reviewerID stringlengths 10 21 | asin stringlengths 10 10 | reviewerName stringlengths 0 49 ⌀ | helpful list | reviewText stringlengths 0 32.8k | overall float64 1 5 | summary stringlengths 0 452 | unixReviewTime int64 861M 1.41B ⌀ | reviewTime stringlengths 9 11 |
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A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0143123939 | TChris | [
137,
146
] | The primary characters in Zadie Smith's new novel -- residents of North West London, from which the title derives -- are dissected and analyzed, or more often skewered, as Smith lays bare their hypocrisies, ambitions, facades, insecurities, prejudices, and fears. The four central characters stand on different rungs of... | 5 | Changing lives in North West London | 1,346,716,800 | 09 4, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0143124145 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Edie Kiglatuk is an Inuit from Ellesmere Island; she thinks Anchorage is uncomfortably hot and crowded. She's there for the Iditarod, supporting her ex-husband's participation in the race. Before the race starts, however, Edie gets lost in the forest while following a spirit bear. She encounters a couple who warn her t... | 3 | Strong Alaskan background, mediocre plot, annoying character | 1,352,332,800 | 11 8, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 014312420X | TChris | [
77,
82
] | Joe Queenan is a columnist/journalist/writer/reviewer. He describes his regular work as "ridiculing nincompoops and scoundrels." To some extent, One for the Books is a collection of funny, book-related stories that do exactly that. He ridicules the inept security guards who detained his bag in a library, the luncheo... | 5 | One for the readers | 1,351,123,200 | 10 25, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0143124374 | TChris | [
10,
11
] | Although the protagonist of The Office of Mercy is twenty-four, the writing style, themes, and plot are characteristic of Young Adult fiction. That's neither good nor bad, in my view, but it surprised me since the novel doesn't seem to be marketed as YA. (In that regard, the promotional comparisons to Margaret Atwood... | 3 | An unconventional take on dystopian fiction (3.5 stars) | 1,361,404,800 | 02 21, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0143124951 | TChris | [
17,
19
] | Las Vegas is a city of fantasy, making it a fitting setting for a novel that uses elements of myth and fantasy to illuminate truth and reality. With casinos that replicate Paris and Venice and ancient Egypt, Las Vegas (Chris Abani theorizes) is searching for a myth that will validate its existence, a link to a place wi... | 5 | Myth and truth | 1,389,052,800 | 01 7, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0143125427 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Research suggests that babies babble the phonemes of hundreds of languages and that parental encouragement of recognized sounds shapes the language the babies learn to speak. If that is so, perhaps there is meaning in those root sounds that we don't fully understand. Maybe the brain has a fundamental language (akin t... | 5 | The power of words | 1,375,574,400 | 08 4, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0147509718 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Ludevic Senechal buys an old film from the son of a man who recently died. The film's former owner was obsessed by espionage and conspiracy stories. As Senechal watches the film, he goes blind. By chance, he speed dials the number of a Lucie Henebelle, a police lieutenant he dated for a short time. When Lucie watches t... | 4 | The first Sharko novel | 1,399,507,200 | 05 8, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 015101325X | TChris | [
4,
5
] | Raised From the Ground is the story of the latifundio, the Portuguese landed estates and those who toil upon them. The laborers are the victims of "infinite misfortune, inconsolable grief, both of which lasted from the nineteenth century to the day before yesterday." Plagues, famines, wars, and the cruel overseers of... | 5 | Powerful, compassionate, and wise | 1,356,480,000 | 12 26, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0151014604 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | Mickey Spillane was a master of the noir title:My Gun Is Quickremains my favorite, but almost equally high on my list of stellar titles areI, the Jury;The Big Kill; andKiss Me, Deadly. Kiss Her Goodbye just doesn't have the same danger-laden pizzazz. Its subdued title notwithstanding, the novel feels very much like a... | 4 | Unmistakably Mike Hammer | 1,305,590,400 | 05 17, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0151027072 | TChris | [
9,
10
] | Published in 1941 and set in 1939, Above Suspicion, through its two main characters--a British husband and wife who are recruited to undertake an intelligence gathering mission in Germany--presents a nice mix of action, intrigue, atmosphere, and political discussion. The husband and wife are joined by a fellow country... | 4 | A successful blend of pre-war intrigue, action, and suspense | 1,284,163,200 | 09 11, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0156031450 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Mel is an alienated eighth grader. As a Pentacostal Revivalist Born-Again Christian, she feels persecuted by the other kids at her secular school, yet she's annoyed by her peers at Sunday school, who strike Mel as being either self-righteous or dull-witted. Her only friend is Beth, for whom she feels sorry because Be... | 5 | A tribute to reason | 1,290,556,800 | 11 24, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0156034441 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | The titular Men in the Making are men learning to accept responsibility and to value their friends and family. Most of them have dirt under their fingernails: they work in sawmills; they farm; they clean the messes made by hospital patients. They live in Texas and Arkansas and Oklahoma. They drink Lone Star and lis... | 4 | Humble men making the best of uncertain lives | 1,314,576,000 | 08 29, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0156443791 | TChris | [
