MAX LUCK - Craig Anderson

 MAX LUCK

- Craig Anderson - 

I just took another roller coaster ride through Craig Anderson's latest book. Similar to Level Up, we are thrown into a virtual RPG world, where jargon like HP and EXP pop up like clover in the spring. On that well thrown in plant reference, we follow the adventure of a little leprechaun named Max. By luck, he is pulled into a skirmish with a disrespectful teenaged boy, who just happens to be the son of the game's biggest gangster. So, the little dust up quickly escalates into a much bigger fight. As we move through the story the problems escalate, and soon start to threaten lives outside of the game.

What I really loved about this book was constant thrill - there is always someone chasing the leprechaun, there are a lot of time sensitive situations, and the stakes keep getting bigger and bigger - this is what kept me keep turning pages. The inventiveness of Anderson keeps it fresh and fun; discovering new weapons or artifacts (like crafting fire bullets or smoking a invisibility pipe), that I kept looking forward to what new weapon would save Max when he found himself in another impossible situation.

Anderson's writing reminds me of Tom Holt - it's funny but has a serious side, especially when it comes to plot and plot twists. The characters are a great mix of light and funny, but again have a serious side with a lot of depth. 

I actually wrote down a quote that I really enjoyed (and it embodies the character exactly): "Plan A had failed, and Plan B had failed too, but Arthur liked to plan his way through the Alphabet."

Max Luck is on Kindle Unlimited if you are interested - click here.

SYCAMORE ROW - JOHN GRISHAM

SYCAMORE ROW

John Grisham - Sycamore Row

- John Grisham -

Just finished this massive 500 page tome, and loved every page of it. We are back to the meat and potatoes of Grisham, his legal thriller.

This installment has a wealthy man committing suicide and leaving a last minute hand written will...in which he leaves his millions to the black maid. In the small, racist, Mississippi town this does not go over well. Grisham takes us through the ins and outs of the legal topic of the last will and testament. Does a hand written will trump an expensive lawyer written will? This scenario is the main legal battle of the book. However, Grisham adds way more layers into the story; a long lost brother, a racist town, a drunken husband, greedy children, twists and turns galore...what seems like a solid easily winnable case is thrown for a loop by some shady lawyers and misinterpretations. Grisham keeps you guessing right to the end. Which is why I love his books. You are pretty sure it is all going to work out in the end, but you can't be certain. 

THE PELICAN BRIEF - JOHN GRISHAM

 THE PELICAN BRIEF

- John Grisham - 

Shocked that I haven't read this one? Me too! I thought I'd read every Grisham book out there. Turns out I missed this one, and I'm glad I did. And, I mean that in the best possible way.

I just finished Gray Mountain a couple of weeks ago and was thinking that Grisham had kind of lost his touch. The Pelican Brief convinced me that he had. The Pelican Brief is one of John's earlier books, maybe his third. Back in the days of The Firm, The Client, The [insert legal term]...those awesome nail biting thrillers. It is 'classic' Grisham. There are murders, cover-ups, trips to the Caribbean, legal students, car chases, spies, plot turns, crusty FBI agents. You know, classic Grisham novels?! I flew through the four hundred odd pages and didn't feel any reading fatigue. On the other hand, while reading Gray Mountain I felt like I was climbing a mountain.

Essentially the book starts with the murders of two supreme court judges. Everyone seems to have a theory on who did it. One theory, by a fresh faced law school student, is soon causing more death and murder. This law school student hit the nail on the head by accusing an obscure criminal who was on nobodies radar. It turns out there are links with the President of the USA, the FBI, all those organizations. This student, Darby, cannot trust anyone and is on the run. She eventually makes contact with a veteran reporter, and together they bring the whole house of cards down. 

My only hang up with the book is the cover. The copy I have is one of those with gold writing on the cover. Very 90s, and not very appealing.

But, that was my only critique of the book. The rest was awesome!

GRAY MOUNTAIN - JOHN GRISHAM

GRAY MOUNTAIN

Gray Mountain - John Grisham

- John Grisham -

I'm a Grisham fan. You caught me. This book caught me too. I pick up every Grisham I see...at yard sales, thrift stores, and from that free take-a-book-leave-a-book shelf where I work. Through all those avenues I've managed to read almost every one of his books. I've loved them all. From The Client to Playing for Pizza. I think The Broker was my favourite. Anyway, getting off topic.

