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Review Date: 3/10/2015
Helpful Score: 1
Fast paced thriller set in modern Alexandria, Egypt pulls the reader in from the very first page with a non-stop action plot and interesting, well-developed characters. The archeological milieu adds a great mise-en-scene to the proceedings. Some good hair-raising sequences among the many thrills.
Will Adams is every bit as thrilling as Clive Cussler but much more believable!
Will Adams is every bit as thrilling as Clive Cussler but much more believable!
Review Date: 5/23/2018
best read only in small doses, preferably while sitting on your throne in the john. The final "Z" section says it all best.
Review Date: 5/10/2023
MacKinlay Kanor's Andersonville is oneof the most difficult books I've ever read, the other also based on true American history: The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.
Completely different settings and subjects, what they share in common is that they are written so lucidly about such dark and dire experience in the nation's past.
What made them so hard for me to continue reading either one to completion is the fact that doing so caused me to feel physically ill. The depths of pity they evoke ensured days of depression during reading and afterward.
Their power to move a reader is truly remarklable, so proceed with caution, a long lasting impression will likley result from the ordeal.
Completely different settings and subjects, what they share in common is that they are written so lucidly about such dark and dire experience in the nation's past.
What made them so hard for me to continue reading either one to completion is the fact that doing so caused me to feel physically ill. The depths of pity they evoke ensured days of depression during reading and afterward.
Their power to move a reader is truly remarklable, so proceed with caution, a long lasting impression will likley result from the ordeal.
Review Date: 11/25/2011
A brilliant rendering of noir gumshoe thriller blended with supernatural horror....the human characters are well-delineated and engaging, the rogue spiritual entities battling on earth with complete disregard of casualties to mankind are chilling. The reader will be caught up immediately in the fatal dilemma confronting two policemen who desperately try to stop the escalating deathdealer.
Review Date: 2/8/2014
More character depth and plot instead of repetitively tedious sexual details would have been welcome. A great disappointment...
Review Date: 1/21/2020
Life in a Roman auxiliary cohort is vividly portrayed with memorably striking characters in the ranks. Often undermanned and frequently outnumbered by the thousands, their stamina, strategy and discipline carries these units through one hair-raising, head-losing desperate confrontation to the next, despite great losses.
The author skillfully depicts the military challenges so that the reader feels a strong connection to the participants as if being an on scene observer among the troops.
The author skillfully depicts the military challenges so that the reader feels a strong connection to the participants as if being an on scene observer among the troops.
Review Date: 10/22/2020
As with many of the other titles in this series, I learned something new by reading it. The unfortunate victim in this one was suffering from Madelung's disease, of which rare condition I had never heard.
Commissario Brunetti ferrets out a connection to his occupation which involved some revolting practices at a meat-processing plant, posing very serious health risks to the public. This story is very unsettling and as is usual with Leon's stories it is thought-provoking and memorable.
Commissario Brunetti ferrets out a connection to his occupation which involved some revolting practices at a meat-processing plant, posing very serious health risks to the public. This story is very unsettling and as is usual with Leon's stories it is thought-provoking and memorable.
Review Date: 7/21/2011
Ms. Rowland continues the enthralling saga of Sano Ichiro, the special investigator for the capricious and dangerous Tokugawa shogun. This time he is embroiled in the deadly doings of a rogue Taoist sect resposnsible for a myriad of secret crimes as well as the intention of overthrowing the shogunate. The deceptive sect is supported by many of the powerful in governnment. As if that weren't impediment enough, Sano's rivals and enemies do everything in their power to prevent him from succeeding in order to curtail his rise in the shougun's esteem. When his lovely wife insists on getting involved in his work Sano worries for her safety and the endurance of their shaky marriage.
A quick-moving plot, several unforgettable characters, and hair-raising adventure are the trademarks of this series, and will keep readers coming back for more.
A quick-moving plot, several unforgettable characters, and hair-raising adventure are the trademarks of this series, and will keep readers coming back for more.
Review Date: 9/10/2018
The incredible facts of the life of history's most fearsome molester and killer of children present an enigma that will probably never be explained or understood, though the author makes a good attempt. Why and how an honorable and noble hero who supported and fought beside Joan of Arc could undergo such a fearsome deterioration into madness after her death while still considering himself to be devout remains inexplicable. Cast aside any romantic notions you might have of medieval France as you read of these horrific events and the terrible turbulent period in which they occurred.
Review Date: 10/23/2024
"The Borgia Bride" by Jeanne Kalogridis effectively tells the story of the infamous family of Pope Alexander VI from the inside viewpoint of one woman inexorably enmeshed into it inevitably becoming not only a witness, but also both subject to and participant in the dreadful abuses of Borgia power.
