Framing the Dialogue

Posts Tagged ‘novel’

Last Testament

There seems to have been Mid-East “peace” talks as long as I can remember and there have even been some agreements.  The accords don’t last long much like the peace.  Author Sam Bourne uses yet another peace accord as the backdrop for his thriller The Last Testament.  The novel centers around archaeology, Jerusalem, a female mediator, Iraq, and some really bad people.  Overall this was a very enjoyable work.  Perhaps the best compliment is that I gave up a couple hours of sleep last night finishing the story.  I am tired this morning, but it was well worth the sleepiness, however, Bourne never quite reaches the pinnacle of many other thrillers.  Some of the twists just don’t really fit even though they are twists.  I also was a little disappointed by the “bad guy” and thought Bourne’s choice was a little too easy.

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In Secret Service

“In 1964, James Bond’s creator sealed a package containing a manuscript he thought no one would read until fifty years after his death.”

That’s the subtext of the storyline of the novel set in 2005.  The heroine, the granddaughter of a man close to an inner circle of the British government, finds herself in possession of an Ian Flemming’s manuscript that many people are “dying” to get their hands on.  The premise loosely tries to thread together several of the British monarchy’s skeletons including the death of Princess Diana and the abdication of the throne by the Duke of Windsor.  Author Mitch Silver provides some interesting theories in this novel, In Secret Service and differentiates between fact, fiction, and supposition in the Athor’s Note.

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Then We Came To The End

I don’t want to suggest that you need to work in a cube city office to enjoy this book.  I don’t want to suggest that you have to have endured a series of layoffs at your work to enjoy this book.  I don’t want to suggest that you have to work for an advertising agency to enjoy this book.  I do suggest that the more of these experiences you have the more you’ll enjoy Then We Came to the End and I consider myself somewhat an authority since I’ve experienced two of the three.

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End of Story

So it was my last day of vacation.  I had just finished a book and wanted a book that was not too deep nor too long.  My goal was to sleep and read, read and sleep.  I guess that I judged this book by its cover in one of my “to read” piles of books.  End of Story fit the mold and was not too deep, not too long, and was suspenseful enough to induce me to read more than sleep.  That’s a good book to curl up with.

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The Godwulf Manuscript

“You from House Beautiful or something? He said.  ‘Nope, I’m a private detective.’  I showed him the photostat of my license.  ‘I’m trying to clear Terry Orchard of the murder charge.  I’m also looking for the Godwulf Manuscript and I think they’re connected.  Can you help me?’  ‘I don’t know nothing about no murder, man, and nothing about no jive ass manuscript.’  Why did all the radical white kids from places like Scarsdale and Bel Air try to talk as if they’d been brought up in Brownsville and Watts?  He stubbed out his Kool and lit another.”

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Spycatcher

In his debut thriller, Matthew Dunn introduces us to Will Cochrane an elite MI6 operative code named Spartan.  Dunn is a former MI6 field officer himself so that gives him some credibility regarding the spy game and his first novel was thrilling though not quite up there with Daniel Silva and Brad Thor yet.  The action is there, the intrigue is there, and he has developed a very good hero in the vein of Scot Harvath and Gabriel Allon.  I think the title of the book, Spycatcher, is a little misleading though since the book is more about trying to stop a terrorist plot though spies are involved. What I like about the Will Cochrane character is that he is different than the more well known characters mentioned above. He is similar in his determination and skill, but he is different.

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Mockingjay

The sequel to Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire completes the final chapters of Katniss Everdeen’s struggle in the Hunger Games. Katniss becomes the mockingjay as she again is pitted against an adult, complex world in which she is unfamiliar. Seeming at times like a puppet on a string except that she is never sure who is pulling on the strings and whether they have her best intentions in mind. In this novel, friends become foes and foes become friends…sort of…some of the time.

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Full Black

Released in the heat of the summer of 2011, Full Black adds more heat as super agent Scot Harvath is once again thrust in the middle of a vast terrorist network.  Their intent is the same, but the methods and leaders may surprise you.  Author Brad Thor hits another home run in this latest thriller as Harvath and company race across the globe struggling to prevent further attacks.  The list of perpetratorstouch on all of America’s “enemies;” China, Russia, Middle East, Britain, and Globalists.  All Harvath knows is that his security is compromised hence the need to go “full black” refering to deep deep cover. 

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The Hunger Games

“The rules of the Hunger Games are simple…each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate.  The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland.  Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death.  The last tribute standing wins.”

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Portrait of a Spy

About a month ago I get my edition of Costco Connection in the mail and was excited!  No there’s wasn’t a sale on batteries (actually there was), but news of the upcoming release of Daniel Silva’s new novel, Portrait of a Spy, feature heroic Gabriel Allon.  I fastidiously set the date on my Droid calendar and planned to drive to Costco on the release day to pick up my copy.  I arranged my reading plan so that I could start the book that night.  I was excited on the drive that day.  When I got there the book was no where in sight.  Frustrated, I rechecked my calendar and it was July 12 yet there was no book.  I used the power of my Verizon unlimited data package to search Mr. Silva’s website only to find out that I had gotten the date wrong and was a week early,

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