Shadow of Power Steve Martini
Foremost, I loved this book! Although I have collected this author for years as a keystone writer of legal fiction, until this book I hadn’t found the dust jacket copy that made me pick one off of my shelf. The plot here starts with the murder a law-professor-turned-writer while he was promoting a book criticizing the continued existence of the three-fifths compromise in the Constitution (actually true, even though it is dead law). A member of the Aryan Posse, and the son of Attorney Madriani’s friend, is an employee at the hotel, and his fingerprints are on the weapon and his shoeprints are in the pools of blood. Much of the book takes place in the courtroom, but there’s a fantastic backstory regarding a swing-justice of the Supreme Court and the mysterious J Letter which purports to spell out the backroom deals of the founding fathers regarding slavery. The writing in this story is very tight, I loved the characters, and for once I was surprised by an author! If you enjoy good legal fiction, a great mystery, or Constitutional history, this is a great book! (07-16-08)
Popularity: 1% [?]
Posted on July 16th, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books, Mystery | No Comments »
Einstein Final Theory Mark Alpert Unified Field Theory
This book has an interesting premise that applies the Da Vinci formula, but instead of a religious quest, this story has a science historian chasing the Einheitliche Feldtheorie, Einstein’s unified field theory, the calculations that attach all things. When Einstein’s past students start turning up dead at the hands of a mercenary, David Swift ends up at the middle of the quest when the lynchpin of the theory is revealed to him from the deathbed of the last living student. Soon the FBI is chasing him under a cloak of lies created to prejudice the public, and the mercenary Simon is seeking the secret for an unknown employer. This story had promise, and for the most part delivered. The science is not as pervasive as the dust jacket copy may have suggested, and is ultimately not all that important to the plot itself. I’ll certainly seek out this author’s next book.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Posted on July 6th, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books, Mystery | No Comments »
James Rollins Sigma Force The Last Oracle
The Sigma Force is back! The Russians are using augmented autistic children, descendants of the Romani Gypsies and the original Oracle, to forecast the future and otherwise being Russia back to its role as a superpower. As with all of Rollins’ books, this one offers a fantastic mix of action and storytelling with details that the reader “knows” may be real (in this case, the nuclear contamination around Chernobyl is absolutely true). Although I had a sense for where the story would end up pretty early in, I still enjoyed the book through the last page, and will now eagerly await the next installment in 2009!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Posted on June 29th, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books, Mystery | No Comments »
Jack Reacher Lee Child Nothing to Lose
This was my first novel with this author, and so my first experience with the character Jack Reacher. This is the latest in the series, the 12th book, so I’ve missed quite a bit of back story but this book reads well on its oown as well. Jack, a wandering former military man, passes through the town of Hope and continues walking the 17 miles to the neighboring town of Despair. While in the latter, he is jailed by the local deputies and returned to the town line of the former. Reacher, having no better place to be, gets involved in finding out what is going on in Despair that makes its police force so efficient at prosecuting “vagrants.” I enjoyed the plot, although there were a few moments when the bad guys seem to inexplicably act a bit out of character to continue the story. I will be going back to the first book now so I can catch up with Reacher’s history.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Posted on June 18th, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books, Mystery | No Comments »
Between the Lines Morrell Writing
On a recent Sunday morning visit to Borders, I felt that I needed inspiration to get my writing going. Although I have a stack of writing books at home, this one jumped off the shelf at me, and I actually enjoyed reading it (versus feeling like I had to push through). The author uses examples of good writing in both popular novels and movies to help drive home concepts, and I found myself revisiting some of the words that I’ve already put down. The advice in this book is probably best applied between the first and second drafts, as thinking about these concepts might interrupt the initial thought process where the most important thing is to simply get the words to paper. And, yes, that was a split infinitive, and this sentence starts with a conjunctive.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Posted on June 18th, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books, Nonfiction, Writing | No Comments »
Sword of Truth Terry Goodkind
Book 5 of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind focus’s more on political intrigue than on action. There is still plenty of action, but the politics of the world become more important and more prevelant to the story. Here we also begin to view Terry’s political philosophy based on Ayn Rand. This really doesn’t distract from the story though if you are completely opposed to Rand’s philosophy you may find the writing as a bit of preaching. I didn’t mind so much since as a conservative some of Rand’s ideas fall in line with mine. But that discussion is better saved for a different blog.
Because of the change from action to politics, the book was a slower read for me. There were times I just couldn’t motivate myself to read, but plugging through leads to some rewarding reading the last few chapters, leading to a climax with ramifications that will impact future novels.
Overall, not a bad book, not the best so far, but an important transitional book. 6/10
Popularity: 3% [?]
Posted on June 16th, 2008 by jason
Filed under: Books, Fantasy | No Comments »
By The Sword F. Paul Wilson Repairman Jack
Foremost, if you’re a fan of Repairman Jack, you’ll be looking for this book in November. If you need a copy sooner, check out www.GauntletPress.com. The author has again brought a story to a connecting point with a former work, this time touching on his under-appreciated novel “Black Wind.” Jack is employed to find a katana, and is still looking for the pregnant girl Dawn, who is in turn hunted by the Kickers. In a note at the end of the book, Wilson briefly discusses bringing the Repairman Jack novels to an end after a few more books, and the reader can see some items getting wrapped up and amplified. This is fast read, but not a good stand-alone book for the unassociated reader - start with The Tomb and move forward!
Popularity: 4% [?]
Posted on June 3rd, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books, Mystery | No Comments »
Bryan Garner Justice Antonin Scalia Making Your Case
After reading an excerpt of this book in the ABA Journal, I knew I need to have this book. Mr. Garner is the present editor of Black’s Law Dictionary, and Justice Scalia is, perhaps, the most eloquent writer on the Supreme Court. Much of the advice in this book isn’t new, but it is relevant and pulled together well in this volume. Even though I’m not in practice, the material can be easily applied to business writing and any meeting with colleagues and customers. I definitely recommend this book to anyone practicing law, and anyone (like me) that loves the law but makes a career elsewhere.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Posted on May 31st, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Nonfiction | No Comments »
Dean Koontz Odd HOurs Odd Thomas
Once again Odd has found trouble where it isn’t expected to be - in the California town of Magic Beach where a handshake just a few pages into the story prompts Odd to dive off a pier and hide from the Harbor Patrol. Accompanied by the ghost of Frank Sinatra, Odd thwarts a terrorist attack in a plot that is somewhat attenuated but still interesting. Like all of Koontz’ recent books, this can be read in a day or two, is entertaining enough, but is ultimately not great literature. Still, if you’re looking for a great summer or weekend read, this is a book for you!
Popularity: 4% [?]
Posted on May 24th, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books | No Comments »
Mike Carey The Devil You Know Vicious Circle
Aha, you’re saying, this book doesn’t come out until July! True, but even its sequel is available in the U.K. presently, and I couldn’t wait. This is a familiar theme this year! This book rejoins Felix Castor, an exorcist in a society where Parliament is debating the rights of the dead, but he finds himself in quasi-partnership with the succubi Juliet that attempted to — ahem — eat him in “The Devil You Know.” As odd as it sounds, this was actually a well-crafted story wherein both a group of Satanists and a fringe group of the Catholic Church (assisted by were-persons) are seeking the ghost of a little girl, one intent on feeding her as a sacrifice to Asmodeus, the other on excommunicating her to close the door to Hell. A dark outline, to be certain, but the characters carry the story with a bit of wit, and the author has crafted a great book.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Posted on May 20th, 2008 by toddg
Filed under: Books, Horror, Mystery | No Comments »
