Oct 3
Prey, by Michael Crichton, is one of his more recent novels. Similar to The Shining, the last time I read this, I wasn't too impressed, but being stuck for a book (again) I chose this book to read- I have a few more of his more recent books, Timeline, State of Fear, Next, as well as Prey, and I thought this was the best of them. I didn't particularly like his more recent books- I thought Airframe was his last great book- but I'll reassess them all again for this review blog.
Anyway, Prey is a book in the style of Jurassic Park, but the dinosaurs, in this case, was a swarm of nano-creatures, created in ignorance by a business entity, which very quickly evolves and goes beyond the 'fences' put up around them.
This is a decent book, it'll keep you turning the next page until the end. It lacks a certain depth which was always a hallmark of Crichton's work. If his older novels were blockbuster movies, his latter novels were straight-to-DVD movies. Whereas I'll read Jurassic Park every couple of years, it'll probably be quite a while before I read this again.
Worth a read.
Shameless Amazon link
Prey
Oct 3
Stephen King is a true master of his medium. I read The Shining quite a while ago and at the time I have to admit that I wasn't that taken by it, so I wasn't raring to read it again. However, being stuck for something to read, I decided to give it a go again.
In case you don't know, The Shining is about a little boy with telepathic powers (The Shining) who, along with his parents, travel to an isolated hotel, the Overlook Hotel, to maintain it during the harsh winter months.
What they didn't realise was that the Hotel was an evil entity and fed off people, especially those with telepathic powers.
This book, to use several cliches, is a suspense masterpiece. It builds and builds, winding the screw. King very subtly makes the situation worse and worse until you're at the end of the novel wondering how everything went so bad.
Read this book, but be ready for a terrifying experience. My particular favourite passages involved the hedge animals. Creepy.
Shameless Amazon Link
The Shining
Sep 2
I like to read some classic literature every now and again, so I decided to read Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was familiar with the plot, having seen many movie adaptations (The Muppets version was my favourite) but I have always meant to read it.
I liked the book, the infamous one-legged pirate, Long John Silver, was a particularly good character. My only gripe was that the book was very much of the time and aimed at younger readers, so I wouldn't exactly say that this was a 'deep' book, but enjoyable for what it is.
One thing is for sure, this isn't Moby Dick. Now that was a whale of a book (groan). If you get the chance, and you'll probably find a free ebook version on iBooks or Kindle, give it a read, it's definitely a classic.
I still haven't found out why they called him Long John.
Shameless Amazon Link
Treasure Island (Penguin Classics)
Sep 2
Written in the late 70s and published in the early 80s, Congo by Michael Crichton is the story about an expedition into an unexplored region of the Congo river basin, looking for diamonds, which goes horribly wrong for some unknown region, so a second expedition has to be set up to follow the first in, find out what happened to them and recover the diamonds. Unknown to the expedition, there lies a secret world with unknown animals of a menacing nature, just waiting for them to try take the diamonds...
I like this book, the story is good. If you've seen the God-awful movie adaptation, you have an idea of the plot, but the book is much better. The film doesn't do the book justice, coming across as a crummy straight-to-tv movie. I've read this book many times before, yet I can still go back and read it, and like a lot of Crichton's novels, new things always pop out that you would never have acknowledged before
You get the sense that Crichton is refining his craft with this book. It has a similar feel to Jurassic Park, in that there are long passages that explain some historic event or explain the backstory even further, but I felt that they were a bit long and a bit irrelevant to be interesting.
I'd recommend giving this a read, if you haven't already. Not as engaging as Jurassic Park but a good story, all the same.
Shameless Amazon Link:
Congo
Sep 2
Archangel by Robert Harris is similar to other works by the author in that they have a historic aspect woven into a fictional story. Unfortunately this has a downside that I'll mention closer to the end.
Archangel is about a historian of Russian history, who finds out that there is possibly an undiscovered notebook belonging to Joseph Stalin somewhere in Moscow. He's not the only one that discovers this and sets out to find it and discover what it's secret is.
I liked this book, as I do most of Robert Harris' books. It's well written and gives you a good feeling of Moscow (or how I think Moscow would be, I've never visited) and the characters are decent. My real issue with this type of novel by this author, which crops up in some of his other books, such as Pompeii, Imperium and Enigma, is that because it has the constraints of actual events, that it usually ends with little fanfare. All the events tend to make little impact so they can fit into the historical context.
