Contemporary Books - Page 17

Six Bad Things: A Novel

Charlie Huston

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

SIX BAD THINGS 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

1) This was the second book in the Hank Thompson trilogy. It wasn't as good as the first book, Caught Stealing.
2) Besides, Hank, all they other characters seemed as if they were the same person with different names.
3) The story was so full of twist and turns, it became difficult at times to keep track of what was going on and why.
4) There were no chapters; instead, the story was divided into three parts, which made it difficult to find good places to start and stop.
5) Hank wasn't as charming or witty as he was in "Caught Stealing".
6) Hank did things that Hank wouldn't have done in, "Caught Stealing" and I wish that Charlie Huston would have kept him more in line with the Hank from the first book.

Other than the above six bad things, this was a good book. Huston is great at writing mystery/thrillers, and he probably does violence better than any other author that I know of. Like many of Charlie Huston's characters, I'm glad I don't know anybody like Henry (Hank) Thompson, but still like him as a fictional person in black and white print. He is a very likable good guy/bad guy. Would I want to hang out with him? Ahh, probably not. One very good thing about Six Bad Things is that it set up the third book in the series splendidly, and I look forward to reading, A Dangerous Man soon.

Editorial Review:

Hank Thompson is living off the map in Mexico with a bagful of cash that the Russian mafia wants back and many, many secrets. So when a Russian backpacker shows up in town asking questions, Hank tries to play it cool. But he knows the jig is up when the backpacker mentions the money . . . and the family Hank left behind. Suddenly Hank’s in a desperate race to get to his parents in California before anyone can harm them. Along the way he’ll face Federales and Border Patrol, mafiosi and vigilantes, extortionists and drug dealers, and a couple of psychotic surf bums with an ax to grind. From the golden beaches of the Yucatán to the seedy strip clubs of Vegas, Charlie Huston opens a door to the squalid underworld of crime and corruption–and invites the reader to live it in the extreme.

Home to Holly Springs (Father Tim, Book 1)

Jan Karon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 141 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Disappointing 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved the first four Mitford series books. However, I have to believe that this book is written by a different author. The writing style is amateur and difficult to follow. I found this book to be extremely aggravating. I was constantly trying to figure out who was speaking in the dialog and who was who. For example, there are TWO Peggys. Couldn't the author have simplified things by creating a different name? Flashbacks are poorly delineated leaving the reader to sort out orientation in time. Finally, the constant attempt at writing dialog in a dialect is tiring and poorly executed. I was so irritated by the book, that I was compelled to write this review; and I never take the time to write a review. I'd be very surprised if this is truly Jan Karon's work. Usually her writing is clear and inviting. This one missed by a long shot.

Editorial Review:

Readers of the nine bestselling Mitford novels have been captivated by Jan Karon’s “gift for illuminating the struggles that creep into everyday lives—along with a vividly imagined world” (People). Millions have relished the story of the bookish and big-hearted Episcopal priest and the fullness of his seemingly ordinary life. Now, in the first novels of a new series, Jan Karon enchants us with the story of the newly retired priest’s spur-of-the-moment adventure. For the first time in decades, Father Tim returns to his birthplace, Holly Springs, Mississippi, in response to a mysterious, unsigned note saying simply: “Come home.” A story of long-buried secrets, forgiveness, and the wonder of discovering new people, places, and depth of feeling, Home to Holly Springs will enthrall new readers and longtime fans alike.

El Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien, Manuel Figueroa, J.R.R. Tolkien

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1637 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Book Review: The Hobbit 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Most of us have seen or read the lord of the rings, but have you ever wondered what happened before this? Well, you can find out by reading The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. This story is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and how an adventure changes him and the rest of middle earth.

In the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is met by a wizard named Gandalf, who sends him on an adventure with thirteen dwarves: Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Fili, Kili, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifuf, Bofur, and finally, Bombur. These 14 companions are sent on a quest to travel to the Lonely Mountain for the purpose of regaining the dwarves' treasure from the evil dragon, Smaug. On this journey, they will travel across the Misty Mountains, through the Goblin Caves and into the Dark Forest of Mirkwood. They will encounter Elves, Men, Goblins and various creatures of all sorts as they travel across Middle Earth.

One such event occurred soon after they left the Shirt. This encounter was with a group of three trolls. After hearing noises in the forest, the dwarves sent Bilbo to investigate. When he did, he found that the trolls were eating. So, he tried to steal from them while they were distracted, but was caught in the act. While a prisoner of the trolls, the dwarves, hearing the commotion, gave themselves away by trying to save Bilbo, causing them to be bagged and thrown by the fire. The trolls then started arguing on how to cook the dwarves and the hobbit. Little did the trolls know, Gandalf was hiding in the bushes where he kept the argument going by disguising his voice as their own. Gandalf kept them arguing until daybreak, knowing that trolls cannot survive sunlight and turn to stone. When daybreak arrived the trolls failed to seek cover from the sun and indeed turned into stone. After this, Bilbo and Gandalf freed the dwarves who were cranky, angry and upset from being in the sack all night. This was just one of many adventures in Professor Tolkien's book The Hobbit.