7,
7
] | The Inheritors tells the story of a small group of Neanderthals, primarily focusing on Lok and Fa, as they encounter strange "new people" who walk upright, have little body hair, shoot pointed twigs through the air, and ride across the water on hollow logs. The Neanderthal tribe includes a young girl and a baby ("the ... | 4 | Clever | 1,292,889,600 | 12 21, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0199538697 | TChris | [
11,
12
] | You don't have to be a scholar of French literature (I'm not) to appreciate Nana. Set in the late 1860s and early 1870s, Zola's novel (the ninth in his Rougon-Macquart series) follows a talentless but beautiful stage actress whose physical charms (which she generously shares with upscale men) make her the talk of Paris... | 4 | Amusing old school soap opera targets the decadent class | 1,282,003,200 | 08 17, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 019989759X | TChris | [
101,
108
] | Bruce Hood argues that the self is an illusion, "a powerful deception generated by our brains for our own benefit." He contends that a correct understanding of self contradicts the popular view that we are individuals within our bodies, "tracing out a pathway through life, and responsible for our thoughts and actions.... | 5 | "Are we all mistaken when it comes to knowing who we are?" | 1,338,508,800 | 06 1, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0241955769 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Oswald Cornelius takes pride in telling us that he is the greatest Lothario of all time. Portions of his "diary" are finally being published by Oswald's nephew, who appears in My Uncle Oswald only long enough to introduce volume XX of Oswald's diary. Oswald made his first fortune at age 17 by selling an early version... | 5 | A ribald classic | 1,346,457,600 | 09 1, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0297863924 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Jack Warner of Warner Brothers sends Fredric Stahl, an Austrian-born American actor, to Paris, where he will star in a French-made movie. The timing is unfortunate for Stahl. It's 1938 and Germany is engaged in political warfare, using a variety of resources to persuade the French that it would be futile to resist Hi... | 4 | Movie star turns spy | 1,376,611,200 | 08 16, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307263185 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | In Bangkok Haunts, we learn that before Sonchai Jitpleecheep married Chanya (a central character inBangkok Tattoo), he was in love with another of the sex workers employed in his mother's bar, an alluring woman named Damrong. After leaving Jitpleecheep, Damrong ended up starring in a snuff film, her first and last rol... | 5 | Five spicy stars | 1,292,630,400 | 12 18, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307265439 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Cormac McCarthy reduced this story to its raw elements: no names, not many characters, dialog that barely rises above a series of grunts. We don't see the apocalypse happen, we never learn its cause; we see only a journey through a dying world. The Road is a story of survival in desperate times, of a father's love f... | 4 | Fiction reduced to its raw elements | 1,295,136,000 | 01 16, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307377482 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Compared to other Scandanavian thrillers, the characters in Easy Money stand out for two reasons. First, they aren't suffering from depression. Second, they aren't endlessly complaining about the cold and snow while bundling up in parkas and mittens. In fact, while Easy Money is set in Stockholm, it could just as ea... | 5 | Multidimensional characters in a multilayered plot | 1,319,587,200 | 10 26, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307379191 | TChris | [
5,
6
] | Sugar is a professional. He's a thief, he's good at his job, and he's proud of his adherence to the rules of the game. Sugar has just finished a jewelry store heist planned by his friend Solly when he's picked up for a rape. He couldn't have committed the rape but he can't give the cops an alibi without admitting th... | 4 | A thoughtful examination of a criminal's integrity | 1,290,902,400 | 11 28, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307389189 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | It's hard to know what to make of Paprika. There's a surrealistic bizarreness to the story that is both appealing and frustrating. The surrealism is a natural component of the story's subject matter: the intersection of dreams and conscious thought.Paprika imagines a world in which mental illnesses can be detected with... | 4 | We are such stuff as dreams are made on | 1,364,515,200 | 03 29, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307451291 | null | [
0,
0
] | Acting on a tip, Geoffrey Gray began searching for the true identity of D.B. Cooper, the man who hijacked a 727 in 1971, exchanged the passengers for $200,000 in cash, and parachuted to freedom (or death) somewhere over the Pacific Northwest. Gray hadn't heard of Cooper when he received the tip, which tells me that Gr... | 4 | Where (and who) is D.B. Cooper? | 1,309,824,000 | 07 5, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307455955 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | Yates tells two related stories -- one focused on a mother, the other on her son -- in quiet, elegant prose. The son's is a war story: a young soldier at the end of World War II yearns for heroism but, in small ways, consistently disappoints himself. His story is gripping, but in some ways his mother's smaller story... | 4 | A nice piece of writing. | 1,281,916,800 | 08 16, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307473147 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Charles Clark, a less than successful racetrack gambler, always thought his father, "Hum" Drummond, lived up to his nickname: a dull, plodding, colorless man. Now that Drummond is afflicted with Alzheimer's, however, someone seems intent on killing him. Charles doesn't understand why anyone would want his hapless, h... | 4 | A spy with Alzheimer's | 1,326,499,200 | 01 14, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 030747402X | TChris | [
