What have you read recently?

[Nemo2]

Just finished Steve Martini's Critical Mass https://stevemartini.com/book/critical-mass/
A fast moving nuclear thriller based primarily around Washington State's San Juan Islands*

Jocelyn “Joss” Cole, a burned-out public defender from L.A., has opted for a quieter life in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Joss has no significant clients other than a group of commercial fishermen suffering from a strange and serious illness, a condition doctors cannot diagnose, which Joss believes has an industrial cause Then into her office comes Dean Belden, a well-heeled client in search of a lawyer to help him set up a business in the islands. Within days Belden is subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury. Before he can testify, and before Joss can discover what happened in the secrecy of the grand jury room, Belden dies in the fiery explosion of his floatplane on Seattle’s Lake Union.

Gideon Van Ry is a nuclear fission expert and a scholar in residence at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California. One of his duties is to update the Center’s database, an extensive catalogue of fissionable materials and weapons of mass destruction. Gideon is troubled by the apparent failure in accounting for two small tactical nuclear devices missing from a storage facility in the former Soviet Union. The weapons were last seen in packing crates awaiting shipment to an American company, Belden Electronics. Gideon has been unable to locate this firm, and now he is left with only one possible lead, the lawyer who incorporated the company – Jocelyn Cole.

(* In the first chapter a Russian ship sinks during a storm in the Strait of Juan de Fuca......and I have first hand knowledge that things can get 'choppy' around there - Living on Salt Spring Island in the 1990s, sailed from there to Port Townsend, WA, to attend a Wooden Boat Festival.

Both the owner of the boat we sailed on, and also a neighbor who lived immediately in front of my late wife & me were (thankfully) very experienced sailors. We left Salt Spring, lunched at Friday Harbor and, in good weather, decided to complete the trip to Port Townsend that afternoon.

Then it all went to Rodent Excrement. It was pitch dark, the weather blew up and the radio was jammed with distress calls. Honestly didn't think we were going to make it. Scary, and made me appreciative of the book's introduction.)

 

[Nemo2]

Extraordinary People by Peter May, the first of his Enzo Macleod series.....twists, turns, and as Bob Dylan said, "Murder Most Foul":

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3043530-extraordinary-people

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Philliefan33]

I just finished “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides. It’s a thriller with a plot twist that I did not see coming.

I’m partway through “A Woman of No Importance”, a true story of a WWII spy. It’s making me think (once again) that previous generations were made of much tougher stock than me

 

[Nemo2]

www.reviewingtheevidence.com | BORKMANN'S POINT, by Hakan Nesser

Borkmann's Point by Håkan Nesser

BORKMANN'S POINT isn't some remote Swedish promontory where bodies pile up to keep the neighbourhood police gainfully employed. But the murder rate is definitely on the rise in the quiet coastal town of Kaalbringen . . .

And that's why Chief Inspector Van Veeteren (no first name -- a man must have an air of mystery!) is called in to help the local plods track down the killer of an ex-con and a local businessman. It's hardly surprising they need his help, given his opposite number Bausen is counting the days down to his retirement, Inspector Kropke is terminally stupid, and Constables Bang and Mooser appear to have been at the back of the queue when commonsense was handed out. The whole police station seems unable to function without regular intakes of coffee and Danish pastries.

Only Inspector Beate Moerk appears to have the sense she was born with. But once she disappears, Van Veeteren has his work cut out to find the serial killer before Beate becomes the next victim.

BORKMANN'S POINT is a masterpiece of spare writing and dry, throwaway wit.

 

[John Galt III]

Just finished "Herzog", a novel by Saul Bellow. It's about Moses Herzog, an introspective and very self-aware intellectual and his personal relationships. It reads just like a Philip Roth novel, to my ear. I liked it. It has a happy ending, by the way.

 

[Nemo2]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8265305-my-friend-the-mercenary A very well written, attention getting, glimpse of what goes on in the world.