I've read enough about this era and about this family to know that the events are accurate. However, the sources from which the interpretations of events are drawn, often derive from their enemies who have every reason to blacken this family's name. Keep in mind that many of them were no different themselves. It was a brutal age with politcal power struggles often fraught with fatalities until the outcome is settled, however temporarily.
The picture here is on the dark and nasty side. But for one where the events are equally accurate I suggest you read the two books by Jean Plaidy: "Madonna of the Seven Hills" and "Light on Lucretia" which depicts the life of the Borgias in quite a different aspect.
I've read enough about this era and about this family to know that the events are accurate. However, the sources from which the interpretations of events are drawn, often derive from their enemies who have every reason to blacken this family's name. Keep in mind that many of them were no different themselves. It was a brutal age with politcal power struggles often fraught with fatalities until the outcome is settled, however temporarily.
The picture here is on the dark and nasty side. But for one where the events are equally accurate I suggest you read the two books by Jean Plaidy: "Madonna of the Seven Hills" and "Light on Lucretia" which depicts the life of the Borgias in quite a different aspect.
Review Date: 2/13/2014
Though the premise seems intriguing, the interminable and ultimately repititious and boring descriptions of sexual congress between the priciple characters can't begin to compensate for the lack of character depth and thin, contrived plot.
Unless the reader is using this book as a substitute for watching porno films it remains an unsatisfying waste of time. It makes the tired formula "bodice busters" of the 70's seem like great classic literature in comparison.
Unless the reader is using this book as a substitute for watching porno films it remains an unsatisfying waste of time. It makes the tired formula "bodice busters" of the 70's seem like great classic literature in comparison.
Review Date: 1/21/2013
Every time I read another one of Michael Jecks' medieval mysteries I tell myself I'm going to stop reading them. Then the current one engages my interest so much that I want to read another. They somehow seem to get more intriguing with each entry in the series...I'm now reading the eighteenth book in succession and have stockpiled several more to read in future. So beware...these books are definitely habit-forming!
Review Date: 1/28/2019
This series is delightful and never fails to hold interest. The lead character's conscientious efforts to treat everyone fairly is beautifully depicted.
We see him diligently working in a manner devoid of condescension with the local Egyptians, his fellow British, and a multitude of foreign nationals whenever a particularly troublesome criminal event takes place with political implications that require skilled and deft handling.
While Owen's inherent rectitude and scrupulousness are admirable, his liaison with a particularly assertive and possessive daughter of a Pasha is fraught with humorous minefields. His close-working friendship with an Egyptian police inspector is often rocky, too and ultimately touching.
Each novel in the series is redolent with the culture of turn-of-the-century Egypt when nationalism is nascent and change is rapid, adding more complications to the problematic incidents that arise.
Share/Like this Review?
We see him diligently working in a manner devoid of condescension with the local Egyptians, his fellow British, and a multitude of foreign nationals whenever a particularly troublesome criminal event takes place with political implications that require skilled and deft handling.
While Owen's inherent rectitude and scrupulousness are admirable, his liaison with a particularly assertive and possessive daughter of a Pasha is fraught with humorous minefields. His close-working friendship with an Egyptian police inspector is often rocky, too and ultimately touching.
Each novel in the series is redolent with the culture of turn-of-the-century Egypt when nationalism is nascent and change is rapid, adding more complications to the problematic incidents that arise.
Share/Like this Review?
Review Date: 3/17/2020
Readers who enjoyed Bruce Alexander's outstanding Sir John Fielding series will rejoice in going back to the same era and reading this new series featuring Robert Fairfax, the half-English half-French tutor who, in his first position finds himself obliged to defend his 19 yr. old pupil from a charge of murder. The innocent student languishes in wretched Newgate prison awaiting trial and execution while Fairfax desperately seeks to clear him by discovering the real perpetrator and proof of guilt before time runs out.
Hannah March captures the character of the period and presents a well-rendered gallery of rogues, villains and some vixens to rouse, then hold, her readers' interest.
Hannah March captures the character of the period and presents a well-rendered gallery of rogues, villains and some vixens to rouse, then hold, her readers' interest.
Review Date: 3/4/2019
In this second book of the Cicero trilogy, the calamitous year of the senator's consulship is vividly portrayed. Perfidy, perils and betrayals abound. Cicero has to compromise his integrity in order to preserve the republic, facing poor odds against the unlimited power and wealth of Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar arrayed against him. We see the malignant side of
the latter as he rises with the help of unscrupulous allies, bent on turning Rome into his personal dictatorship. A fascinating, fast-moving read, with striking relevance to political machinations even today.
the latter as he rises with the help of unscrupulous allies, bent on turning Rome into his personal dictatorship. A fascinating, fast-moving read, with striking relevance to political machinations even today.