14,
15
] | The characters in Nevil Shute's novels always seem to share two qualities: decency and dignity. The novels are filled with pain and death; war is a frequent theme. Toward the end of The Breaking Wave, Shute writes: "Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time ... | 5 | Decency, Dignity, and Death | 1,291,420,800 | 12 4, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307475891 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Frank Behr doesn't fit in with the corporate culture of the private investigation/security consulting firm that employs him, but he has a baby on the way and it's a better living than he made while working on his own. Asked at the last minute to fill in as a bodyguard for Bernie Kolodnik, a wealthy businessman who is a... | 4 | The third Frank Behr novel | 1,377,907,200 | 08 31, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307476898 | TChris | [
26,
31
] | If a body is just a collection of replaceable parts, if love is just a sensation induced by a swirl of brain chemicals, then what is man?Charles Neumann loves machines; he's a mechanical engineer who, as a child, dreamed of being a train. As a teen, after nearly being run over by a guy driving a Viper -- a guy who the... | 5 | A cyborg love story | 1,311,811,200 | 07 28, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307700119 | TChris | [
274,
280
] | At the age of eleven, Michael boards an ocean liner bound for England. With his friends Cassius and Ramadhin, he explores the ship and befriends eccentric passengers: Mr. Fonseka, a literature teacher from Colombo who displays the "serenity and certainty" Michael has observed "only among those who have the armor of boo... | 5 | It takes a lifetime to come of age | 1,317,945,600 | 10 7, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307700682 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | We are told that the events described in My Father's Ghost is Climbing in the Rain are mostly true. We're also told that the novel's narrator (unnamed in the text, but I'll give him the author's first name since he claims to be telling us his own story) is unreliable. He warns the reader that his words can be taken eit... | 4 | The preface to a greater story | 1,369,094,400 | 05 21, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307717097 | TChris | [
133,
145
] | Vanessa Michael Munroe is a dangerous loner who bears emotional and physical scars, reminiscent of Stieg Larsson'sLisbeth Salander. Like Salander, Munroe is adept at acquiring information. While Salander relies upon her skills as a computer hacker, Munroe infiltrates cultures, sometimes posing as a man, working in de... | 5 | My new favorite action hero | 1,297,814,400 | 02 16, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307878007 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | Connections across the Atlantic and across time furnish TransAtlantic's theme. The first part of the novel reaches into history to tell three true stories. In 1919, Jack Alcock and Teddy Brown retrofit an airplane once used to make war and use it to make history: the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from Newfound... | 4 | "An accumulation of small shelves of incident" (4.5 stars) | 1,374,364,800 | 07 21, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307888789 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | You don't want to mess with Vanessa Michael Munroe. She has serious anger management issues. When she's mad, she becomes feral, blindly psychopathic in her rage, behaving like the Incredible Hulk without the green skin or the growth spurt. When she's calm, her calculating intelligence shines. The winning combinatio... | 4 | The third Michael Munroe novel | 1,370,390,400 | 06 5, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307907767 | TChris | [
6,
6
] | At the start of All the Birds, Singing we know little about Jake Whyte. We know that Jake is a woman of a certain age who speaks with an Australian accent, that she lives alone on a small island in Great Britain, that someone has sliced open and gutted two of her sheep, and that she feels like she's being watched. The ... | 4 | Intense, challenging, and ambiguous | 1,398,988,800 | 05 2, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307939650 | TChris | [
493,
499
] | James Garfield is most often remembered, if at all, as the president who was assassinated shortly after taking office. Destiny of the Republic brings the dead president back to life. This is not, however, a biography of Garfield. Rather, it is a stirring account of American life and politics during the time of the G... | 5 | A dead president brought to life | 1,316,476,800 | 09 20, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307949060 | TChris | [
5,
6
] | The Drowning House is a novel in which dark secrets are revealed, one after another, like bullets from a machine gun. Unfortunately, it takes too long for the firing to begin, and unlike bullets, the revelations have no impact.Clare Porterfield is a successful photographer who grew up in Galveston, where she returns af... | 2 | Grating | 1,358,294,400 | 01 16, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307950476 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | "There is no hyperbole anymore just stark extinction mounting up." So says Hig. A survivor of the flu and blood disease and whatever killed the trees and trout, Hig and his neighbor Bangley have formed a partnership born of necessity rather than friendship. Hig flies his Cessna, taking off from a runway in Erie, Col... | 5 | Stark extinction mounting up | 1,344,384,000 | 08 8, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307950492 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | A ghostman is an imposter, someone who can make himself (or other criminals) disappear by changing appearance or identity. The titular ghostman lives