Bosch Season 2 available on Amazon Prime Video

A little bit of background first. Hieronymus (‘Harry’) Bosch is a fictional detective created by Michael Connnelly and has featured in over 20 novels which feature him as the main character, apart from cameos in related novels on Mickey Haller and Terry McCaleb. Harry Bosch works with the Detective Division in the LAPD and enjoys a love/hate relationship with the department. He loves his work but hates the politics within the department which makes senior officers compromise with the Mayor’s office and the District Attorney.

Bosch is pretty much a lone wolf in the books and holds his cards close to his chest, usually not even trusting this partner. I had watched Bosch Season1 on TV last year and over the last few days, binge watched the entire Season 2 on Amazon Prime video (recently launched in India with a very attractive initial subscription). This review is about Season 2 as well as contrasting it with the books.

In similar vein to the earlier seasons of Sherlock, the episodes draw upon from the books for the primary plot line while expanding on them and catering to the needs of TV in terms of drama. However there are  a couple of significant deviations, in the novels, Bosch is shown to be much more of a loner than he is shown in the episodes and his relationship with his current partner, Jerry Edgar, is shown to be closer to a true partnership. In the books, Harry considers Jerry as a lightweight and thinks he likes to shirk work while moonlighting as a realtor.

Season 2 starts with Bosch being recalled to the department, where his immediate supervisor is now Lt. Billets while Deputy Chief Irving continues to be a driving force behind many initiatives. A little bit about the cast, Titus Welliver plays Bosch, and for anyone who has not read the books, everything is just great, however the edginess of the character of Harry seem a little toned down for the episodes. IMHO, Titus Welliver does a great job, though he took some time to grow on me. The other main characters are Jerry Edgar (Jamie Hector), Lt. Grace Billets (Amy Aquino), Deputy Chief Irvin Irving (Lance Reddick) and Eleanor Wish (Sarah Clarke), Bosch’s ex-wife, ex-FBI profiler and now a professional poker player at Las Vegas. Season 2 also features Maddy (Madison Lintz) as Bosch’s daughter and Officer George Irving (Robbie Jones) as Deputy Chief Irving’s son and someone who is working undercover in the Narcotics division and Carl Nash (Brent Sexton), ex-LAPD who runs security at the gated community where the Allens live.

Season 2 starts with the disappearance of Tony Allen, ostensibly a porn producer, but in reality who launders drug money for his cousin. It turns out that Tony has been skimming money and storing it secretly and has fallen in love with a dancer from Las Vegas who he is planning to marry. Tony Allen’s widow, Veronica (a former porn actress herself), is suspected to have a hand in it as also Joey Marks (Tony’s cousin) and Rykoff (a kind of enforcer for Joey. At some point, Carl Nash also comes under suspicion.

A parallel plot also unfolds when George Irving is killed in an apparent robbery gone bad. Deputy Chief Irving is not allowed by department policy to be involved in the investigation, however has to know the truth for himself and gets Bosch to support him. Both Irving and Bosch run their own parallel investigation which seems to intersect with Joey Marks.

Given that this is live action, there a couple of thrilling gun battles, especially one reminiscent of Pulp Fiction at the Bank where Allen has his safe deposit box. I will not reveal much more about the plot since it will be better for you to see it for yourself.

As a standalone series, I would rate Bosch very highly, however if one contrasts with the books, then a few character changes do continue to niggle at you till you make peace with them. Once you get beyond that even a fan of the novels will be converted. One reason for a majority of the novels to be reflected correctly  in the episodes is that Michael Connelly is associated with both Season 1 and 2 as an Executive Producer and I am sure he had much to do with retaining the integrity of the books while making some sacrifices to the demands of television/streaming.

I watched it on a Google Nexus tablet and the size of the screen was no barrier, though I would hesitate to do so on a mobile. I recommend wearing headphones/earbuds to get the best possible sound experience. I watched it in HD, using both my BSNL broadband and sometimes Airtel 4G Wifi and it streamed well over both connections with no noticeable lag.