Gray Mountain. That pretty much describes the book:

Gray, as in a great neutral tone to paint a room. Not very bright, but not too dark. 

Mountain. A long climb where the trees get sparse and you get a great long view of things, but no details.

That's the book for you in metaphoric terms.

Gray Mountain - the title describes the book

A young lawyer is quasi-forced to volunteer at a legal aid clinic in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia. Coal mining country. She helps a few sad poverty stricken clients, but she quickly escalates up the food chain and is part of cases that are suing the big bad coal companies for millions, perhaps billions of dollars. There are cover ups, bugged phones, murder, and some 'lovin' by the fireplace. All the makings of a page turning thriller...

I put the ... because I'm implying that the 'thriller' part never really took off. It was the gray tone and lack of details that caused this. Grisham takes a route with his writing that tells us all about how coal companies are stripping the land to mine coal, ruining beautiful country and leaving a desolate hill behind. How the coal companies, over the years, have done terrible things like take down the unions, covered up workers health problems like the dreaded black lung, and poisoned the water supply. 

This is all great info, interesting to read, but it took pages away character development, storyline details, etc. Unlike the mountains left over after the coal mines are through, the novel was not destroyed but it wasn't a typical Grisham thriller. This was no Runaway Jury or The Firm. Even my favourite part of thriller and action type books - when the characters are being tailed by spies - were rather lackluster in Gray Mountain.

The one high point, not counting the mountains (bad Dad joke), was that the main character was a woman. Smash that glass ceiling. Unfortunately, Samantha was a gray character. She was there, added some tone to the room, but wasn't a splash of colour. She was reluctant to do anything. It was a constant fight by the other characters to get her to do anything other than read contracts and do paper work. Yes, there was some character development, going from a shallow big city girl who only cared about making partner in a big law firm, to a lawyer that had a heart and wanted to help genuine good people (and even the environment). I didn't particularly like her, but I didn't not like her. I guess the best way to describe my feelings is that I hope Grisham doesn't make a series with her as the main character.

John Grisham tells BIG COAL to take a hike in Gray Mountain

This book will not make my library book shelf as a keeper. But, I didn't consider it a waste of time. It wasn't 'typical' Grisham, but that's okay with me. I like when people take a stand for something and that is what John was doing in this book. I've read a few other books about the poverty in the Appalachians, but also how resilient the folk are - like the book Rainbow Pie (see my review), and I always find them very interesting. Anyway, onto something completely different, a Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) book...I've never read Bachman, so this should be interesting too. Oh, I love books.

THE SHINING - Stephen King

 

The Shining by Stephen King

- Stephen King - 

The Shining 

I'm sure you have all watched th movie, starring Jack Nicholson...here's Daddy! But, have you read the book? As with all books turned movie, the book is better!

I like Stephen King's style. I'm not a big horror fan, but I am a big fan of a book that has a fast paced story. That's how King writes. Not too many divergent trains of thought. He sticks to the story. In this case the story is about a dysfunctional family that take the job as caretakers of an isolated hotel. Simple enough. But, King makes the father an alchoholic who has a violent past. He makes the wife a spineless wife, but a grizzly bear of a mother. And, last, but not least, their child has the power to tap into the spiritual world...which is just great because the hotel is full of old ghosts and mean spirited spirits.

I love that this book was predictable. I mean that in the best way. I knew right from the start that this story was going to end badly. It was foreshadowed throughout the entire book. But, how bad would it get!? That's what made me keep reading. I kept asking myself, when will this Jack guy break and start using a pick axe to kill people? Will the wife finally stand up to him, with a butcher knife? Will the kid get his soul taken over by a gruesome zombie? 

You knew something like that is going to happen. That is the whole point of reading this book. I'll let you know that the last quarter of the book is a blood filled, high octane, hauntingly good cat and mouse type 'game'...do the mice escape? Well, you'll just have to read the book to find out.

So I found this book at a thrift shop and paid a buck for it. I had always wanted to read The Shining, and I thought this vintage cover looked cool. It turns out this is one of the first paper back versions of the book. I looked it up on ebay, and they are selling for $30. Looks like I won big on this one. 

Vintage The Shining Book

CASINO ROYALE

CASINO ROYALE

James Bond #1

- Ian Fleming -

Well, that was not what I expected.