by a motto he found inThe Aaeneid: "If you can't reach heaven, raise hell." That pretty much sums up what you need to know about Ghostman: the protagonist is an intel... | 4 | "If you can't reach heaven, raise hell" | 1,360,627,200 | 02 12, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307955524 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | It's difficult to know what to make of The Stud Book. Most of the story is breezy, light comedy, good for a few chuckles, perhaps with the not-fully-realized intent to make some serious points along the way. The novel's ironic ending takes a dark turn. I understand (I think) the point the story is trying to make, but t... | 3 | Sex and the city (of Portland) | 1,365,465,600 | 04 9, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307955664 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Eliot, the narrator of Noughties, is a soon-to-graduate English lit student at Oxford. Noughties reads as if it were written by an English lit student, one whose knowledge of the world is confined to classrooms and college bars. The story, to the extent one can be found, is common: boy meets girl, boy goes to college w... | 3 | The primacy of style (when a writer has nothing to say) | 1,349,913,600 | 10 11, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307961354 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | The Antagonist is based on an intriguing premise: How would you react if you recognized yourself as a character in a book that someone you know has authored? "There he was, the character I knew to be me, lumbering in and out of scenes, and I'd be outraged when he was like me, -- because that was stealing, -- and outr... | 4 | Stealing a life (4.5 stars) | 1,358,899,200 | 01 23, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0307961508 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Martin Kigoma, a publisher in Tanzania, meets Kamal Kunja in a hospital in Kilwa. As Kunja recovers from his sickness, he tells his story to Kigoma. Kunja's story interweaves with the story of Kilwa, its people and its myths. Kunja's trip from Canada to Kilwa ultimately becomes a journey of self-discovery. As he explor... | 4 | A man without a country | 1,362,528,000 | 03 6, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312088124 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Hostile Intent is an old-fashioned spy story, Clive Egleton's first to feature SIS agent Peter Ashton. The well-paced novel begins with the assassination of Bob Whittle, a member of the British Army's Intelligence Corps, shortly after his meeting in Dresden with Galina Kutuzova, a GRU officer who reports to the KGB. ... | 4 | The first Peter Ashton novel | 1,289,260,800 | 11 9, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312104871 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Clive Egleton's second Peter Ashton novel is better than his first (Hostile Intent). Ashton is given a stronger personality (the polite British version of abrasive) and he begins to have a life outside the office. The plot is a bit less far-fetched and a bit more interesting than the story in Hostile Intent in that A... | 4 | The second Peter Ashton novel | 1,289,347,200 | 11 10, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312117744 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | True to the form established in the first two Peter Ashton novels (Hostile IntentandA Killing in Moscow), Death Throes begins with a death. A Russian using the name Valentin has contacted SIS and asked to meet with Ashton in Bulgaria. Ashton goes to Sofia to meet Valentin's contact, only to find him dead in his apart... | 4 | The third Peter Ashton novel | 1,290,038,400 | 11 18, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312280440 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Henny, a character in The Man Who Loved Children, condemns every popular novel she reads as "silly rot, muck, and a lot of hooey." Perhaps Christina Stead wrote The Man Who Loved Children as an antidote to the popular novel. Its strength is the depth of its characters, yet the two most significant characters are so d... | 4 | A novel worth conquering | 1,355,702,400 | 12 17, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312303556 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | I bought The Guards while stranded at an airport, knowing nothing about Ken Bruen. I'm glad I did. Bruen's writing style is concise, forceful, sometimes lyrical, and unusual in the sense that he peppers his prose with lists and with quotations from other authors (some of which have led me to discover those authors). ... | 4 | 4 1/2 stars | 1,285,286,400 | 09 24, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312315813 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Two Americans have defected to Russia, but the Russians, embarrassed that the defectors are gay, have been uncharacteristically quiet about it. The American government devises a plan to get them back. Mike Padillo, who spies for the Americans when he's not helping Mac McCorkle in their West Berlin bar, is part of the A... | 5 | Surprises, betrayals, and surprising betrayals (4.5 stars) | 1,404,950,400 | 07 10, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312354541 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | This novel deserves a wider audience. Sort of a thriller combined with an action-adventure-wilderness story, the novel is a welcome change from the cliched plots that pepper both genres. Although the story is a wild ride (the race to escape the rapidly spreading fire, not to mention the angry grizzly and the guy with... | 5 | A surprising thriller. | 1,281,916,800 | 08 16, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312363109 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | The Dramatist continues to chronicle the struggles of Jack Taylor, adding depth to Bruen's well drawn character, a fired cop and recovering alcoholic turned half-hearted private investigator in Galway. The prose style established in the companion novels continues here: clean, concise, and forceful. The plot includes... | 5 | The further struggles of Jack Taylor | 1,285,286,400 | 09 24, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312366353 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | A young man, turned down for employment with the Secret Intelligence Service, is offered a contract position working for SIS as an industrial double agent. Alex Milius is given a position with a British oil company with the expectation that CIA agents posing as employees of an American oil company will recruit him to ... | 4 | An interesting look at industrial espionage | 1,287,014,400 | 10 14, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312366396 | TChris | [