This story has many strengths. I believe the biggest is how Professor Tolkien paints a picture of the character's surroundings. An example is: "The lands opened wide about him, filled with the waters of the river which broke up and wandered in a hundred winding courses, or halted in marshes and pools dotted with isles on every side." Another strength is how he leads up to an action scene. An example of this is how he has the dwarves and Bilbo wandering around Mirkwood, chasing lights before they actually get to the spider colony where a battle follows. A third strength is how the author uses song to relate to scenes or stories written the book. An example is from the beginning of the story, when the dwarves are all gathered at Bilbo's house. During this time, Bilbo gets anxious about the dwarves no being gentle with his belongings. So Tolkien ha the dwarves sing a song about breaking his plates when they clean up after a meal. Evan though this is a great book, it does have some weaknesses. One weakness is how the book has more narration then dialogue. An example of this is how Tolkien focuses more upon Bilbo's thoughts during a conversation that he is having than the conversation itself.

This book is similar to other fairy tale/medieval novels. This is because of the creatures, weapons, and technologies used. Also, they have castles and every "kingdom" is for the most part independent and uncaring of one another. It is different from these types of novels because this story is used more as a prologue to The Lord of the Rings than a full story in and of itself.

I believe The Hobbit was written for all audiences. Although there can be big words and weird phrases, even young readers would enjoy this wonderful story. The genre of this book is fantasy. I know this because this book has many wonderful fictions characters and places in it. There is no other book in comparison to this one (with the exception of The Lord of the Rings).

Ultimately, I believe The Hobbit is one of the best books I've ever read. I think this is because it's written very descriptively and the storyline is amazing. If you enjoy adventure and action, you should read this book.

Editorial Review:

Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, the best-selling, award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov, comes a brilliant, engaging, and eminently readable translation of Leo Tolstoy’s master epic.

War and Peace centers broadly on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the best-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves behind his family to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman, who intrigues both men. As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy vividly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.

Pevear and Volokhonsky have brought us this classic novel in a translation remarkable for its fidelity to Tolstoy’s style and cadence and for its energetic, accessible prose. With stunning grace and precision, this new version of War and Peace is set to become the definitive English edition.

The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen: Volume II: Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 905 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Worth paying for on the Kindle 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Kindle owners hopefully are aware of the wealth of free editions of the classics which are available through Feedbooks and other sources.

I obtained a copy of P&P from feedbooks originally and while it was easy to get and the price was right, the overall quality of the text is not great. I've found several typos, presumably the result of OCR errors and it's somewhat distracting.

Since P&P is one of my wife's favorite books, I was delighted to see
Penguin had released an electronic edition for $0.50 complete with the usual footnotes, essays and maps that one's used to
finding in textbook editions of the classics.

The table of contents is pretty minimal. The headings include the editor's material, and the three volume headings.

Editorial Review:

This is the first of the novels published in 'The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen' series, illustrated with early nineteenth-century plates. From its famous opening sentence, the story of the Bennet family and of the novel's two protagonists, Elizabeth and Darcy, told with a wit that its author feared might prove 'rather too light and bright, and sparkling, ' delights its most familiar readers as thoroughly as it does those who encounter it for the first time. And while she entertains us, Jane Austen teaches us the wisdom of balance, the folly of 'pride' and 'prejudice.'

Foul Play

Janet Evanovich

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Bad Ending! 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I was loving this quirky book until close to the end. It was witty, funny and made me laugh out loud. The characters are fun and the thought of a clown losing her job to a chicken is absurdly hilarious! All was going well and I was enjoying the book (probably would have given it a 4 star rating) until the end. The last couple of chapters really didn't fit well. Spoiler Alert**** If the rooster deal was enough to drive Amy away, why did Jake not tell her what really happened in the end? A weather girl - no way! The ending felt too rushed and out of sync with the rest of the book. Wish Evanovich could go back and end this one properly. If I knew the ending was going to be so bad, I would not have read the book and I am a HUGE Evanovich fan!

Editorial Review:

When Amy Klasse loses her TV job to a dancing chicken, handsome veterinarian Jake Elliott rescues her with an offer to be his receptionist. Jake just can't resist a damsel in distress, and Amy certainly doesn't mind Jake's charming sincerity.

Then suddenly the job-stealing chicken disappears and Amy is suspected of foul play. Amy and Jake search for clues to prove her innocence. But will Jake be able to prove to Amy that love, too, is a mystery worth solving?

Transfer of Power

Vince Flynn

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 214 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Poor Formatting for the Kindle 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a review of the Kindle edition, not the paper versions.
I found this book doubly disappointing. The first and most bothersome problem was the poor formatting- inconsistent capitalizations, run together words, strange hyphenations. This was distracting and didn't allow the story to flow for me.
The second problem was the predictability of the plot and the somewhat cartoon-like characters.
The book did seem to be well researched and there were few glaring errors although the author is confused as to the functions and missions of the various intelligence organizations. At least he got the weapons correct which is often not the case in novels of this type.
I don't know if the printed versions of this novel have the same formatting problems. I will probably purchase one more novel in the series and then see if things have improved.

