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.The Osterman Weekend

by: Robert Ludlum

July 17, 1972
The Osterman weekend is not a bad story, with plenty of sudden shocks and plot twists. The only thing is I finished wondering how and why the Tanners and their friends had come to be targeted in the first place. Maybe I missed something in the story but I didn't quite get this bit. The other thing that is a little bit confusing is the way the story jumps forward an hour or so with no cut from one point to the next. For example one minute someone is being shot at, in the next paragraph they are explaining things to the police. This works ok in films as you can see the change, but can catch you out in a book. I may benefit from reading it a 2nd time, but for now I'm still a bit lost on the whole thing.
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.The Last Spymaster

by: Gayle Lynds

March 30, 2007
The book started well with a crisp plot but then descended into bathos or a Keystone Cops finale where the heroes suddenly had kevlar suits, magnetic grips and propane explosives. In fact the last 60 pages were awful. Gayle to me has a sub plot which would be worth anyone looking for in her other novels. Namely women are good and most men are bad. There are three women in this novel and they are all good. The one man was good but had "emotional flaws" that a good woman, babies and the Cook Islands put to rights. Her characterisation way below that of Le Carre, Deighton or Littell - hard stares and knowing looks made up for insight. All this reminded me of a comment by Ken Follett when he was discussing writing with Hanif Kureishi. The upshot ... Read More:
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.The Road to Gandolfo and The Road to Omaha

by: Robert Ludlum

2004
The book started well with a crisp plot but then descended into bathos or a Keystone Cops finale where the heroes suddenly had kevlar suits, magnetic grips and propane explosives. In fact the last 60 pages were awful. Gayle to me has a sub plot which would be worth anyone looking for in her other novels. Namely women are good and most men are bad. There are three women in this novel and they are all good. The one man was good but had "emotional flaws" that a good woman, babies and the Cook Islands put to rights. Her characterisation way below that of Le Carre, Deighton or Littell - hard stares and knowing looks made up for insight. All this reminded me of a comment by Ken Follett when he was discussing writing with Hanif Kureishi. The upshot ... Read More:
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.The Six Sacred Stones

by: Matthew Reilly

August 01, 2008
I read a wide variety of books (styles and subjects) and was looking for a holiday easy read so I wasn't expecting Goethe...I was expecting a Dan Brown or a Grisham kind of easy read. But this is bordering on childish matinee movie pap.

As many reviews have said this isn't a whole novel merely part of a ongoing story (who cares if it's 2 or 3?)so don't expect to know if the heroes save the world (I kinda guess they will but at one stage I wanted the world to end).

Ridiculous plots, gizmos and gadgets I can deal with...but the writing is atrocious. There is only so many "in the nick of times" you can endure and the dialogue has to be the worst I have ever read...it really is awful.

I've never reviewed a book ... Read More:
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.Masquerade

by: Gayle Lynds

April 30, 2004
Liz Sansborough wakes with amnesia and her supposed boyfriend and lover Gordon Tate tells her she is an ex-agent for the CIA and that the international assassin called the Carnivore is trying to kill her because sheï¿s the only person alive who has ever seen his face. Whatever doubts she has about this are quickly wiped away when two men break into her home, shooting. Gordon tosses her a gun and she instinctively shoots and kills one of the intruders. Afterward CIA agents show up and spirit her away to a safe house, where they tell her they need her help in bringing in the Carnivore, who is seeking asylum in exchange for information on who heï¿d been working for and who heï¿d killed over the last thirty years.

However at the CIA training ... Read More:
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.Black Market

by: James Patterson

July 03, 2006
'Black Market' (also known as Black Friday) is one of the first of James Patterson's many novels, originally published back in 1986. The story begins in the early hours of a cold December day in New York City where several of the biggest banks and investment and financial buildings on Wall Street are blown up by a terrorist organisation called The Green Band, a highly skilled group of Vietnam veterans who have a personal vendetta against the United States and plan to attack in one of the worst ways possible, by causing a complete financial crash where literally billions of dollars will be lost. FBI agent Archer Carroll and Wall Street lawyer Caitlin Dillon are on the case to find out the identities and the motive behind Green Band's terrorist acts.

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.The Alexander Cipher

by: Will Adams

November 05, 2007
Whilst I recognise that this is the authors first book and that it took over a decade to create, I regret that I do not share the euphoric enthusiasm of my fellow reviewers.

The plot is too reminiscent of other, dare I say, far better stories.
The whole story lacks the essence which creates a thoroughly enthralling tale. You know the sort of story I mean. The book you pick up and can't put down. This, regrettably, is not such a story.

I found it heavy going and, in particular, I found the historical and archelogical details long winded and often to the detriment of the story.

If you want to buy a historical novel, that's fine because you know precisely what you are going to get. I do not expect to get a historical novel when ... Read More:
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.The Appeal

by: John Grisham

January 29, 2008
This book really gets into the workings of the appeals process and the politics involved in elections within the Supreme Court in the USA. A page turner? Only if you are looking for the story to spark into life and grab you by the collar and shake you senseless and it's when you hit the author's note that you realise that will not happen in this book. Maybe I have come to expect too much from the auhtor but I felt this book lacked a cutting edge that in parts made it tedious and quite boring.
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.Seven Ancient Wonders

by: Matthew Reilly

August 04, 2006
I loved this book and wondered if I had read the same book as some of the previous reviews. What this book is is a tongue in cheek, fast paced adventure. So Reilly may have taken a few liberties with historical facts, specially adapted weapons and 747's but this is 'fiction' not real life. I couldn't put the book down and my 13 year old son has already started reading it. Don't take it too seriously, don't analyse every fact, don't wonder if things that happen are even possible, just read and enjoy it!
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.The Final Reckoning

by: Sam Bourne

August 04, 2008
It takes me a while to get involved in books but this one I stuck with. Although the idea behind it was good there is no real story, and eventually the writer goes off at a tangent and is not talking about the present story line, but another one set 50 years in the past.

He also spends far too much time describing the 'passion' between the two lead characters which seemed to come from no where but still be a dominant part of the story for some reason.

I think the writer was too involved in this story, and as such kept leading off at tangents which ultimately made me lose interest.
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