What I thought I'd read was non stop action full of dubious double crossing spies with hidden razor blade faux playing cards and walkie talkies in their cuff links blowing up souped up sports cars and leaving a trail of at least a dozen or so dead bodies behind them. Instead what I read was a low key story about Bond doing a bit of gambling, falling in love, and being beaten/tortured to near death. He did not save the day. He did not have a fancy watch that shot laser beams. He did not capture Dr. Evil and lock him away in a dungeon on Skull island. He was actually a flawed hero who obsessed over every detail , appeared to lack any confidence in himself whatsoever, and completely lost his mind over a woman he barely knew!

There was a car chase, there was a small shoot out, there was a gun hidden in a cane...but, that's all the secret agent stuff I can recall. That being said, it was still a good book. Bond is an interesting character to read, with all his little quirks, and his insight into the mind of a killer (the killer being him). I was surprised to find that a good chunk of the book had almost nothing to do with the whole spy vs spy thing, that it was almost a love story. Bond agonizes over every word and action this episode's 'bond girl' does. I actually found it interesting to see him consciously ignore all the warning signs that this girl is going to leave him. I wondered how far he would go, how much he would pass off as nothing, how desperate he would become? It was pitiful by the end. A double O agent (aka the cream of the crop) almost crawling on his hands and knees begging an obviously broken woman to love him...just not the image I had of Bond before I started this book. Which actually makes me want to pick up the next one, Live and Let Die, to see if Bond can redeem himself or if he will fall for the next woman he meets?

RATING : READ 

I think the covers on these Bond books are hilarious. Imagine seeing that in a bookstore today? I'd love it.

Proof Positive

Proof Positive

- Phillip Margolin -

Do you like that show CSI? All that forensic science keep you glued to the tube? If you do, then you'll like this book. It's CSI in book form.

The plot of the book is pretty simple, a forensic scientist fakes evidence. If we are still on the CSI theme, it would be like an episode called 'Grissom Goes Bad'...however, in this book it leads to an execution!

The book starts with the execution and its impact on the defending lawyer. It then jumps ahead a few years where a couple of new cases and lawyers are introduced. Characters are developed, a bit of the science and procedures behind the forensics are shared, and an overall picture of the city and crime atmosphere are developed. I was surprised how well Margolin did all that in the first hundred or so pages. Sometimes character development is dull or awkward, but, I was interested, engaged, and felt I knew who most of the main characters were and what motivated them. Then the main story breaks out.

There is one forensic scientist who has a different outlook on life. He does whatever it takes to put criminals behind bars. He has a deranged superhero complex that makes him believe fudging data or flat out lying in court is ok as long as it helps put the bad guys behind bars. However, when a coworker questions a piece of evidence from a previous case then forensic scientist turns into Murderman. The murder brings on more investigating, which brings on more murders...which are almost unsolvable because of the knowledge the forensic scientist has. He knows how to cover up evidence, plant evidence, or just lie while investigating his own crimes. Will he be stopped?

Of course he will, but, I will leave out how. That's what makes a book like this so good to read.

RATING: READ

Agent 6

AGENT 6

- Tom Rob Smith -

An interesting 'thriller' that kept me engaged right until the end. Then it faltered. The ending was a bit lackluster and felt too open ended. I guess I thought there would be more. However, the steps taken to get there more than made up for it.

I took this book out of the library b/c of my 'read books by Smith author's' challenge. It looked cool and sounded like a good spy novel so I gave it a whirl. The story starts with Leo, a secret police agent in communist Russia in the fifties. He has a chance encounter with this beautiful, intelligent lady and ends up marrying her. His life changes as he turns from a hardened agent into a family man of sorts. His wife and daughters makes a monumental trip to the US at the peak of the cold war on a goodwill soft-politics type mission and it all turns bad. The wife is murdered and there is a huge political incident. It is covered up and lies are told. From that point on in the book Leo's only mission in life is to find out how and who killed his wife.

We then find Leo in Afghanistan in the eighties, when Russia invaded. The problems they faced are the exact same one's reported by Nato forces today. From there he manages to defect and make his way to the US, closer to his goal of finding the killer.

In the US he uses some of his old undercover agent spy tricks to uncover what happened the night his wife was murdered. He manages to track down the exact person who was responsible for her death - Agent 6. He confronts him, almost kills him, then the book quickly wraps up with his return to Russia.

I really liked the progression of the story, it was a quick trip through a bit of communist Russia's history. I ended up liking Leo, even though he was a cold character. But, it was that ending that just left me hanging. Almost the entire book was Leo working towards a goal. Then when the goal was accomplished the book should have ended, but, it didn't. It dragged on for a bit too long; open ended, no goal, sad, a bit cliche?