My Friend the Mercenary by James Brabazon

In February 2002, British journalist James Brabazon set out to travel with guerrilla forces into Liberia to show the world what was happening in that war-torn country. To protect him, he hired Nick du Toit, a former South African Defence Force soldier who had fought in conflicts across Africa for over three decades. What follows is an incredible behind-the-scenes account of the Liberian rebels — known as the LURD — as they attempt to seize control of the country from government troops led by President Charles Taylor. In this gripping narrative, James Brabazon paints a brilliant portrait of the chaos that tore West Africa apart: nations run by warlords and kleptocrats, rebels fighting to displace them, ordinary people caught in the crossfire — and everywhere adventurers and mercenaries operating in war's dark shadows. It is a brutally honest book about what it takes to be a journalist, survivor, and friend in this morally corrosive crucible.

....................................................................................................

- In a Barcelona hostel, 1963, I met a 6'7" South African who claimed to have been in Katanga as a merc for Moïse Tshombe. He said that, having not been paid, about 100 of them (heavily armed) left and walked into (then) Rhodesia. (He appeared very conversant with the situation, but other than word of mouth I have no 'proof'.)

- Late 1960s Toronto, one of our coterie did two tours in the Congo with ‘Mad Mike’ Hoare's 5 commando:
https://www.ft.com/content/9f3d5a14-4902-11ea-aee2-9ddbdc86190d
In this case I saw the pics.

Congolese prime minister Moïse Tshombe hired Hoare to create and lead a 500-strong military unit, known as 5 Commando. Made up mainly of South Africans, it crushed a revolt known as the Simba rebellion, after the local Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC) had fled.

It was to be Hoare’s finest hour, ensuring the release of white hostages held by their Simba captors in a Stanleyville (now Kisangani) hotel.

 

[brett]

Just finished reading, for the third time over many years, Martin Gilbert's book about the lives of child Holocaust survivors. The Boys.

I find that it puts many things in perspective for me. Wonderful life stories of those who lost everything, survived, and moved forward.

 

[Acrewing]

Will definitely have to read this. Love baseball.

Is it about Whitey Herzog?

 

[Koogie]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8265305-my-friend-the-mercenary A very well written, attention getting, glimpse of what goes on in the world.

I loved that book. Niek du Toit is tough as old nails.

For another book about the same incident see if you can find "The Wonga Coup" It's not as good (IMHO) but does show a different side of the same incident.

In a similar vein and probably as good as or better than "Mercenary" is a book you should also read called "The Zanzibar Chest" by Aidan Hartley.

Half is a story about what happened to his family after the "end of empire" and the other half is about his experiences across Africa as a war correspondent. The time he spent in Rwanda and the way he describes the genocide is haunting and disturbing.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4337.The_Zanzibar_Chest

 

[Nemo2]

I loved that book. Niek du Toit is tough as old nails.

Most definitely!

Thanks for the book tips, I've noted them.

(The guy that served under 'Mad Mike', and whom I haven't seen for some 45 years now, had many, many tales....such as the Congolese Army 'controlling' about 3' either side of the train tracks as the train went up and down the line, and having bandoliers of ammunition often incompatible with the weapons they brandished.)

 

[gcgang]

60Minutes did a piece on 2x Pulitzer Prize Winner (2016 The Intuitionist, 2017 The Underground RR) Colton Whitehead in early 2021 that was interesting. As I’ve always been a poker degenerate, I decided to get his 2014 book called The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death after a magazine sponsored his entry to the World Series of Poker at The Rio in Las Vegas.

I got most of his poker jargon/strategies but also really appreciated his dry sense of humor and sometimes Tom Wolfe/Hunter Thompson-like ramblings describing people, places and situations.

http://grantland.com/features/parts-1-4/

Above is a link to excerpts from the book about the WSOP and his homeland, Anhedonia.

Looking forward to reading his more serious stuff (above).

Anyone else ever read Colon Whitehead?

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Currently reading How Not to Die due to a recommendation from a forum member.

 

[brett]

'The Boys' by Martin Gilbert. Non fiction about the lives of adolescent survivors
from concentration camps from their liberation through to the various stages of their lives. Second time I have read this book.