16,
16
] | Alec Milius, who made his debut in A Spy By Nature, returns to action in The Spanish Game. Six years have passed since the events described inA Spy by Natureand Milius is still worried that the CIA and the SIS are out to get him. After bouncing around the world, Milius has come to an uneasy rest in Madrid where he do... | 5 | The second Milius novel is better than the first | 1,295,222,400 | 01 17, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312375069 | TChris | [
17,
20
] | The Devotion of Suspect X is a different kind of crime novel. It isn't a whodunit: we learn in the opening pages that Yasuko kills her ex-husband, Togashi. Nor is the manner or motive of the killing a mystery: Togashi's aggressive behavior toward Yasuko and her daughter, and Yasuko's strangulation of Togashi with h... | 4 | A different kind of crime novel | 1,296,518,400 | 02 1, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312378513 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | According to Jack Slattery, the CIA's director of covert operations, the secret archives of Al-Qaeda can be found on a hard drive in an office building in Istanbul. Slattery orders Robin Monarch to lead a team into the building to steal a copy of the archives. Monarch has time to read a few of the archived files befo... | 4 | An intriguing protagonist races through a second-tier plot | 1,349,136,000 | 10 2, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312380348 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Iron House starts as the story of a man (Michael) who wants to leave the crime family in which he was raised after escaping from a brutal orphanage. Michael's desire to change his criminal life is motivated by his love of a woman (Elena) who doesn't know that he's a mob enforcer. Iron House later tells the story of Mic... | 4 | Is Michael better than the things he did? | 1,310,428,800 | 07 12, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312384696 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Although I've enjoyed financial thrillers by Joseph Finder and Christopher Reich (I haven't yet gotten to Stephen Frey), I approach them with some trepidation because for me, reading about finance is about as exciting as watching the Dow Jones ticker scrolling along the bottom of a television screen. As I began The God... | 5 | The mystery of the secret sauce (4.5 stars) | 1,298,678,400 | 02 26, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312428510 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | August Brill, age 72, lives with his daughter and granddaughter. Brill is a temporary invalid, having crushed his leg in a car accident. Brill recently lost his wife; his daughter's husband left her; his granddaughter's boyfriend was recently murdered. Brill and his granddaughter spend their days watching Netflix mo... | 4 | Skillful prose almost makes up for lack of substance | 1,285,200,000 | 09 23, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312576463 | TChris | [
20,
23
] | It is encouraging, I guess, that the five star reviews are running slightly ahead of the one star reviews. I hope potential readers won't be put off by negative reviews at this site that complain about: "disgusting" sex scenes (of the 560 pages, there might be a total of 3 that describe a sex act, and the descriptions... | 5 | A brilliant novel | 1,287,705,600 | 10 22, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312587538 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The doctors in Oath of Office aren'tMarcus Welby. They have problems. Serious problems. Dr. John Meacham, fearful of losing his license after yelling at yet another patient, kills seven people in his office before trying to kill himself -- a fairly clear violation of the Hippocratic Oath, to which the title refers. ... | 4 | A medical/political thriller | 1,329,177,600 | 02 14, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312587554 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Michael Palmer writes medical/political thrillers. While the world of medicine offers ample opportunity for drama, Palmer makes the puzzling choice to focus the plot of Political Suicide on secret military missions in which medicine (or, more aptly, chemistry) plays only a tangential role. Since the plot is derivativ... | 3 | The second Lou Welcome novel | 1,355,270,400 | 12 12, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312591802 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The Prisoner's Wife is a better novel than the blurbs that promote it, with their trite phrases like "pulse pounding" and "ripped from the headlines." Gerard Macdonald's story is in some respects familiar, but he avoids clichés while building a plausible, politically astute plot that is propelled by strong, tro... | 4 | A dark, morally ambiguous spy story | 1,336,521,600 | 05 9, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312621299 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The CEO of a Wall Street investment bank is shot dead while jogging. That same bloody weekend, a hedge fund manager is killed. Despite the absence of supporting evidence, talking heads speculate that domestic terrorists are targeting Wall Street. The murders intrigue freelance reporter Ellen Dorsey who, after hours ... | 4 | Tells an absorbing story, despite its unrealized ambitions | 1,373,760,000 | 07 14, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312642806 | TChris | [
25,
29