This aside, it was a good read. The more Robert Harris novels I read, the more I like them. I liked Pompeii a lot (might read it again soon) but I didn't like Imperium so much, so I was put off his books for a while, until I read the Ghost, which I thought was brilliant. Archangel is another good yarn from Harris.
I'd recommend this book, good read.
Shameless Amazon Link
Archangel
Aug 25
Continuing my theme of books that became films, No Country for Old Men is a novel by Cormac McCarthy. It follows three main characters, the 'good guy' Llewelyn Moss, the assassin, Chigurh and the Sheriff.
The story follows how the three men's lives intertwine when Moss finds millions of dollars after a botched drug deal and goes on the run with the cash. Chirgurh is the man to find the cash and dispatch Moss. The Sheriff is the man that tries to protect Moss and recover the cash.
It's a good story and moves along at a good pace. The characters are pretty well developed and interesting, especially Chirgurh who is creepy.
However, the author's writing style drove me to distraction. He used very little punctuation, as in, nearly none. No quotation marks, no commas. I could barely follow the conversations as the sentences blended into each other.
I can respect the artistic reasons for doing this, but for me, I thought it was unnecessary and took from the novel. Perhaps it's this style that sets the author apart, I do not know as this is the only novel of his I have read.
Worth a read, but be warned, the film adaptation is very true to the novel, whichever one you watch second (book or film) is going to be marred by the former.
Shameless Amazon link
No Country for Old Men
Aug 25
Having seen the film and being disappointed, I decided to give the book a read. Shutter Island is by the author Dennis Lehane, who has written a few novels that went on to become films, including Shutter Island, Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.
If you haven't seen the film, read the book first. It's a story set in the '50s, when a pair of US Marshals are sent over to an island which houses a maximum security prison/mental hospital. As the plot unfolds, it becomes apparent that people's intentions are not what they say they are.
I enjoyed this book, although my enjoyment was hampered by the constant wondering about whether the books ends in the same way the film does. Spoiler alert, it does. However, if you have seen the film, this book is worth the read, as it is much better paced and more explanatory than the film.
Damn, now that I think of it, I wish I had read this book first, it was a good read with a good twist at the end and somehow, the twist worked better in the book than the film. The film just seemed to stop and wrap up with a fairly weak ending, whilst the book shows an intricate web of deceit leading up to the end.
Anyway, worth a read, one way or the other.
Shameless Amazon Link
Shutter Island
Aug 24
I decided to get a nice no-strings-attached thriller and this novel, Relentless by Simon Kernick, seemed to fit the bill.
The story starts with a happily married 'middle class' man, Tom Meron, who gets a call from an old friend who, jsut before he is murdered, gives Meron's address to whoever is torturing him. This starts a fast-paced thriller story, trying to figure out who killed his friend and why his friend gave his address to these fellas.
I liked the initial premise of the book but as the story unfolded, I found it a bit predictable and a bit weak in plot. None of the characters provoke a sense of empathy with you and you kind of wish a few more of them were killed off.
If you are looking for a 'throwaway' read, then this is a decent book. It's a bit like the main character- middle class.
Shameless Amazon Link
Relentless
Aug 24
A semi-autobiographical, semi-self-help book, On Writing by Stephen King is a fascinating look at how King became the prolific writer he is today and his techniques for writing novels and stories.
I really enjoyed this book- I don't really have any great urge to become a novelist, but his tips on writing are useful for anyone writing novels, short stories, blog posts, poor reviews...
Personally I would've prefered a little more information about the genesis of his more famous novels and stories, but being the prolific writer that he is, that would've made this a much longer book.
Highly recommended- his autobiography is as well-written and entertaining as his novels.
Shameless Amazon Link
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Aug 22
Written by a duo of authors, Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson, credited as Jefferson Bass, is a novel about the Tennessee Body Farm (which Bill Bass founded) where they monitor dead bodies for use in forensic science.
My overall view of the story is that it's a pretty good description of the Body Farm with a weak thriller story pegged on to the end. The story crawled along until about half way through when there was, admittedly, a good twist in the story that kept you enthralled for another bit.
Characters are weak and forgettable, stereotypical figures. Despite what Amazon reviews say, I don't think I'd be too pushed over reading further books in the series.
Shameless Amazon link:
Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel (Body Farm Thriller 2)
