Book Review: City of Bones by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 8)

This novel, published in 2008 is another in the Michael Connelly series featuring the LA detective Harry Bosch. The bones in question are some human remains that a dog digs up and Harry and his colleague Jerry Edgar are assigned to the case. The bones sadly belong to a child.

The bones belong to a boy that disappeared 20 years earlier and a skateboard in a suspect's house is the only clue they have to go on. Bosch researches old disappearances over the past 20 years and this is a problem to find witnesses and people he can interview to unlock the case.

To add to Harry's problems he starts a relationship with a new female cop that leads to complications for him in his private and professional life.

The novel is superb, there are more bodies along the way, Connelly really puts some believable twists and turns into his work. At first it looks like a mystery that will just remain a mystery after twenty years, then like a home run case before further twists lead to the conclusion on the last few pages of the novel.

Michael Connelly manages to convey the feelings I have of Los Angeles (I have only been there once) very well in addition to the feelings for Harry and his world. He is really in his stride with this novel and at the top of his writing game.

A 9/10 for this novel from me, no question about it.

Book Review: London Bridges by James Patterson (Alex Cross 10)

I had read the first nine Alex Cross novels (six of which I expensively had sent over from England to Doha by post) and I had hoped to find London Bridges in Doha but without success. I therefore had to wait a few weeks for this novel to arrive from England. Once I had got my copy (with a lot of postage cost) I then found that Virgin had reorganised their shelves in Villaggio and they had copies of this book. J

This novel starts with Alex Cross on a much needed holiday, like we all need. Will he get some peace and r and r. Of course not. The adversary from the last novel, the Russian Wolf is back. Now he is blowing up towns in Nevada for starters. He also has the Weasel to help him too.

The crime trail leads Alex Cross to London that was good for me as I knew some of the places where he was (Washington DC generally is a mystery to me as I have never been there and I am now probably too scared to go to anyway thanks to James Patterson).

The small town detonation in Nevada is small time. The Wolf threatens London, Washington, Frankfurt and New York with bombs. However Alex Cross is on the case.

We also find out more about his private life of course and the mother of his little boy Alex Junior wins custody and Cross has to deal with the trauma of only seeing his youngest son at limited times of the year.

The book is well paced and with the tie in with his personal life where you really feel for him, this is a good Alex Cross novel.

This gets 8/10 for me.

Book Review: All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 3)

I am quite used to the characters of Kay Scarpetta and her "team" of Pete Marino and Benton Wesley as well as her young niece Lucy. I am also fascinated by the American-Italian background as well.

Marino's wife Doris has left him and we get the human face of the detective and Scarpetta's reaction to this too.

However, this novel is also a mystery that is what holds our interest. A killer is on the loose and is taking out young lovers. Kay Scarpetta as the Chief Medical Examiner helps in the investigations but her task is made more difficult as the bodies are in remote woodlands. She is unable to definitively unable to clearly define the causes of death.

When the latest girl goes missing it turns out that she is one of the daughters of one of the most powerful women in the USA and Scarpetta is then subjected to media attention and the pressure on her mounts.

There appears to be a conspiracy too and evidence is being withheld, manipulated or faked. The killer is still on the loose.

8/10 for me for this one.

Book Review: The Enemy by Lee Child (Jack Reacher 8)

We go back into Reacher's past with this 2004 novel. It is the end of the cold war and the Berlin wall is coming down, it is 01 January 1990. The conflict is winding down when military policeman Jack Reacher gets a call to investigate a dead soldier found in a shady hotel. He passes on this and tells the local police to look after it.

However the dead soldier turns out to be a general who should have been in Germany. Then why was he found in North Carolina dead in a hotel room. Reacher goes to the general's house to break the news when he finds the dead body of the general's wife.

Reacher has to investigate what is going on. As ever he needs all of his super brain power and physical attributes to right the wrongs. We enjoy going along for the ride, wishing that we could be the tough man Reacher.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell (Andy Brazil 3)

Superintendent Judy Hammer and her right hand man Andy Brazil are trying their best to protect the public from politicians. An island off the coast of Virginia declares independence and this independence dates back to the first settlers who came from London's Isle of Dogs.

Andy Brazil tries to help public relations by starting a website called Trooper Truth where he publishes stories about local police matters. His posts on the website are misinterpreted but go viral. The characters in the novel all have silly names too. This includes a serial killer called Unique First who tells her victims that they are going to have a "Unique experience" before she kills them.

This is not a very good book at all. Read a library copy if you must. It is all very contrived and silly.

4/10 for me.