Editorial Review:

What if America's most powerful leader was also its prime target?

On a busy Washington morning, the stately calm of the White House is shattered as terrorists gain control of the executive mansion, slaughtering dozens of people. The president is evacuated to an underground bunker, but not before nearly one hundred hostages are taken. One man is sent in to take control of the crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorism operative, determines that the president is not as safe as Washington's power elite had thought. Moving among the corridors of the White House, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington to its core: someone within his own government wants his rescue attempt to fail.

Shantaram (Spanish) (Spanish Edition)

Gregory David Roberts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 281 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."

So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear.

Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter Bombay's hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere.

As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The search leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The keys to unlock the mysteries and intrigues that bind Lin are held by two people. The first is Khader Khan: mafia godfather, criminal-philosopher-saint, and mentor to Lin in the underworld of the Golden City. The second is Karla: elusive, dangerous, and beautiful, whose passions are driven by secrets that torment her and yet give her a terrible power.

Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas---this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart. Based on the life of the author, it is by any measure the debut of an extraordinary voice in literature.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

Christopher Moore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 510 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Satire at its Best 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

In the words of Christopher Moore, "... if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, one may need a bit more praying to do." While some of the elements of "Lamb" may lend a new perspective to the times of Jesus, is it a work of fiction. Futhermore, it is satire. The idea of giving Jesus a flamboyant friend to follow him from childhood through his ministry gives the Gospel stories a different perspective. For most people, the perspective is worth many laughs.

The New Testament tells very little of the childhood of Jesus. Since there is little reason to believe that these gaps will ever be filled, Christopher Moore took the liberty of filling in the gap with proper historical context. It is admirable that much of the writing is so true to the time period. From the first miracles of Jesus as a child, Biff follows the Messiah with a sense of wonder. Yet at the same time, Biff is somewhat rough around the edges while trying to protect a friend he views to be naive. Two thousand years after Jesus's ministry, Biff is raised from the dead to tell his story. With the angel Raziel to supervise his writing in a modern hotel, Moore alternates between past and present.

The puns and twists are unlikely to offend many, but certainly some will find reason to object. It seems as though it is a divine gift of comedy. From circumcisions to bacon to human sexuality, few topics are off limits. It is the type of book that you will want to quote to friends like a classic Monty Python skit.

Editorial Review:

The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshuafrom his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more -- except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala -- and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.

Confessor (Sword of Truth)

Terry Goodkind

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 253 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Preaching, smugness, and panic abound 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

You probably already know that Goodkind is preachy. I knew it going in and I can deal with that, even though it kills the feeling of the book. It does bother me that an author will go to great lengths to try and tell a story and wrap the reader into a different world, and then just totally bash the reader in the skull with childish monologues that go for pages where I guess we are supposed to believe that all other characters just patiently wait for the speaker to finish and reach their point. It doesn't matter how many people are present for these tirades, or what the circumstances are (like maybe a tense moment with tempers flaring). We are just supposed to stay wrapped up in this story as if it's plausible. Sorry Mr Goodkind but it isn't. You might as well have said Richard pulls out a gun and starts firing at people because THAT is how plausible your character tirades are. How can you create this rich world and not get something basic like how people interact?

So anyway, I can skip those and keep going. I don't mind that much as long as I can keep the story going. And it worked for much of this book like his other recent books. But what really killed it for me was the ending. It has to be the dumbest ending ever. I can only think that panic sent in with a due date looming so Goodkind just whipped up something to get it done. In a manner of two or three pages Goodkind explains the entire secret to all the magic being used as "one thing was wrong because it was after a key date" but "the correct thing was correct even though it was after the key date".

Why you ask? Well the first thing was wrong because it was illogical because how could it be part of the solution if the timeline was wrong. So how could the second thing be correct if the timeline was also wrong? Ahhh dear reader the answer is .... it was a trick. Yes folks, logic prevails until the author gets tired head and decides that logic won't work so we fall back on "it's a trick".

You know, that might work if there were some space between these revelations, like maybe a book or two or even a few 100 pages. But no, it all comes in a one or two page span.

Let that sink in a bit. It's the last 5 pages of the book dear readers. XZY was false because of a date, simple logic. But ABC is true even though it falls under the same date, because it's a trick.

A trick. Really Terry? Really?

So yes, I enjoyed the book even with the smug speeches and preaching. But I feel so ripped off because of the ending. I'm ashamed I read the book and gave Terry money.

Editorial Review:

Descending into darkness, about to be overwhelmed by evil, those people still free are powerless to stop the coming dawn of a savage new world, while Richard faces the guilt of knowing that he must let it happen. Alone, he must bear the weight of a sin he dare not confess to the one person he loves…and has lost.
 
Join Richard and Kahlan in the concluding novel of one of the most remarkable and memorable journeys ever written. It started with one rule, and will end with the rule of all rules, the rule unwritten, the rule unspoken since the dawn of history.

When next the sun rises, the world will be forever changed.