Book Review: Devil Wind

Title: Devil Wind: A Sammy Greene Thriller
Authors: Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid


This is another book I received via Book Rooster in order to review it. 


Devil Wind takes place in Los Angles, in December 1999. The Santa Ana winds are pushing wildfires closer and closer to the city, adding to the chaos and stress caused by the fears of the looming possibility  of a Y2K disaster. Progressive late night radio talk show host Sammy Greene is new to LA, having moved from the East Coast. In her quest to draw attention to the forgotten people of the city, she finds herself caught up in a web of murder, terrorist plots, and her own past.

This book had the potential to be a great thriller; but the authors included way too many elements commonly found in thriller novels, murder, spies, terrorism, medical drama, wildfires, prostitution, theft, estranged love ones, the list goes on and on. The giant pile plethora of elements adds to the confusion already caused by the story's frequent jumps between characters and constant introduction of new plot twists and stories. It makes the story both unbelievable and hard to follow. 

The core story line was interesting enough, and most of the characters were likable. I really thought that the book had potential, but ended up disappointed. It was one of those books where I had lost all interest by mid book, but plodded on through to the end of the story, where everything seemed to be wrapped up a little too neatly.

The bottom line:

When I read the description, I thought I would like the book, but so many of the added elements and coincidences were so unbelievable that I was tired of the book by the time I was halfway through. By the end of the book, I was resenting it for wasting my time, though admittedly, that was more my own fault for my determination to finish a book I didn't like.


P.S. I have absolutely no idea what is up with the text/background color on this post. We'll just call it a tech fail and move on.

Book Review: The Imitation of Patsy Burke

Title: The Imitation of Patsy Burke
Author: John J. Gaynard


Awhile ago, I came across a site called Book Rooster, a website that allows authors to share free Kindle editions of their books in exchange for reviews. It is an excellent way to discover new books and author, and to help others do the same by sharing your opinion.


Now, I'm a pretty avid reader, but my to-read pile has reached mountainous heights. However, I have read two of the review copies of books from this program and today finally got around to posting the reviews on amazon. I figured that meant it was time to also share my review and opinions of the books here.


The Imitation of Patsy Burke was the second book from Book Rooster that I read, but the first I reviewed.  The book starts off with Irish born sculptor Patsy Burke, waking up in his cheap Paris motel room, bloodied, with a broken arm and no memory of the night before.


We quickly meet Patsy's "friends," his inner voices, alter egos, or other personalities and join them as they assist Patsy in piecing together the events of the previous night. The journey through the bars of Paris also takes us through the memorable events of Patsy's past, mainly involving women, booze, and fights.


As we travel deeper into Patsy's mind and memories, we also come face to face with our own inner voices and urges. The book draws us into the darker side of human nature as is not for the easily offended, especially for those with sensitivities toward religion, language, and sex.


The bottom line:

This book quickly drew me in within the first few pages and kept me engrossed until the ending plot twists. It is not often that a book actually surprises me, but this one did. It is a dark and depressing story of one man's descent into madness and violence, but an engaging read.

Book Review: The Millennium Trilogy

Titles: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, The Girl who Kicked the  Hornet's Nest
Author: Stieg Larsson


These books have been popular for awhile, so I decided to find out what the fuss was all about. At first, I found the books a little hard to get into. About the first third to half of the first book is spent establishing background of the characters. While necessary to the story, it seemed to jump back and forth between characters with little or no connection to each other. Also, at first, my American-centric brain had some difficulty adjusting to the Swedish names, especially those that seemed similar. 


After the characters are established, the rest of the book moves along at a pretty good pace. Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist convicted a libel is hired by aging Swedish industrialist, Henrik Vanger. Vanger is searching for answers in the disappearance of his great-niece, Harriet, who went missing 36 years ago.  Blomkvist agrees to live on the island where Harriet disappeared and look into her disappearance for one year. 


While researching, Blomkvist seeks the help of Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant computer hacker. Salander is a social misfit with authority issues, a dark past, and no desire to conform to society's norms. 


Blomkvist and Salander form an interesting investigative team, though not always believable or likable. The second part of the novel follows the duo as they dig into the disappearance of Harriet Vanger and uncover dark secrets about the Vanger family.


The second book and third books in the series, "The Girl Who Played with Fire," and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," bring back the characters of the first novel. The books explore Sweden's sex trafficking underworld, corruption in Sweden's secret police force, and violence again women.  These books jump into the action much quicker than the first, mainly because they build upon already established events and characters. Because all of the books are so closely connected, I'm not going to give a plot summary of these two books, in order to prevent spoilers.


Bottom Line:
Larsson's books are filled with action, intrigue, murder, and violence. The characters are multidimensional, and are both extremely likable and maddening at the same time. They are entertaining and engrossing reads.

Book Review: Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today

Title: Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today

Author: David Clark

While I try to find a balance between both fiction and nonfiction, if I'm being completely honest, I would have never read this book if it had not been offered for free from amazon.com. That being said, I am glad that I read it. 

I'm not a microbiologist or epidemiologist by any stretch of the imagination (I may have taken a couple of biology classes in college, but that would be the extent of that). However, I do watch television and read the newspaper. I'm in the know about the global AIDS crisis and outbreaks of SARS, bird flu, swine flu, and so on. This book is geared toward people like me, with a basic understanding of epidemics, biology, and history. No need to be a scientist.

"Germs, Genes, & Civilization" (GGC) explores how epidemics have shaped the history of humankind. Author David Clark makes connections between illness and politics, religion, warfare, social development and empire-building, many which I would have never seen without reading this. GGC starts with ancient civilizations, including Egypt, the Indus River Valley, and the Greek and Roman Empires, goes through the spread of the plague and tuberculosis, follows along with malaria and smallpox to the new world, and explores the future pandemics humans may face. 

While all living creatures suffer from illness, GGC also suggests that humans present a unique opportunity for diseases, "No other large animal in the know history of our planet has provided such crowds of individuals, packed closely together, just waiting for some pestilence to move in and multiply" (18).

Don't be fooled by the seriousness of the subject matter here, Clark shows a great deal of humor in the pages of the book as well.

Bottom Line:

While stories about plagues and illnesses may not be well received at your neighborhood cocktail party, the information could come in handy if your ever a contestant on Jeopardy (which is a goal of mine). The book is an interesting read and the information is not too dense for the average reader to absorb.