Book Review: Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 2)

A well known novelist has been murdered following their return from Florida Keys, where she has been in hiding from someone who has threatened to kill her. However she drops her guard when she returns home and is murdered by her stalker.

The novelists former boyfriend enters the story and tells of a crooked entertainment lawyer who wants to get his hands on the victim's latest manuscript.

The Chief Medical Examiner, Kay Scarpetta, is on the case and we are plunged once again into the science of criminology and forensics to help solve the case.

The light of suspicion is focused on different characters as they come into the novel, and it is a good read to find out who the true killer is.

I am still enjoying the world of Kay Scarpetta.

This is a 7/10 for me.

Book Review: A Darkness More than Night by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 7)

This novel is also Harry Bosch 7 as well as a Terry McCaleb novel (2 of 2)

I love the title of this book, I would have read it on that alone! Also that it is written by the wonderful writer Michael Connelly. It is the second of the two Terry McCaleb novels.

McCaleb has moved on in his life and married the sister of the woman who donated her heart to him as he is a heart transplant recipient. They now have a young daughter and McCaleb, an ex-FBI man is living quietly running a fishing charter business.

However, his world is stirred up again when a Sherriff's Deputy brings him a police file to take a look at as they would like his professional opinion. The chief suspect of the crime appears to be Harry Bosch, the LA detective hero in the majority of the Michael Connelly novels.

Bosch comes to visit McCaleb and some flimsy evidence points to Harry Bosch being set up. Due in part to discovering this evidence, McCaleb becomes a target for the real killer. Bosch saves him and captures the real criminal.

The novel then moves on to the court procedures part and it becomes evident that Bosch has lied to McCaleb and their relationship sours.

An interesting novel and a 7/10 from me.

Book Review: 3rd Degree by James Patterson and Andrew Gross

This is the third in the Womens Murder Club series. As ever it is set in San Francisco with Inspector Lindsay Boxer and her fellow Club members. A Sunday morning jog session is interrupted by a massive explosion in a house that Lindsay is near. This is the first of a number of related terrorist acts in the area and Lindsay is on the case with her pals assisting as ever.

Someone clearly has a grudge against capitalism and as the facts reveal themselves, it is clear that the grudge goes back quite some way. Lindsay is assisted by the FBI on this case as national security is invovled as San Francisco is due to stage a G8 summit.

In this novel there is a love interest for Lindsay but tragedy for one of the other members.

The series continues to be good for me.

8/10 for this one.

New Novel Release: Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs

The latest Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan novel comes out today. Grab your copy now!!!

Book Review: Southern Cross by Patricia Cornwell (Andy Brazil 2)

Virginia's police department has escalating crime statistics and Judy Hammer, Deputy Chief Virginia West as well as Andy Brazil the police officer are all tasked with reversing the trend. There are the usual crimes including cash dispenser robberies, teenage gangs, drug dealing on the streets, racial tension and a lot of guns in the area.

A computer virus attacks the police department computers, freezing the screens and a blue fish design comes on the screens and this symbol also appears on a statue too. This symbol leads the police to a gang and a series of robberies.

I much prefer the Scarpetta novels and even those are bit hit and miss (some good some not so good), but this is not a very good book or series.

5/10 for me.

Book Review: Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer

The opening to this novel from 2002 is one that has been used before. Twins are born and are separated at birth, one to become the son of millionaires after their child died and the other to continue into the life he was born to.

The story follows the story of the two brothers, one who attends Yale, becomes a lawyer and successful state senator. The other brother gets drafted into the army and fights in Vietnam, wins the Medal of Honour, goes to Connecticut University and becomes a currency banker.

The twins become rivals due to the character called Ralph Elliot. However they never meet until they both decide to run for the office of the governor of Connecticut. One twin defends the other in court on a murder charge and the other twin gives blood to save his sibling.

They eventually of course discover that they are in fact twins but they still both run for the office of governor of Connecticut. The result is tied and they have to toss a coin to see who is appointed to office.

The story suspends reality in places but is the usual Archer page turning epic and I enjoyed this novel very much.

An 8/10 for me.

Book Review: Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

I whizzed through this novel pretty quickly, it was light and well written. The plot was a bit implausible, at its centre was the theme of bigamy. However, we do read about people who run a couple of marriages at the same time, live two lives so the plot is feasible.

An interior designer woman is the perpetrator of this crime of bigamy. However she is also guilty of bumping off her husbands or fiance. The connection that all of her suitors have is money.

However, an undercover FBI operation is on her tail. However one of the operatives falls for her charms and starts a relationship with her. She seemingly falls in love with him. The novel also deals with family issues too and having to face up to what are the most important things in your life rather than sex and money.

A good novel and 8/10 for me.