On the whole, you will enjoy it, regardless of whether you are an old fan, or else someone who is getting introduced to Bosch for the first time.

As always, thanks for reading and do “Like” the page to receive updates as well as any comments will be highly appreciated.

The Girl On The Train - Paula Hawkins

Girl on the train (the book) had created a lot of buzz, which got accentuated when the movie was announced and then the movie was successful in its own right. I had put this on my reading list and got around to it a couple of months ago. I have not watched the movie, however please do not confuse this book/movie combo with an earlier similar sounding and themed book/movie – Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn with the movie starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

As far as the story is concerned, it is told from the point of view of Rachel, Anna and Megan, and also jumps back and forth in time (a technique also used in Gone Girl). Rachel is an alcoholic who is in denial, after her messy break-up with Tom, who has subsequently married and fathered a child with Anna.

Rachel has been fired from her job in London for her erratic behaviour, resulting out of her alcoholism. She is sharing a flat with her friend and to keep up appearances, dutifully continues her commute to London every day. It is made evident that she is running low on money, however always seems to have some on hand to buy booze.

Rachel has been unable to let go even after Tom has remarried and there are multiple occasions where she has tried to contact Tom and Anna, including times when she has gone to their (in her mind her) home, even when Tom is not at home. Anna is legitimately worried about the safety of herself and her daughter, though Rachel has not yet done anything which could be considered criminal.

Rachel’s commute to London takes her past the old suburb where she used to live with Tom. She sees a good looking couple, Megan and Scott, from the train and starts building up a fantasy of a perfect marriage which she imagines them to enjoy. This fantasy slowly turns into an obsession where she imagines herself in place of Megan.

All of the above is background and we find out about it in bits and pieces through the book. The book opens on a typical commute day for Rachel, however on that day she spots Megan kissing another man in her backyard. This sets off mental alarm bells for Rachel, as to why Megan (at that point she doesn’t even know their names) is risking her ‘perfect’ marriage. This prompts her to get off at the suburb where Tom/Ann, Megan/Scott live, however she is already half way to getting drunk. She comes to consciousness the next morning in her own flat and it is clear to her that she has been on a binge. However all that happened the previous evening is a blank in her mind.

The first thing Rachel finds out is that Megan has disappeared the same evening and clearly Rachel must have had something to do with it. The rest of the book is about how Rachel struggles with herself to do the right thing, firstly, to go to the police to report her suspicions, and when the police do not seem to take her seriously, do some enquiries of her own.

The rest of the book is about how Rachel goes about her investigations, interspersed with chapters which are narrated from Anna’s and Megan’s point of view. The plot expectedly has some twists, however nothing compared to the big reveal which is the center piece of Gone Girl.
To summarize, it is a reasonable read, to sound more than a little sexist, a chick flick whodunnit, which Gone Girl, is most certainly not! At the other end of the spectrum is Sue Grafton with Kinsey Mulhone, just to prove that The Girl On The Train is not the norm.

The writing is not that great, not having read any other book by Paula Hawkins, I cannot comment on whether her usual standard is better or worse, however taken this book on its own, it is just about passable. Not enough momentum to qualify as a true blue thriller and neither too much complexity to be a true murder mystery. Some alcoholics or heavy drinkers are likely to identify with at least parts of Rachel.

If you are curious about what the buzz is all about, then by all means go read it, but do not do so with any great expectations. I would just about rate it as a 2.5/5.

Thanks for reading!

The Election that Changed India - by Rajdeep Sardesai

Eminent journalist and news TV anchor, Rajdeep Sardesai, has written an engrossing book about the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India which led to Narendra Modi and the BJP storming to victory in what has been described as a political tsunami. People from my generation (I am very close in age to Rajdeep) would have earlier identified him as Dileep Sardesai’s son, however in the last 20 odd years he has successfully carved out his own identity as a journalist, schooled at the NDTV stable and later moving on to CNN-IBN and now Headlines Today.