Review Date: 4/29/2024
A surprisingly easy to read but effectively profound exposition of the alienation experienced in modern culture. Evan Hansen's years of meds and therapy sessions have failed to unlock his self-defeating personality from his stifled cocoon of unworthiness until an unexpected confrontation with another social outcast leads to a complete misunderstanding and provokes alarming changes in Evan from previously unthinkable situations that force him to behave in entirely new ways. He frantically tries to navigate new expansive circumstances and begins to lose his comfortable anonymity and familiar obscurity. The dependable crutches on which he relied for so long no longer work and he has no other ways to cope...
Review Date: 2/25/2014
The pleasure in reading Robert Barnard is not so much the mystery plot, but rather the sharply observed often cyncial view of the British public and its social classes viewed with a deilghtfully jaundiced eye.
Review Date: 9/27/2014
Many years ago I would not read mystery novels. But after having read most of the world's great literature and exhausted all of my favorite fiction writers I picked up a book by the biggest name in mysteries and got hooked. It wasn't until I read all of Ms. Christie's works and began to read other, better mystery writers such as Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh, Robert Barnard, and Americans like John D. MacDonald and Ross MacDonald that I realized Ms. Christie's body of work was highly overrated and offered at best maybe 8 or 10 novels that were worth the time to read them.
"Death Comes as the End" is my favorite and one of the very few of hers that left a lasting impression. It's atypical of her usual repetitive, formulaic and often silly stories.
She was way ahead of her time with this one, and accidently hit a previously unexplored vein, the historical mystery which many years later has been used to such grand effect by Ellis Peters, Lindsey Davis, Lauren Haney, Michael Jecks, Steven Saylor, Leonard Tourney and many others. This is the book that started it all and its definitely one of Christies best.
"Death Comes as the End" is my favorite and one of the very few of hers that left a lasting impression. It's atypical of her usual repetitive, formulaic and often silly stories.
She was way ahead of her time with this one, and accidently hit a previously unexplored vein, the historical mystery which many years later has been used to such grand effect by Ellis Peters, Lindsey Davis, Lauren Haney, Michael Jecks, Steven Saylor, Leonard Tourney and many others. This is the book that started it all and its definitely one of Christies best.
Review Date: 3/23/2020
Helpful Score: 1
Readers who enjoyed Bruce Alexander's outstanding Sir John Fielding series will rejoice in going back to the same era and reading this new series featuring Robert Fairfax, the half-English half-French tutor who, in his first position found himself obliged to defend his 19 yr. old pupil from a charge of murder. After those events, he now becomes embroiled in investigating the apparently brutal triple homicides of the driver and passengers of a public provincial northbound coach, presumed to be the work of a local area highwayman.
Hannah March captures the character of the period and presents a well-rendered gallery of rogues, villains and some vixens to rouse, then hold, her readers' interest.
Note: Other reviewers have incorrectly referred to this series as "Regency" or even worse "Edwardian" while it is, in fact, neither. It is quite clearly Georgian which is a good two centuries before Edwardian which began the twentieth century. Think "Tom Jones" or "Moll Flanders" and that will give a more accurate picture of the times described in this series.
Hannah March captures the character of the period and presents a well-rendered gallery of rogues, villains and some vixens to rouse, then hold, her readers' interest.
Note: Other reviewers have incorrectly referred to this series as "Regency" or even worse "Edwardian" while it is, in fact, neither. It is quite clearly Georgian which is a good two centuries before Edwardian which began the twentieth century. Think "Tom Jones" or "Moll Flanders" and that will give a more accurate picture of the times described in this series.
Review Date: 3/27/2020
In this third entry detailing the employment of Robert Fairfax, his discretion and astuteness is required on behalf of a wealthy social-climbing merchant whose daughter has lately married into the aristocracy. Acting upon suspicions of marital discord, Mr. Appleton engages Robert to ingratiate himself into the circle of the notorious rakehell Lord Mortlock, in effect requiring Fairfax's talents as an undercover agent and private investigator. No sooner does he embark on this assignment than the subject of his study is discovered as brutally murdered at home in his own bed. And there is no lack of potential perpetrators, including a missing black slave. Hannah March's third Fairfax novel increases readers' interest just as her lead character's reputation continues to grow, moving ever more swiftly and deftly. Top notch!
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