Book Review: Persuader by Lee Child (Jack Reacher 7)

I am used to the Jack Reacher, ex-US military cop who is the loner drifter who opts to live life outside of normal society. Tough and uncompromising yet a good guy who wants to right wrongs. This novel was published in 2003.

Reacher gets involves in a kidnapping and takes out two of the bad guys as well as by accident a policeman. The family of the child he saved takes him in but all is not what it seems with the Beck family. The family is not on the level but they are clearly some way down the food chain of crime as other higher criminals are calling the shots.

Reacher discovers the truth behind the facade and puts wrong to rights. He also manages to rescue a damsel in distress that, of course, introduces some love interest into the novel.

There are also some time travel moments to ten years before that add to the mystery of the novel before all is revealed at the end of the novel. Lee Child improves with each Jack Reacher novel and this is no exception.

8/10 from me.

Book Review: Angels Flight by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 6)

This is the sixth in the excellent Harry Bosch series, published in 1998. In this book Harry is trying to solve the case of the murder of a black lawyer called Howard Elias. The book has echoes of the Rodney King case of the 1990's to it too. The lawyer was someone who sued LA cops for civil rights violations.

Bosch also investigates the murder victim of the man Elias was defending as Bosch believes that the two cases are connected. The deaths continue as Harry is on the trail.

Harry's marriage is also on the rocks so he has some emotional baggage with him as well as solving the cases too.

9/10 for me on this one, great stuff.

Book Review: Miracle on the 17th Green by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge

This is a short book and I read it really quickly in under a day. It is about golf that I am not too interested in. However, I wish that the book were longer as it was so enticing and easy to read. I am 52 years old and about the same age as the hero in the book.

However, it is not really about golf at all in many ways, you don't need to understand the terms of golf (I don't). You just need to be a human being and we have all been there where Travis has been. A crossroads in life and we know that we should follow our dreams. How often do we turn away and play safe. But life is not about that it is about following your dreams and living the big life.

I really enjoyed this book very much. And maybe I will look out the film too!

A 9/10 for me.

Book Review:The Dealer and the Dead by Gerald Seymour

Found this book compelling to read, thoroughly absorbing read from Gerald Seymour. I have read all of his books to date and I enjoy the variety of his novel subjects and the British outlook on life. I am currently reading so much American literature that I find this refreshing.

This novel is about the uncovering of some bodies from the Balkans War in a Croatian village near Vukovar after some mines are cleared. This leads to a succession of events that affects all of the people involved and drags them into the future through the tragic events of 1991.

An arms dealer is the centre of the plot. The villagers put a contract out on him and we learn that the arms dealer is also targetted by Customs and Excise in the UK. The plot ebbs and flows and all the threads are brought together in a showdown back in the village.

Justice is seen to be done but there are plenty of victims along the way. No ones life is the same after the arms dealer faces up to what he has done. People are also plunged into a different future from the present that they were living in.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

I quite enjoyed this novel by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro but for me it was a bit cluttered. It centres on an agency who are detectives and general do gooders.

There are so many threads to this novel though. There is Jack (the main character) and his twin's relationship. There is the match fixing in American football. There are a pair of serial killers on the loose that his agency is following. There is Jack's relationship with Colleen. There is Jack's unfinished business from his time in the army as a helicopter pilot. There is also Jack investigating the murder of his best friend's wife. Oh yes, and there is Mafia involvement too if that wasn't enough already.

As I said this is pretty cluttered as a novel and what seems to happen is that you just get a skimming of each part of the novel. I believe it would have been much better to have had half of the threads running and gone into them in more detail. Patterson is better than this normally, I would have thought that he would have done some trimming here and letting out in other places. I will read the sequel Private London I am sure as I want to read all of his novels but I hope for better than this.

The prose is good and it reads easily but it each chapter is like someone with a TV zapper and you keep straining to remember where you were with the last thread.

Only 6/10 for this one.

Book Review: Post Mortem by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta 1)

This is the first in the series featuring Dr Kay Scarpetta who at this time is the Chief Medical Examiner of the State of Virginia in the USA. We are also introduced to her world that features a police sergeant detective Pete Marino who Scarpetta has a rather abrasive working relationship with. We are also introduced to Scarpetta's niece Lucy who at the time of this novel is 10 years old going on 30.

A woman has been strangled and this is the latest in a line of unsolved murders in Richmond, a serial killer is on the loose. There are few clues but as the medical examiner Scarpetta is one of the chief sleuths in tracking down the killer. We are introduced to the forensic laboratory world of crime.

We also meet Benton Wesley who is an FBI profiler who aids the investigation by trying to get inside the head of the killer.

