Monthly Archives: July 2017

07.11.17
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POINT OF CONTACT/A JACK RYAN, JR. NOVEL/ MIKE MADEN

Author Mike Maden has stepped in to write the latest in the TOM  CLANCY series. Mark Greaney has written the majority of the books since Tom Clancy died in 2013. Greaney also co-wrote with Clancy LOCKED ON and THREAT VECTOR.

POINT OF CONTACT is right on target with the Clancy series timeliness. The story line incorporates North Korea and the illicit sale of technology and materials through the Chinese and other nefarious back alley characters including of course, Bulgarians!

As readers of this blog are well aware, I am a long time Clancy fan. However, POINT OF CONTACT is a little thin by comparison, but nonetheless, fans may wish to add it to their list. There is still plenty of action though you will find the gripping suspense a little lacking.

 

07.07.17
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A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW/ A MUST SUMMER READ

A friend recommended Amor Towles first novel Rules of Civility. I loved the book. (See gordonsgoodreads). She then alerted me to the release of Towle’s second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow.  To say I enjoyed the book would be a gross understatement of my enthusiasm for this author.

It  would be an  injustice to the reader if I even attempted to steal Towle’s story.  Let me simply  place a prominent Russian Count from the world of former privilege under house arrest in the elegant Metropol hotel in the center of Moscow. Now, a few lines of Towle’s prose:

For several days, in fact, he had been fending off a state of restlessness. On his regular descent to the lobby, he caught himself counting the steps. As he browsed the headlines in his favorite chair, he found that he was lifting his hands to twirl the tips of moustaches that were no longer there. He found that he was walking through the doors of the Piazza for a 12:01 lunch.  And at 1:35 he climbed the 110 steps to his room, calculating the minutes until he could come downstairs for a drink.

Then, the girl in the yellow dress appears and the Count’s world changes forever.

Enjoy. I promise you will to the fullest!

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