The book offers a lot of insight into the events leading to the 2014 elections, the primary players, and the way campaigns were run by the two major political parties, the BJP and the Congress. The BJP cast of characters is headed by the big three – Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley, whereas the Congress comes across as headless and rudderless with Rahul Gandhi as the token head. The BJP fought the election on the explicit agenda of Governance and Development with identity politics being the implicit unsaid agenda. The Congress during UPA-I and UPA-II had been bringing about a range of subsidies and legislations – MNREGA, Food subsidies, RTE, Women Empowerment, etc. meant to benefit the underprivileged and underserved sections of society, and made these the basis for them to appeal for votes.

However, the real story of the elections lies in the preparation of both parties and here the book excels in giving us an insight into the meticulousness of the BJP’s strategy and execution. One can but admire the professional manner in which the entire exercise was carried out (modeled on Obama’s campaigns in the US – no wonder Modi referred to him as Barack on his recent visit to India, he might have thought that he was already on familiar terms with POTUS!). The subtext is that the BJP outspent its rivals by a humongous margin and this by itself raises worrying questions about election funding. By Sardesai’s estimates, the BJP spent upwards of 5000 crores, and one wonders about the payoffs expected by the heavy hitters who have ‘donated’ money to the party.

The book offers some insights into the characters of Modi, Shah and Rahul Gandhi, however it essentially remains an outsider’s view (a very knowledgeable and informed outsider to be sure!). Rahul Gandhi, as anyone who would have watched his infamous interview with Arnab Goswami would attest, is at best a political novice and at worst someone who lives in la-la land and has really no idea about governance, leave alone crafting an election strategy. For an insider’s view of the Gandhi family, I would strongly recommend reading Tavleen Singh’s Durbar. That book deserves a blog to itself, however suffice to say after reading it as background, Rahul Gandhi’s fumbling responses and inability to speak to the media should not come as a surprise.

As for writing style, Sardesai writes in a very no-nonsense manner and avoids literary flourishes in the interest of telling a story. He does a great job of giving us facts, his opinions, quotes from people in the know and sometimes the inevitable sources who spoke off the record. There are the occasional tidbits (Jayanthi Natarajan’s functioning in the Environment Ministry – now very much in the public domain), but by and large, he stays away from becoming judgmental, and that is perhaps the biggest strength (or weakness depending on your point of view) of the book.

I consider myself a reasonably well informed person, however reading the book gave me an understanding of what it really takes to run an election campaign and how it is won. So, while the Gujarat model may well be debatable, but there is no doubt that the BJP model for winning the 2014 election is well likely to be the benchmark against future elections are compared and may well become a business school case study.

Kudos to Rajdeep Sardesai and I can only hope that he finds the time to write more. Note to readers of this blog – please read this, whether you are Indian and have a stake in what happens here or someone who is curious about the workings of the Indian democratic process.

Jo Nesbo, Ray Bradbury and QI

I had an unexpectedly long recuperation from an illness and what better time to catch up with my reading. Note for Kindle users, after the last software update on my Kindle, I now find that I can purchase e-books directly from my Kindle. No messing around with my laptop, etc. While I mostly read fiction (in my favourite genre – Crime Fiction), I did also get some non-fiction reading done.

Jo Nesbo – Oslo based Harry Hole series

I am sure that most have heard of Stieg Larssen and at least some of you would have read Henning Mankell, however Jo Nesbo is right up there with the best of them as a Scandinavian writer of detective fiction, and I don’t mean that Nesbo stands out among Scandinavian writers only, he would hold his own in any forum.

I have primarily read his Harry Hole (pronounced Ho-books which are about an Oslo police detective called Harry Hole who has a talent for detection and also getting into trouble. Harry is also an on and off alcoholic, who seems to be able to switch his addiction off at will, though he tends to lapse at the most inopportune of moments. Hole is an alcoholic in the way Rankin’s Rebus is not (Rebus loves alcohol, Hole drinks to get smashed).

As with most fictional detectives, Hole has his own code that he lives by, hang the department that pays his salary. The first couple of books tell us why Harry Hole turned into an alcoholic and that is as unexpected a twist to a main character in a detective series that you can find (no spoilers here!).