A husband of one of the victims is suspected by Marino, but Scarpetta is far from convinced. News leaks out and the focus is on Scarpetta's office as the source of the leaks. She comes under the microscope herself from many different sources as a result.

Scarpetta manipulates the media releases to try and flush out the killer but ends up with the killer on her tail!!!

I was hooked on the series from this first novel.

A good start to the series and 8/10 for me.

Book Review: Sam's Letters to Jennifer

To date I have read about half of James Patterson's novels and generally these have been crime thrillers. This novel however is a romance that I thought I would not like at all but I was pleasantly surprised, it was great.

The novel is well written and concerns a grand daughter called Jennifer and the letters her grandmother Samantha has written to her. She spends a summer at her grandmother's house while Samantha is in hospital. She reads the letters from her grandmother.

These letters cause Jennifer to look at her own life and to open up to new possibilities. Her own life links back into the past and she finds a very special time in her life. For her personally her life begins anew.

I also liked the American away for the summer home feel of life by a lake too. It helped to take the heat out of this reader's Doha summer.

You will enjoy this novel and 8/10 from me.

Book Review: Beach House by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge

This novel I read in three days and I really enjoyed the first half of it very much. I liked the setting out on the Hamptons and the summer holiday feel. I liked finding out about the Memory Motel and its links to the Rolling Stones (I looked this up later on Wikipedia). I also enjoyed the Irish family of men and their male way of life. And the large dose of tragedy entering their lives and the way that it affected them and they became victims, and how much more they lost.

I liked the way that the family (grandfather and grandson) licked their wounds and took on the bad guys and eventually got their revenge. The writing as ever had James Patterson's light touch and moved along nicely.

The second courtroom scene was well played out but the fact that it took place at all suspended my imagination a bit too far. However, I still enjoyed this novel a lot and if the second half had been as good as the first I would have given this a higher mark.

For me 8/10.

Book Review: Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson (Alex Cross 9)

Alex Cross has changed jobs from the Washington Police Department as a detective to being an agent with the FBI. A new case quickly invades his life.

A man and woman team are abducting people and have been doing so for the past two years. The FBI considers that the pair work for the Wolf who is part of the Russian mafia (or mafiya). It is believed that the kidnappers are putting the abductees into slavery in the 20^th Century.

Cross struggles a bit as a new recruit and to the FBI methods of working. He has to get to know new people but he is trying to find his way and pushes the envelope of the usual FBI ways of working. Some extra deaths result due to this conflict.

To add to Alex's problems his youngest son's mother comes back on the scene and wants to take his son back to the West Coast. I love the dips into Cross's personal and private life as well. I really felt for him in these parts.

The novel works along at a good pace but this novel is not as good as the earlier Alex Cross novels.

7/10 from me for this one.

Book Review: Cradle and All by James Patterson

I read this pretty quickly over three days and it kept moving nicely and the prose is in the Patterson style. I have been reading some of his earlier novels recently and these have not really been page turners at all and quite difficult to read. Cradle and All is easy to read and the pages keep turning.

However the subject matter was a different subject for me altogether. I have read all of the Alex Cross novels and a lot of Patterson's novels are of this genre. However, Cradle and All is based on the concept of the virgin birth and deals with matters within the catholic church. For me it was all a bit far fetched and not to my taste at all.

I am now going to get on wtih the Beach House by James Patterson and hopefully this will be a return to his crime thrillers coupled with his storytelling techniques.

For this novel only 6/10 due to the subject matter for me.

Book Review: 2nd Chance by James Patterson (Womens Murder Club 2)

This novel is the second in the Womens Murder Club series, that all have a numerical theme in the title. I read the first one a couple of weeks ago and I liked the characters and the novels are as easy to read as the Alex Cross ones.

This novel reintroduces us to Lindsay Boxer the SFPD detective who gets a case thrust upon her where a madman is on the rampage. She gets a few clues that the killer is after black victims but the victims also have links to the cops.

 

Lindsay's ex-cop father turns up on the scene eleven years after running away and abandoning her. His appearance move the case on that has links with her father's past. Not only do we get a great murder mystery but also family reconciliation that also evolves into a mixed family ending.

A great novel for me and 9/10

Book Review: Hornets Nest by Patricia Cornwell (Andy Brazil 1)

A step out of the Scarpetta comfort zone for Patricia Cornwell and into the world of Andy Brazil. A killer is on the loose and the perpetrator is painting the victims orange. Deputy Chief Virginia West is on the case and is forced to take a rookie reporter on the case with her in an effort by her boss to boost community relations. The reporter is Andy Brazil.