RATING: READ

The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Supremacy

- Robert Ludlum -

The second installment of the Bourne series is again full of action. However, the old proverb - about sequels never being as good as the original - is true.

Wordy! This book just has too many words. It could be a quick two or three hundred page fast movin' action packed paperback, instead of the 600 page mammoth it turned into. Now, there were many scenes that put you on the edge of your seat and kept you turning those 600 pages. There were the expected car chases, the identity changes, the occasional explosions and gun battles that I was expecting (and hoping for). But, there was also so much more...pages to read that is. Pages and pages of dialogue that seemed to drag on and on and on...like one of those phone messages you might get, you know that ones that time out they are so long...

Hey! Hello? Oh, you must not be home? Oh well, it's me. Me! Haha. Calling on my cell. I was calling to set up a meeting time. So, I'll leave a message I guess, haha. Call me on my cell and hopefully you will get me and won't have to leave a message and I won't have to call you back and leave a message haha. Anyway, again just had a moment so I thought I'd call. You know I forget sometimes, so when I do remember I just call. But, looks like you are not home...

You get the idea, a whole lot of blabbering, repeating, and droning on. At points while reading I wanted to yell at the book, "get to the point already! Or, at least move on to a car chase or something!"

I also found the entire storyline a bit too unbelievable, even for an over the top spy thriller. In this novel an assassin has been murdering top Hong Kong business men and diplomats, all the while leaving the calling card of Jason Bourne. The copy cat had to be stopped. The FBI/CIA guys get together and form a plan to motivate the real Jason Bourne to come out of retirement (aka witness protection program) and take on this killer. He is the only person in the world with enough skill to do it.

The plan is to kidnap his wife, whom you may remember as the tough as nails Canadian economist from the first novel? The plan goes a bit haywire after Marie escapes. Jason turns crazy thinking his wife is dead...all making great fodder for an explosive story. Unfortunately, the story gets bogged down with the long drawn out conversations between the government/FBI/CIA folks and the Hong Kong government guys. There conversations try to tell a bigger story about the Chinese wanting to cause a major crisis in Hong Kong so they can take it back over. However, there is a real chance this will turn into a something much bigger - WWIII!!

A big far fetched you say? I was lost too. After reading the 300 or so pages outlining the collapse of the East I was really bored, annoyed, and had eye strain. This, consequently, left me with the feeling that this book was really slow and not that good overall.

Another bone I have to pick with Ludlum is that error on Canadian geography! He writes that Marie is a tough ranch girl and their family has a ranch in Calgary. Makes sense, there are ranches out in Calgary. Calgary is in the province of Alberta which is wide open ranch country. Where the mistake comes up is that Ludlum keeps mentioning the ranch is in Ontario (not Alberta!) Every time he wrote something about Marie being a tough Ontario ranch girl I would cringe. I'm still left wondering how an editor did not catch something like this?

Rating: Do Not Read*

*Unless you are working on increasing your page count, let's say if you are in a contest such as 'who can read the most pages this month'.

THE BOURNE IDENTITY

THE BOURNE IDENTITY

-Robert Ludlum-

This was another book I casually tossed into a box at an auction/barn sale. $5 to fill a box with books makes you prone to grabbing anything that looks the least bit interesting or a book you may have heard of at some point in your life. The Bourne Identity was one of those titles I had heard of, from the blockbuster movie...apparently they were based on these books? I have not seen the movie yet, but I've always wanted to. So, what better way to experience the movie than to read the book. As anyone who reads a lot knows - the book is always better than the movie! Anyway, this name recognition was what made me pick up this book; I'm so glad I did.

I try and give a book 100 pages or so before I give up on it. I'll say, I had no problem reaching 100 on this one. It has taken me a bit longer than usual to reach page 100 for a couple of reasons. One, it is almost Xmas so my reading time has drastically decreased due to the demands of the season, and B) I find I have to really concentrate; read every word. No skimming in this book. I found in a few places the action was so fast paced, things changed in the blink of an eye, if I speed read a paragraph (even a sentence in some cases), I'm was lost. I had to backtrack to find how we got to this brand new place. It really showed how lazy I reader I must be, how often I glaze over words...what else have I been missing?