The few books that I have read (I try to go in order of their publishing and am now up to #5) tend to introduce new locales, for example the first book is set almost completely in Australia, the second in Thailand, and so on. Nesbo has a style all of his own and we identify with him though may be not empathize as much as say with Mankell’s Wallander.

All in all, the books are gripping, the plot usually moves along briskly and what I have observed is that we feel that we are heading to a denouement but we are still only half way through the book. Though people who are not fans of detective fiction may think that the genre follows a predictable pattern, Nesbo does stand out as different, primarily because of the characters, plots and locations.

Strongly recommended: 4/5 *

From the makers of QI: The General Book of Ignorance and The QI book of Quotations

If you don’t know what QI is, then you need to immediately get off this page, do a google and prepare to watch hours of YouTube videos which will make you laugh till your insides burst. QI is hosted by the inimitable (National Treasure he has been called) Stephen Fry (also called the smartest man in Britain). Forget his erudition, the panel that QI puts together is usually as high quality (Alan Davies being a permanent member) and I can only imagine the pressure on someone who gets invited.

I digress, this is not about QI but the two books written by the team behind QI, the first being the Book of General Ignorance. This book turns conventional wisdom on its head and many things that we have assumed as facts are debunked and the appropriate explanations given, almost always in ea humorous manner. Each factoid has featured in an episode of QI.

The second book is only indirectly associated with QI where its researchers have put together a fantastic set of quotations categorized by topic. This is one gem that it is worth having a hard copy of so that one can dip into it at random (this is one disadvantage of a Kindle, browsing is difficult).

Other miscellaneous reading:

The Martian Chronicles – Science Fiction – Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is one of the early ‘thinking’ science fiction writers and this collection of short stories packs a punch that is disproportionate to the size of the stories. All the stories are set on Mars and told from the point of view of humans who have gone as explorers/settlers or native Martians. Each story is guaranteed to provoke a reaction and it is hard to simply move from one story to another, one needs to take some time to digest what one has read,, the mark of a truly great writer. The fact that the book is written in 1950 does not date it at all and the themes discussed are relevant even today. Regardless of whether you like science fiction or not, I would highly recommend this collection, you will thank me for it.

The Winning Way – Anita and Harsha Bhogle

I must admit that I bought this book primarily because it was co-written by Harsha Bhogle than any great expectations from the content. The primary message is that sports is a great metaphor for conducting oneself in the business world and that teamwork is the holy grail that all of us need to strive for. Having said this, the book finds more and more inventive ways of packaging this central idea (both Bhogles being IIM A alumni, this is not difficult). I don’t doubt their intentions in writing this book however the content quickly becomes very lightweight. I would have expected more from both of them.

Sadly, I would classify this as management self-help, a category which I loathe.

Many books by Sue Grafton (alphabet series), and a sampler by Janet Evanovich and Sara Paretsky.

I had become a fan of Kinsey Millhone the investigator in the Sue Grafton books and liked the gritty, no nonsense style. I stuck with her for close to ten books before they became formulaic to me and once the novelty of Kinsey herself wore off, I became dissatisfied with the plotting. Finally I have called a halt to it and no longer plan to read the rest of the books. However I would suggest that for someone who has not read Sue Grafton, browsing a couple of her books is well worth it, though I would not recommend committing to reading the series.

I felt that I was not reading enough female crime fiction writers and hence picked up a book each by Sara Paretsky and Janet Evanovich, both turned out to be perfectly adequate books by themselves but did not hook me enough to want to know more about their central characters and read beyond the first books. Possibly my loss, but possibly not!

Teaser:

I have recently discovered Inspector Wexford (I know, what was I doing all this time, when I profess to be a detective fiction fan!), however after reading a couple, I am somewhat hooked. Stay tuned for an update in the next blog post.