There are attempts to have humour in the books and to see a bit about West's personal life but it really does not come off. The book does not really reach the heights that Scarpetta can reach and this was not a great read and I read to complete reading all of the Patricia Cornwell. Maybe you can borrow a copy from the library or get a copy from a charity shop?

5/10 for me, didn't enjoy this much

Book Review: Without Fail by Lee Child (Jack Reacher 6)

This novel was published in 2002 and is written by Englishman Lee Child about the American loner tough guy Reacher, it is his 6^th outing. Reacher is an ex-US military cop who is meandering around America trying to keep outside the system and a tied down life

In this novel Reacher helps a woman to protect the Vice President of the United States. Reacher is not in a world he likes, the suits and diplomacy but the world needs his tough guy protection. The ruthless killer not only has the Vice President on his hit list but also puts Reacher on it too.

The novel, as usual with these books, has Reacher being violent and ruthless with it as well as some love interest too. We learn how Reacher tracks down the killer and puts wrongs to right.

A good novel for me and improving Lee Child work, 8/10.

Book Review: The Eleventh Commandment by Jeffrey Archer

This novel was written in 1998. The background to this novel is that the CIA chief, Helen Dexter takes the law into her own hands and orders the murder of political figures in other countries on the basis of their anti-American views.

Dexter discovers however that if her actions become public then she will be ruined. She endeavours to eliminate her chief assassin called Connor Fitzgerald. However the CIA does not accept his resignation and sends him on another mission to assassinate a candidate for the Russian Presidency. However Connor is arrested and put in jail in Russia to face execution.

Connor does a deal with the Russian Mafia and escapes but his price is to assassinate the Russian President. However he fakes his death and fails in the attempt at the assassination. He gets back home to the US and the plot just continues to unfold from there.

7/10 for me for this novel.

Book Reivew: The Midnight Club by James Patterson

I am endeavouring to read all of the James Patterson novels (am up to date with the Alex Cross ones and now I am backtracking to near the beginning of his published writing to this novel that I was able to find in Doha.

Reviews of other early Patterson novels do not promise too much in terms of quality, it seems as if it took him a few goes to get to a formula and technique that worked.

This novel too falls into that category, James Patterson is certainly finding his way. The prose does not flow too well, I had no real feelings for the characters either. Far from being a page turner, it is a plodding read and not one I could really recommend unless you are a "completeist" trainspotter type like me.

No more than 5/10 for this one.



New Release: A Deniable Death by Gerald Seymour

The new novel A Deniable Death by Gerald Seymour is released today. Go get your copy!!!

New Release: The Vault by Ruth Rendell

The new Ruth Rendell/Inspector Wexford is released today. Go get your copy!!!

Book Review: Trunk Music by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch 5)

This is the fifth in the excellent Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly, published in 1996.

The mob appears to have murdered a film producer in LA. The book is called Trunk Music as the trunk of the car is where the body ended up. Bosch follows the leads to Vegas but this gets him into trouble with the department. It also leads him to the love of his life, Eleanor Wish the ex-FBI agent who he helped convict of fraud.

Harry follows the clues to track down the killers and also falls back in love with Eleanor.

Another good read from Michael Connelly.

8/10 from me.

Book Review: The Tragedy of the Korosko by Arthur Conan-Doyle

This novel is quite short and concerns itself with a boorish group of western tourists in the Middle East. They have imperliast views, look down on the locals and consider that their version of civilisation is better too.

The local tribesmen consider that their culture is better and they are guided by their leader to kidnap the westerners and try to change them to their way of thinking.

It was disappointing to read this book in one way as the scenario played out could have been contemporary rather than 1898 when this novel was published. The current troubles and clashes of culture in the Middle East and its relationship with the West does not seem to have improved.

The book, a work of fiction however is very well written and easy to read. Some of the language is stuck in its time but it is well worth reading this novel once you have read the Sherlock Holmes books of course!

8/10 for me on this one.

Book Review: Honour Among Thieves by Jeffrey Archer

The action takes place in 1993 after the First Gulf War with Saddam Hussein planning his revenge on the United States by stealing the American Declaration of Independence and his plans to burn this on the 4^th of July. Hussein gets his United Nations Deputy Ambassador to seek the help of a mafia lawyer.

However, Saddam Hussein is being tracked by a young beautiful female Mossad agent called Hannah Kopec with a personal vendetta with plans to kill him.

When the USA discovers that the Declaration of Independence has been changed for a forgery, Scott Bradley who is a Yale law professor tracks Kopec to Paris and he begins to work with her to recover the document before the 4^th of July.

An engrossing read that stretches you across continents but you have to suspend your knowledge of history a little in places.

7/10 for me for this one.