Current Non-Genre Reading III

[Randy M.]

We should rename this thread which mystery book are you currently reading?

Why, it was Journey Into Fear by Eric Ambler, thanks for asking.

My GoodReads review:
Graham is an ordinary man, an engineer for a munitions company. He is about to leave Turkey near the beginning of WWII, his country (England) already in the fight against Germany. And Germany does not want the advanced weaponry his company can provide Turkey to reach them before Spring. Graham is thus a marked man. In spite of help from the Turkish government, he finds himself on a boat with an assassin.

Ambler does a terrific job of isolating Graham and showing his fear and leaving it in the air as to how his resolve will either fail or save him. In the course of the voyage, he must balance his fear with trying not to show he recognizes the assassin and with interacting with an interesting array of fellow passengers.

While I did not find this as engrossing as A Mask/Coffin for Dimitrios, it's still an intense and immersive read.

 

[Raf]

Reading a historical fiction trilogy by Michael G. Thomas about the British / Zulu Wars. " Zulu Rising: A Tale of Empire and War (Blackwood of the Empire)"

On the 2nd now. But I'm impressed by the writing in this one. Will review after I finish.

 

[Raf]

Reading a historical fiction trilogy by Michael G. Thomas about the British / Zulu Wars. " Zulu Rising: A Tale of Empire and War (Blackwood of the Empire)"

On the 2nd now. But I'm impressed by the writing in this one. Will review after I finish.

Finished the trilogy. I liked the history of the Zulu Wars. But the storytelling was ponderous in it's intimate descriptions of the drudgery of day to day life in a British Infantry regiment on the march in Africa. Chapter after chapter of moving a few miles each day to build another isolated fort before continuing on.

I get that it was more the reality of that war. But it reads like a history text instead of novel. I tried his fantasy trilogy, but stopped a few pages in as it still had the same ponderous feel. I may try it again later.

 

[Westy]

Read the 12th Mitch Rapp Spy Thriller book, "Pursuit of Honor".

It continues from the previous novel as Rapp tracks down terrorists on the run while also dealing with internal traitors. A good fast paced read like most previous books, but some of the author's views seem to be pushed even stronger here, like the "torture's the only method of getting answers" one being almost rammed down the reader's throat.

But there was a passage comparing views on torturing prisoners to abortion that just felt totally out of place and irrelevant, it really brought it down a notch for me straight away.

Good overall but some distracting apects becoming more prevalent, hopefully the next book is better.

 

[Ropie]

I'm almost done with Tomorrow and (x3) by Gabrielle Zevin.

A great read, with certain depth to it and quite interesting subject matter - a turn of the millennium computer game company that makes it big. Of course, this is literature, so the author is primarily concerned with details of the relationships of the company founders, but the games they are creating have been as carefully described as the main characters, and everything ties together in a believable, interesting and even symbolic way.

More than anything it reminds me of Ender's Game funnily enough, both in terms of world building (in the computer games), the traits of some of the characters and the easily digestible reading style.