I have read a couple of similar action packed 'spy' novels, but, this one has far exceeded them all (which racks up to at least a dozen or so). There were countless surprises and shocks, but, intermixed was the logic that made it all believable. Ludlum throws a few small nuggets of information in brief conversations that later come back to explain otherwise unbelievable situations. A small example would be Bourne making the mistake of casually mentioning to his trustworthy banker that his stay in Zurich was nice, especially the view from his room overlooking a lake. Later on the when the goons, who are out to kill him, show up at his hotel Ludlum brings back that conversation about the hotel overlooking the lake. Since there are only a couple of hotels overlooking a lake it seems plausible that he could have been found. The small details like this keep me the reader engaged in the story. Furthermore, making me keep tabs myself on what's being said and who's saying it. I find I get deeper and deeper into the deception and mystery the more I read, the more I thought about it. The book was full of twists and turns, big and small, that made me want to keep chugging through the pages.

The story is centred around Jason Bourne. He takes a bullet in the head and it injures his brain, leading to amnesia. Are you thinking, haha that amnesia story line is used so often in sitcoms for cheap laughs? Not a laughing matter in this book. I found instead of making me laugh it took me in, took me on the journey with Bourne as he tried to find himself...it really added to the plot of deception and lies because you really had no idea what should happen. As in, who are the 'good' guys, who are the 'bad' guys. It really worked with this type of thriller plot. Back to the story, Bourne goes from knowing nothing about himself to finding out he has some hidden talents and instincts that seem to be of a darker nature - crime, fighting, manipulation...even killing! He has a wild journey through Europe (aren't the best thriller novels set in Europe?) finding out about hidden Swiss bank accounts, assassination plots, and his talent for getting out of near death situations. For a good chunk of the first section of the book he is being chased by mysterious thugs out to kill him. This goes on for pages and pages, at around page 100 he has been shot 8 or 10 times and is on the verge of death. Luckily for him there is a kind hearted Canadian there to save him!

Yes, I said Canadian! You have to love it when an international spy novel has a Canuck playing a major role. In reality though, this character was used as a convenient hostage and human shield by Bourne and put in many dangerous situations. This character should be traumatized for life after this, BUT, bless her heart this caring Canadian rescues Bourne from certain death as he lay bleeding out on the street. She helps even though she was beaten, abused, and on the verge of being executed herself all because Bourne kidnapped her. Ah, good ol' Canadian. If you are sensing a love story forming you may be right...which is the part of the book I find completely ridiculous! But, I'm willing to overlook this for a couple of reasons. One, the rest of the book is mind blowing, and B) Ludlum picked a Canadian over every other nationality in the world.

After the initial mad rush of page after page of action packed chasing and shooting the book slows down a little. The middle section of the book is where Bourne starts piecing together his true identity. Although there is not as much heart pumping action, and Bourne does not get shot anymore, the page turning desire does not cease. Clue after clue leads Bourne towards finding out who he is, where he is from, and why it seem the entire underworld is out to get him. This is where the amnesia plot plays a key role. As Bourne gathers all of these clues we, the reader, are piecing everything together with him...in one way, it's almost like we are Bourne. Then we are given a shocker, a clue that Bourne does not know. This information changes our whole perspective on the story - on who Bourne is and why it seems everyone is trying to kill him.

The last section of the book is the climax, which means lots of suspense and action. All of the loose ends are tied up and we are all led to the same conclusion as to who Jason Bourne really is. Then in the last dozen pages the hero (Bourne) and the villain (Carlos) square off. Bourne is shot again and Carlos gets away. This is the ideal ending because it leaves everything open...I'm left wanting, desiring, craving the next book! Thank you very much Ludlum, I didn't get the Bourne Supremacy - the next installment of this series - in my $5 box of books.

I mentioned earlier that I thought reading the book would be better than watching the movie. I'm sure there are many out there that argue maybe in this case watching the movie, with all it's special effects, might add to the action. But, I find I've taken so much time reading this book that I've gotten so much out of it. Instead of all the small details of the plot and mystery being condensed into a couple of hours I've managed to stretch this out for weeks. I've spent hours and hours reading and thinking about the book...which I think makes for a better overall experience.

Rating: READ!

Book Club Questions:

• If you had amnesia what instincts would show up for you?
• Swiss banks. Ever been to one? You think they are really that cold and secretive?
• Is the action believable to you? For eg, getting shot 10 times in many different occasions in one night and living to tell about it! Is the writing so strong that this doubt never crosses your mind.
• This book was written 30 years ago. Other than the lack of internet and cell phones, does the plot and story seem relevant in today's world?