Final teaser:

I have now read six of the nine Bernard Samson books (Game, Set, Match and Hook, Line and Sinker). Here is a writer who is possibly not appreciated as much as his peers (John Le Carre, Graham Greene, etc.) and after reading the six books all I can say is that Deighton’s spycraft is equal to any of them. Deighton and Samson deserve an entire post to themselves, so stay tuned!

As always, thanks for reading and do write back with your comments!

Reading books on an electronic medium

I love reading and I have been using computers for the last 25 odd years, so I should have taken to e-books like a duck to water, or so I thought. Though I have no problems reading technical documentation online, I never seemed to take to reading e-books on a computer or laptop. It seemed that there was really no alternative to paper books, though I am not of the “I need the tactile experience of holding paper” brigade.

So, over the years, I have been stacking up books by the gross till such time that I have run out of space for my books. When a friend providently gifted me a Sony e-book reader a couple of years ago, it seemed like a marriage made in heaven. Not! Though there are plenty of free e-books available which could be loaded onto the Sony e-reader, I somehow did not take to it. For one, it was an earlier generation reader, so though it had a touch screen it was resistive and not capacitive. The actual page on the e-reader was pretty ok, however it had two fundamental flaws, one was battery life, which meant that I needed to plug it into a laptop every so often (using an external charger seemed to take much longer, though I don’t have any data to support it) and the second was inability to seamlessly shop online (no Wi-Fi).

This year I got my hands on the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite and my reading experience has now completely changed. Firstly, the backlight does make a difference, however the best feature is the ability to connect seamlessly and send books to my Kindle from the Amazon store (now available in India for payment in Indian rupees – not a small benefit!). Secondly it has a neat feature of allowing you to email free e-books to a specific email id which is tied to my Kindle. No more messing around connecting it to my laptop. Last but not the least is the battery life. It is amazing and its now been over a week and I haven’t had to recharge it. One thing I haven’t done is to get a 3G enabled device, I can’t quite imagine myself in so desperate a position that I *have to* buy a book when I am at the airport or wherever. If I can’t rely on my e-library to re-read something then it is a sad commentary on my reading habits and taste.

I am now a full fledged convert and would recommend it highly to anyone who likes reading and doesn’t want to go through the hassle of buying physical books. I would additionally highly recommend buying a cover for it, which has the dual advantage of being a screen protector and gives a close to physical experience of reading. 

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) - Movie review

I had been waiting eagerly for the movie adaptation of the le Carré classic, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and though it released in the US in September, 2011, I got to see it only now (December 30, 2011) in Pune, India. I am a huge admirer of John le Carré, and the Smiley books in particular, and couldn’t wait to see how the movie turned out.

The quick verdict is that it is a reasonably accurate adaptation and stays true to the primary plot, though it takes quite a few short cuts (in the interest of keeping things moving). One early warning, if the words Circus, Karla, Control do not make sense to you, then a reading of the book is advisable, else much of the movie will not make sense. You can also refer to my handy glossary at the end of this article!

The primary premise is that there is a mole in the Circus and Control initiates a below the radar operation in Budapest to unmask the mole. The operation goes horribly wrong and the operative sent (Jim Prideaux) is shot and wounded when evading arrest, and practically all the networks in Budapest are rolled up (Circus speak for being exposed). Control and his right hand man, Smiley, are forced out in disgrace and Percy Alleline is appointed as the new head with Bill Haydon, Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase to assist him.

Thoughts of the mole are dismissed when the Circus acquires Witchcraft a senior source within the KGB and the material proves to be just the tonic needed to re-establish the credibility of the Circus with its political masters. Witchcraft proves so irresistible that Alleline cannot resist going to the Cousins (American intelligence, CIA) to prove that Britain can still be a force in the world of espionage.

This is the situation when a fugitive operative of the Circus turns up in London and manages to get to Oliver Lacon with information serious enough to re-examine the mole premise. Lacon, who is part of the political committee that oversees Circus operations, is caught between the devil and the deep sea, on one hand he has a duty to ensure that reports of the mole are fully investigated, and on the other he cannot bear to think that the newly redeemed Circus will be again shamed by the revelation.