] | The Starboard Sea tries to do many things and doesn't fully succeed at any of them. Amber Dermont's assured writing style kept me reading to the end, but her high quality prose is largely wasted on a contrived plot. I made no intellectual or emotional connection to the story or any of its characters. The novel's first ... | 3 | Polished prose wasted on contrived plot | 1,330,905,600 | 03 5, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312644760 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Dead Spy Running begins with Daniel Marchant running a marathon but the story (unlike the runner) takes off at a sprinter's speed. Suspended from MI6, Marchant has personal issues: he drinks too much and his deceased father, the former Chief of MI6, is suspected of having been a traitor. During the race, Marchant ob... | 4 | Something old, something new | 1,291,075,200 | 11 30, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312652593 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | The prologue to The Girl Who Became a Beatle contains an apt warning: the novel is a fantasy that requires a willingness to suspend disbelief, to accept the possibility of magic in a fictional universe. If you only like stories that are reality-based, this isn't the novel for you.Regina is the sixteen-year-old lead voc... | 4 | Comfort food | 1,297,728,000 | 02 15, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312674465 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The short stories collected in Revenge tend to be snapshots of turmoil, slices of emotion-charged lives. A woman spends an "Afternoon at the Bakery" where she goes to buy strawberry shortcake for her son's birthday, twelve years after he died while trapped inside an abandoned refrigerator. A paranoid woman gathers the ... | 4 | Snapshots of turmoil | 1,359,417,600 | 01 29, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312674503 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | I knew Gin Toad was a character I would like when, newly arrived in Wyalkatchem, she meets a woman who pats her shoulder, telling her that it's good luck to touch an albino, and Gin responds by tapping the woman and saying "Maybe it's good luck to touch an idiot." Gin doesn't often give voice to her sharp humor but she... | 5 | A remarkable story of love and prejudice during war | 1,299,715,200 | 03 10, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312675291 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Of all the Charles Cumming novels, my favorite remainsThe Hidden Man, a novel that -- like a Hitchcock movie -- generates suspense by placing unwitting individuals in unforeseen peril. Cumming tries to do that again in The Trinity Six by sending Professor Sam Gaddis on a quest to identify the sixth and final member of... | 4 | Good but not Cumming's best work | 1,300,924,800 | 03 24, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312680279 | TChris | [
9,
11
] | The Earth and its creatures consist mostly of water. When water gets its evil on, it is a formidable and dangerous element. Even without a supernatural infestation, oceans (particularly at night) are frightening to behold. In Harbor, John Ajvide Lindqvist imagines the waters of the ocean as a diabolical force.In 200... | 4 | Evil water | 1,318,291,200 | 10 11, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312749511 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | With good reason, The Space Merchants is one of the classic science fiction novels of the 1950s: it is fun and prophetic, and it conveys a message that remains timely. WhatGordon Gekkodid with "Greed is good," Fred Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth did with "Power ennobles. Absolute power ennobles absolutely." In a story tha... | 5 | "Power ennobles. Absolute power ennobles absolutely." | 1,348,272,000 | 09 22, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312850212 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | A starship captain kills two crew members because he is convinced on the basis of scant evidence that they are aliens (a rather drastic response that isn't terribly credible). The lawyer assigned to defend him advises a plea of temporary insanity but the captain insists that his assessment was correct. Convinced that t... | 3 | Not Resnik's best | 1,284,163,200 | 09 11, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312856644 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Scott Carey is dwindling to nothingness. Having been sprayed by insecticide and then irradiated, Scott loses an inch a week until his former self is all but lost. Although themovieversion of The Shrinking Man and some later editions of the book add the word "Incredible" to the title, Scott finds his loss of stature t... | 5 | The body diminishes, the spirit endures | 1,346,544,000 | 09 2, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312862873 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Patrick O'Leary had me for about the first two-thirds of this novel. The writing is elegant, the plot strong and mysterious. John Donelly, a therapist, and Laura, his patient, are both well-drawn characters. Laura may or may not be delusional; her story, involving aliens from the future, may or may not be true. It is t... | 3 | A valiant effort fizzles | 1,284,163,200 | 09 11, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312866542 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Why are some people better at survival than others? The committee overseeing a Navy project researching that question discovers that one of its members possesses the qualities of the ultimate survivor -- never ill, never stressed, impossibly intelligent -- but they don't know which one it is and the gifted member refu... | 4 | A classic sf thriller | 1,295,049,600 | 01 15, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312900333 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | In Ian Watson's 1981 novel Deathhunter, western nations have ended war and violence by embracing death rather than fearing it. When it is time to die (as determined by disease or the census office), the designated decedents-to-be report to a House of