooks as 3 small 100 page books, we not combine them into a proper sized book of 300 pages?

I need the big epics, i love my Tom Clancy or George R.R. Martin massive tomes. I pretty much won’t buy a book if its under 300 pages, i only grabbed these ebooks because it was the only way to continue the story that was established in the first trilogy. That being said i have my fingers crossed that they will be released in physical book one day so i can delete this damn kindle app for good.

Physical books for the win!!!!

No Second Chance – Harlan Coben

Found another thriller by Harlan Coben in my to read pile. A man is shot and almost killed, when his wife is gunned down and his kid kidnapped. The ransom letter arrives and says no cops, no second chances but he makes the rookie mistake all people do in movies etc and calls the cops. Naturally an inside man tips them off and boom kidnappers disappear.

A year passes the investigation has pretty much stopped the man has tried to move on with his life when another ransom arrives. Will he make the same mistake as before or follow the instructions.

Great read loved every minute of it, the twists and turns. The heart wrenching conclusion. definitely one of my favorites of his works.

Tell No One – Harlan Coben

Harlan master of suspense delivers another cracker here. Its an old one of his that i haven’t gotten around to before. David becks wife died 8 years ago, he has struggled since then not quite letting go nor moving on and then he receives a cryptic email and ignoring all common sense he pursues it as he feels it is from his wife.

As the reader i’m left to try and unravel this mystery. Is it really his wife. Why did she email right after two bodies were dug up near where she was murdered. Coincidence? What is the connection

This is what i love about Harlan’s works we are trying to unravel the mystery faster than the protagonist. What really happened 8 years ago on that fateful night. Didn’t quite see that ending coming but i do like how it all wrapped up.

Solomon Creed – Simon Toyne

A friend suggested this to me, and while normally she is good with her reading suggestions she has bombed out a few times (she sneakily tries to recommend romance novels or stories with a huge romance plot even though i detest those books). For awhile there she was persistently bugging me to read “Kite Runner” to which i have absolutely no interest in reading. So i thought if i give this one a go it might get her off my back for constantly rejecting her previous suggestion. Grabbed it off her shelf and read the blurb on the back, it was enough to pique my interest so i ordered myself a copy. I’m not a big fan of borrowing books.

A lone survivor of an airplane crash in the desert, ooh i liked it already. Set in Redemption, Arizona, The setting conjured up images of the wild west and John Wayne movies. Solomon, the survivor from that plane crash has amnesia and the only thing he can recall is he feels he was suppose to come save a man. The problem is that man just died. His only other clue is a bible in his pocket, with a handwritten message to him from the man he was suppose to save.

What follows is a two pronged story, we follow Solomon as he tries to unravel who he is and why was he suppose to save a man. The other story follows the towns founder and the story of how he came to find a treasure and found the town. How are these two stories related? Many a time i have looked at a map and wondered why on earth did they build that town there. I also wonder why states have a particular border. “how the states got their shapes” was a great read filling that wonder for me. But on a smaller level this story of the towns founder fills that desire for me.

The Book bounces back and forth between the towns founder story and Solomon’s and sometimes it leaves the founders story right on a cliffhanger. Frustrating as it is, it forces you to read a few more chapters until we return to the founders story

I was really digging the story and couldn’t put it down. At one point catching the train home from work, I was so engrossed in the story i hadn’t realized the train i was on had terminated and was sitting at the station for a good 15 minutes (i later determined) before i had noticed.

All was well until as the plot began to reveal itself to the reader in popped something paranormal. I didn’t even notice it at first and then after a moment i click and went back and re read that part, nope that wasn’t some poor description it was a paranormal object. trying to avoid spoilers here. It was so casually put it there, as if to say so what it happens all the time no big deal. i re read the books genres on Goodreads, fiction, mystery,thriller,crime. Yep no paranormal.

So i just dismissed it as a Macguffen to help along the plot but then as it neared the end, in pops another one. Hmm, i finished the book and while the plots wrapped up nicely i was still a little  bothered about the *insert paranormal object* There is an Epilogue and in it there is a bit of character development that throws a spanner into everything which would well and truly shift this book from thriller,mystery,crime deep into fantasy

It is suppose to be the first in a series of books but i’m yet to determine if i will look out for the second one as this book just really didn’t meet my expectations

 

 

 

 

 

The Stranger – Harlan Coben

Harlan’s latest stand alone is something a bit different. An organization goes around confronting or sometimes blackmailing  people about secrets from their past, sometimes even threatening to reveal them and ruin their lives.

How do they find out these secrets and what is their end goal. These key questions are not revealed till halfway through which leaves the reader guessing about what is going on.

After confronting Adam about the secret  from his wife’s past. His wife disappears. Are the two related or is it all just a big coincidence then his wife who is still missing is accused of stealing from local sporting club. Then people start getting murder, it all leaves the reader scrambling to try and figure out what is going on

Harlan has a tendency to throw a big twist into his stories. So as i was reading and waiting for the twist to hit i began to suspect what was really going on. I didnt  want to stop reading as i wanted to follow it through but then i also didnt want to continue as i guessed how it was going to end. Ahh the dilema.

Needless to say it was a great ride and i think thats what marks a good story. If at some point you just cant put the book down you have to continue reading and find out whats going on. It means you have a great book

While not his best work that doesnt mean it wasnt great