 

[donheff]

The Never Game, by Jeffery Deaver, was a fun, light weight thriller. It introduced a new Deaver character, Colter Shaw, an odball survivalist who tracks down missing people for whom rewards have been offered. Fun enough that I downloaded the next in the series.

Also, after discovering Martha Wells' SF Murderbot Series here and enjoying them all, I downloaded her Raksura Series. The later is SF fantasy which is not my favorite genre but I like her writing and have enjoyed the first two: The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea.

 

[Nemo2]

A while back I mentioned that I thought, erroneously, that I'd read all of James Lee Burke's books....how wrong can one person be? (They just keep popping up - the Timex of novels.)

Just finished Feast Day of Fools https://www.jamesleeburke.com/books/feast-day-of-fools/

OK, it's implausible...but it's very well written implausibility.

 

[RetireeRobert]

Finished another of author C. J. Box's books, this one in his new "Highway Quartet" series: Back of Beyond, and now in the middle of the second book in this new series: The Highway. Page turners, both of them. Vivid character descriptions, and settings in Wyoming/Montana.

Kind of combination mystery/modern day westerns/thrillers, if pressed to describe which genre.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Finished another of author C. J. Box's books, this one in his new "Highway Quartet" series: Back of Beyond, and now in the middle of the second book in this new series: The Highway. Page turners, both of them. Vivid character descriptions, and settings in Wyoming/Montana.

Kind of combination mystery/modern day westerns/thrillers, if pressed to describe which genre.

I just finished his latest in the Joe Pickett series. Dark Sky. Joe in trouble in the Bighorns. Loved it

 

[MichaelB]

I just finished George Orwell’s “Homage to Catalonia”. One of my favorite authors, I never tire of rereading his work, and usually discover something I missed in earlier reads.

 

[ER Eddie]

I normally read non-fiction, but a couple months ago, I read Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates. It's a novel I want to recommend. I originally thought I would find the story -- which is about a married couple in the 1950s -- uninteresting, but I was drawn in by Yates' writing.

The themes, at least in my view, relate to the ways we see ourselves vs. the way others see us vs. the way we present ourselves vs. the way we really are. Yates is very talented at drawing complex characters who may seem 2-D on the surface but have very intricate inner lives, with struggles that no one ever sees. The book is also about status, materialism, image, and infidelity.

I understand it was made into a movie with Leonardo DeCapria and Kate Winslet. I didn't see the move. Judging by the previews, they stuck to the main plot details but missed the the depth of the characters. That would be pretty typical for book -> movie conversions.

I discovered the novel when googling "classic American literature." Yates wrote it in the 50s.

 

[RetireeRobert]

I just finished his latest in the Joe Pickett series. Dark Sky. Joe in trouble in the Bighorns. Loved it

Yes, I ate up his next prior one, Long Range, a couple months ago. Need to get Dark Sky now that it is out. I usually try to find used, so it may take me a few months. But I've got his Highway Quartet to work on meantime.

 

[Nemo2]

Yet another James Lee Burke: Light of the World

https://www.amazon.ca/Light-World-Dave-Robicheaux-Novel/dp/1476710775

 

[bolt]

"Clinton Cash" by Peter Schweitzer,
"Compromised: Clinton, Bush & the CIA" by Terry Reed.
"National Security & Double Government" by Michael Glennon.(best of 3 imo)

All were pragmatically insightful imo.
Good luck & Best wishes....

 

[CindyBlue]

Re-reading "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by Allison Weir. I focus on something different, and learn something, new every time I read it!

 

[harllee]

Just finished John Grisham's new book A Time for Mercy. It is about a small town lawyer who gets appointed to a death penalty case --the defendant is a 16 year old kid. If you like Grisham you will like this one, I did. I try to read all his books --he owns a house a couple of blocks from me and I have met him a few times. He is a funny and interesting person. I understand he has a book coming out this year about basketball called Sooley--he told me several years ago he was going to write a basketball book when I saw him at a basketball game. He said he always has the plots of several books in the back of his mind. He mainly writes legal fiction but has also written a few sports books.

 

[Ally]

Re-reading "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by Allison Weir. I focus on something different, and learn something, new every time I read it!

I really enjoyed that book.