Death where a death counselor guides them to a peaceful end. Jim Todh... | 4 | A creative and offbeat novel that is better than its title suggests | 1,294,531,200 | 01 9, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0312930763 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Good noir begins with good characters, troubled people struggling with dark secrets or a shady past. Betty Giles was an art curator for a large corporation before she went to work for a private collector and discovered that her boss, one of the wealthiest men in the world, indulges a sinister passion. Betty's boyfriend... | 4 | A kinder, gentler noir | 1,388,188,800 | 12 28, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 031600538X | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The first of Iain Banks' Culture novels follows Horza, a Changer, as he is rescued from Culture captivity by the Idirans, who want to send him to Schar's World (one of the Planets of the Dead guarded by the Dra'Azon) to find a Mind (a controller of Culture ships) that has taken refuge there. In the midst of another ba... | 4 | A good (but not great) action story | 1,286,064,000 | 10 3, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316054704 | TChris | [
23,
23
] | If Upton Sinclair and Philip K. Dick had collaborated to write a Sam Spade novel, they might have produced The Company Man. Poor working conditions and inadequate wages cause conflict between labor and management, leading to murders in the slums that are investigated by a noir-coated private detective, and it all take... | 4 | An odd mixture of sf, noir, and social realism | 1,302,739,200 | 04 14, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316098078 | TChris | [
63,
68
] | Kim Stanley Robinson is full of ideas. The danger in a KSR novel is that he will develop his ideas with enthusiasm while relegating the plot and characters to the status of afterthoughts. When -- as in Shaman -- KSR decides to tell a story rather than disguising a series of essays as a work of fiction, he is a talented... | 4 | KSR balances ideas with a credible plot and strong characters | 1,378,166,400 | 09 3, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316098116 | TChris | [
180,
199
] | "Worldbuilding" has been a popular buzz word in the modern era of science fiction, and Kim Stanley Robinson has always scored points for his detailed construction of alien environments. In 2312, he turns his attention to asteroid building: asteroids are captured, hollowed out, fitted with propulsion systems, made into ... | 3 | Strong asteroid building, weak story development (3.5 stars) | 1,337,644,800 | 05 22, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316120979 | TChris | [
19,
20
] | Me and the Devil will never be mistaken forTwilight, despite the protagonist's craving for blood. In fact, my impression is that Nick Tosches wrote this as the Twilight antidote. He is (the novel makes clear) anguished that readers prefer fluff to Faulkner, that reading and literacy are dying and that the writing rac... | 4 | This isn't Twilight | 1,354,924,800 | 12 8, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316125156 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Samuil Petrovich, the unlikely hero ofEquations of Life, begins this novel by creating artificial gravity. At some point between Equations of Life and Theories of Flight, Petrovich married Madeleine who, when we last saw her, was a gun-toting nun. Madeleine apparently had a crisis of faith; she's now a gun-toting ser... | 3 | The second Petrovich novel | 1,303,776,000 | 04 26, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316125172 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | It has been about a year since the Americans destroyed Oshicora Tower and buried the Artificial Intelligence known as Michael beneath a pile of rubble, an event that occurred inTheories of Flight, the middle novel of the Petrovich Trilogy. World governments revile Petrovich, regarding him as a terrorist because of his... | 4 | The best of the Petrovich trilogy | 1,306,886,400 | 06 1, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316125180 | TChris | [
4,
4
] | Simon Morden's Equations of Life, the first book of a trilogy set in a post-Armageddon future, is an engaging, action-filled novel that has the feel of an intelligently written comic book. Samuil Petrovitch, a radiation-damaged Russian, left his criminal past behind and came to London in 2021 on a physics scholarship. ... | 4 | Engaging and action-filled with the feel of an intelligent comic book | 1,301,356,800 | 03 29, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316128155 | TChris | [
10,
10
] | Germline, the first novel of The Subterrene War series, told the story of a journalist who became a part of the war he was covering, participating in battles and growing emotionally attached to genetically bred female soldiers called Germlines. In Exogene, the second novel in the series, the focus is on one of the Ger... | 4 | The second Subterrene War novel | 1,329,782,400 | 02 21, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316128171 | TChris | [
11,
12
] | The war is over (or so it appears) but Stanley Resnick is still fighting. His job -- the only element of his life that brings him joy -- is to track down and destroy rogue Germlines, the genetically engineered female warriors who have chosen not to meet their scheduled deaths. The Germlines are designed to spoil like... | 4 | The final novel of The Subterrene War trilogy (4.5 stars) | 1,343,692,800 | 07 31, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 031612818X | TChris | [
15,
16
] | This is the second military science fiction novel I've read in recent months that is told from a journalist's point of view (the other is Dan Abnett'sEmbedded). Germline is by far the better of the two: the characters have more depth, the battle scenes are more realistic (the emphasis is on survival rather than gunnin... | 5 | Fighting in tunnels (with genetically engineered teenage girls) | 1,311,638,400 | 07 26, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316129062 | TChris | [
47,
48