Lacon identifies Smiley as the perfect candidate to investigate. Smiley is outside the Circus, however he is intimately familiar with its working and as an outsider is automatically in the clear (or so we think). As Smiley investigates with the help of Peter Guillam and Inspector Mendel (unfortunately Mendel does not get much screen time in the movie, though he has a fair role to play in the book), he finds out that Control suspected all five of his senior team and has given them codenames, Tinker (Alleline), Tailor (Haydon), Soldier (Bland), Poorman (Esterhase) and Beggarman (Smiley himself).

The movie then shifts pace to Smiley painstakingly reconstructing the details of the Hungarian operation and concludes that the mole does exist. Throughout, Karla, the Soviet ringmaster, is a shadowy presence. Smiley has a personal connection with Karla, and Karla in turn recognizes Smiley as the most dangerous threat within the Circus. The finger of suspicion points to all of in turn as the suspense builds up and a trap is set with Ricki Tarr as bait.

The film ends with the unmasking of the spy and Smiley reinstated to head the Circus. Though the plot moves along briskly, the movie is slow paced with the plot unfolding through dialogue rather than action. The film completely evokes the atmosphere of the Cold War and to those unfamiliar with the period (after all Soviet glasnost is almost 20 years old), it might seem a little hard to comprehend. Though I could follow the plot, a person coming completely new to the story might not, and a reading of the book is recommended prior to watching the movie.

The one main divergence from the book, is that Control (played wonderfully by John Hurt, this is exactly my mental image of how Control would be, though the naval touch was missing) has larger screen time (primarily through flashbacks). Smiley, the central character, is played by Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon in the new Batman movies) in a suitably understated manner. I could find no fault with Oldman, except that Smiley’s doggedness and persistence (such a primary part of Smiley’s character) is not really brought out. Alec Guiness’ portrayal in the BBC Series is taken as the gold standard, though I have yet to watch it myself (anyone who can lay their hands on that series, please email me!).

The other central characters are well cast, though Colin Firth as Haydon (unimaginable for anyone else to play Haydon), does not get to do much in the movie, and Alleline does not ring true to the character in the book. Tom Hardy as Ricki Tarr, makes the biggest impression and he practically steals the limelight from Smiley.

All in all, a very well made film, with competent acting, which largely stays true to the book. Le Carré has  a cameo in the Christmas party scene (though I missed it). Recommended to any lover of good cinema and a must watch for a le Carré fan.

Circus terminology:

Circus – Refers to the British Secret Service (SIS, MI6), so called because of its address in London (Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, etc.).

Control – Head of the Circus, dismissed because of the botched Hungarian job which featured Jim Prideaux (workname Ellis). Supposed to be an ex-Naval man.

Karla – Head of the Soviet Secret Service (KGB)

George Smiley – Control’s right hand man and the man who knows where all the skeletons are buried. Karla is his arch-nemesis. Smiley tried to turn Karla in a Delhi prison when Karla had fallen out of favour with his bosses and before Karla rose to head the Soviet Secret Service.

Peter Guillam – Second rung Circus, and hence not likely to be the mole and trusted by Smiley to help him in his hunt for the mole

Percy Alleline, Bill Haydon, Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase – Tinker, Tailor, Solder and Poorman respectively. Alleline took over the Circus after Control’s exit and these four formed the core who ran the Circus.

Oliver Lacon – part of the ministerial oversight on the Circus and hence an outsider who nonetheless is accountable for ensuring it is clean.

Nursery – Training centre for Circus personnel

If you like my review, please use the feedback buttons below or send me an email. Thanks for reading!

Book round up - December 2011

It’s been a while since I posted, and I thought that I would resume with a round-up of a few books that I have read in recent times. So, here goes, in no particular order.

Graham Greene – The Comedians

I must confess that I haven’t read as much of Graham Greene as I should, however this book showed me what I am missing. The Comedians is set in a crumbling Haiti in the middle of the 20^th century and Greene manages to capture the air of desperation and hopelessness adroitly. The story follows three passengers who meet on a ship en route to Haiti. Brown is a returning expat whose once grand hotel is being run to the ground, the Smiths, an American couple (He has run for President on a vegetarian ticket!, she is the first lady in waiting) who seem so naive that one wants to shake them by the shoulders and Jone, a man who is seeking his fortune in Haiti, but has nothing but his wits to help him. The stories of all three intertwine under the menacing shadow of Papa Doc.

As the story unfolds, one senses it ending inevitably in tragedy, however one can’t stop reading. Brown as an expat sees his adopted country disintegrating before his eyes, however he can’t bring himself to leave as it is the only home he knows. The Smiths are led up the garden path by the Minister and one cannot but admire their sense of conviction in their own ideas. Jones goes from being thrown into jail to the favoured man who is playing for high stakes with an empty hand and back to being hunted. The sights and sounds of Haiti are inextricably linked to their stories.

I have travelled to Africa in the 90s, and even then I could sense that it probably had not changed much since the time in which The Comedians is set. I can’t wait to read more of Graham Greene.

Lee Child – The Affair – the new Jack Reacher novel

What can one say ? It is a new Reacher book, so readers of earlier books know what to expect, a situation that is primed for action, an investigation that is going nowhere and the US Army being pushed between a rock and a hard place. The novel is set in the time towards the end of Reacher’s career in the US Army, and he has been sent by his boss Leo Garber, to a town on the outskirts of an Army base where an unexplained homicide has taken place. Reacher is the ultimate male fantasy, a combination of Rambo, Bruce ‘Die Hard’ Willis and the deductive abilities of Hercule Poirot.

The story has some good twists and Child has attempted to write in the style of a detective story. Unfortunately, we can see how it will unfold and I could guess the ending way before it happens. This one is strictly for fans of Jack Reacher (and I am one of them!), however the rest can safely pass.

Peter James – Dead Man's Grip – the new Roy Grace novel

When I first discovered Peter James, I thought that he was a real find, a worthy contemporary to Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson, however I have been disappointed with his books off late. The new book starts with Grace and Cleo expecting their first child while Grace is being drawn into a gruesome road accident investigation. The story veers off on a US tangent with a New York Mafia connection which is very unconvincing and a cold blooded assassin. The story gathered my interest as the character of the assassin unfolds and he easily upstages Roy Grace (never a good sign in a series based on the central character of the detective). I suspect the assassin captured Peter James’ interest more than the story and I think we can expect to see more of him elsewhere. Overall a disappointing read.

Martin Cruz Smith - Stallion Gate

I hope that you (the reader) have persevered till here and if so, this is where it pays off! Stallion Gate is the best book that I have read in the entire year! It is not a new book and was first published in the 80s, however I got my hands on it only recently. The book is set around the time during the end of World War II and is set at Los Alamos the site of the Manhattan Project (the code name for the US nuclear bomb project). The action is set around Trinity, the first real test of the nuclear device being developed under the leadership of Robert Oppenheimer (the father of the atom bomb).

The atmosphere is tense as the scientists are by turns excited and despairing at the magnitude of what they are undertaking. The story is told through the character of Joe Pena, a Pueblo Indian, ostensibly as Oppenheimer’s bodyguard and general liaison with the Indians (Native Americans would be right way to phrase it today), but who is in reality planted there by Captain Augustino to spy on the scientists and ensure that there are no Communists being harboured there (this is pre-McCarthy, however the paranoia is clearly evident). Joe Pena is a fascinating character, a giant of a man, an ex-boxer but whose first love is music (Jazz!). Though outwardly showing signs of not being too smart, we can’t help thinking that it is a mask he wears.

The story fascinated me and the climax builds towards Trinity which will make or break the bomb effort. Some insights into Native American culture are thrown in as also the huge divide between them and ‘regular’ Americans.

If you have read Martin Cruz Smith (and if not, you must, one of my very favourite authors), you probably know that he writes about Russia and his stories feature criminal investigator Arkady Renko. The setting of Stallion Gate is far removed from those stories, so it may surprise regular readers, however it is just as satisfying as any of his other books.