] | Sometimes the second book in a series is a let-down, particularly when it follows a strong initial entry. The good news is that Caliban's War advances the story thatLeviathan Wakesbegan, introduces appealing new characters, adds depth to a familiar character, and reconfirms the authors' ability to tell an energetic, en... | 4 | The second novel of The Expanse | 1,340,582,400 | 06 25, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316129070 | TChris | [
60,
71
] | The protomolecule, once confined to Venus, has managed to launch a self-assembling Ring that sits outside the orbit of Uranus. Anything that tries to fly through the middle of the Ring comes to an immediate stop before it begins a slow motion trip in a different direction, leading to the conclusion that the ring is so... | 5 | The third novel of The Expanse | 1,370,304,000 | 06 4, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316129089 | TChris | [
136,
147
] | The Canterbury, an ice-hauling ship, receives a distress signal from the Scopuli, a deserted ship with a hole in the hull and a transmitter that sends a signal as soon as the ship is boarded. Soon the Canterbury is attacked and destroyed by a frigate that appears to be part of the Martian Navy. Only the shuttle crew ... | 4 | Old school space opera meets futuristic detective story | 1,307,836,800 | 06 12, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316133302 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Had I read the first two books in the Charlie Hardie series before reading Point and Shoot, I might not have felt quite so lost as I tried to make sense of Hardie's flashbacks in the opening pages. What's this outfit called the Cabal and why is Hardie in low Earth orbit watching a daily video of his family in their kit... | 4 | The third Charlie Hardie novel | 1,367,452,800 | 05 2, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 031618845X | TChris | [
8,
9
] | Give Joe Lansdale credit for versatility. He's written mysteries and suspense novels, science fiction and horror, comic books and cartoons. If he isn't making your bones shake with fear, he's making your teeth rattle with laughter. The Thicket is an old-fashioned western with a modern sensibility and a considerable amo... | 4 | An old-fashioned western with a modern sensibility (and humor) | 1,378,771,200 | 09 10, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316200204 | TChris | [
16,
18
] | Robert Jackson Bennett is a masterful creator of unclassifiable fiction. Is American Elsewhere science fiction, fantasy, or a horror story? Is it a crime novel? A mystery? A satire? Is it an allegory of insular life in small town America, a commentary on intolerance of outsiders? A send-up of the illusory wholesomeness... | 5 | Take back the night | 1,361,318,400 | 02 20, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 031620420X | TChris | [
6,
7
] | Intifada has its origin in an Arabic word meaning "to shake off"; hence the title. By the novel's end, shaking off his past (and possibly his codeine addiction) will be Michel Khoury's greatest challenge.Although he carries a Lebanese passport (among others), Khoury is a Palestinian. He was born in a refugee camp in Be... | 4 | Palestinian intrigue | 1,344,729,600 | 08 12, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316212377 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The Gzilt are about to transition from the Real to the Sublime, where they will live a blissful existence in dimensions seven through eleven. In most instances, an entire civilization must enter the Sublime at the same time to retain individual identities, and this is what the Gzilt are preparing to do in 24 days. Wh... | 5 | Sublime | 1,350,000,000 | 10 12, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316217786 | TChris | [
25,
25
] | If Love Minus Eighty has a central theme, it's this: love is complicated. It's particularly complicated if you've fallen in love with a dead woman. Love Minus Eighty explores love in a light-hearted way from a variety of perspectives: characters are in love (both requited and unrequited), or want love, or are fakin... | 4 | Loving the dead | 1,370,995,200 | 06 12, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316218952 | TChris | [
53,
60
] | Parasite is hard to categorize -- and that's a good thing. It has elements of a corporate conspiracy thriller, a biotech thriller, a creepy science fiction/horror novel, and a mystery. It combines a low-key love story with an offbeat family drama. At its heart, Parasite is an "aliens take over human bodies" story, a st... | 4 | A biotech conspiracy horror mystery novel ... with tapeworms | 1,383,004,800 | 10 29, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316219673 | null | [
3,
3
] | Wolfhound Century leaves the reader with a bucketful of unanswered questions. I imagine a sequel is in the works. Until it arrives, I'm not sure whether to call Wolfhound Century fantasy or science fiction. The strong elements of fantasy may turn out to have a science-based explanation -- there are some hints of that -... | 4 | Unanswered questions | 1,365,552,000 | 04 10, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 031622006X | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Samuil Petrovich is back. A rather quiet decade has passed since the events described inDegrees of Freedom. The evil Americans are still ruled by religious fanatics, but the Freezone is cooking along with a proto-democracy. Major decisions are made by a consensus of individuals chosen by computer who serve on small ... | 4 | The return of Petrovich | 1,363,651,200 | 03 19, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316221112 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Devi Morris has quit the Blackbirds (which sounds like a Brownie troop but is actually an elite group of mercenaries) and now she wants to serve the Sacred King as a Devastator, but she's only 27. Needing more experience, she takes a security position on Brian Caldswell's trading ship. Devi is from Paradox, a world of ... | 3 | Lacks imagination | 1,390,176,000 | 01 20, 2014 |
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