The Associate by John Grisham

The Associate-- 3 stars

I am convinced that every author writes a dud novel, one that doesn't live up to the standards said author usually accomplishes. This happens on average once every ten years, could be more often if the author is rather prolific. In this case, Grisham has disappointed me. I read the novel hoping for the thrilling twists and turns that usually accompany his novels. I was sadly disappointed this time.

The novel starts off with a decent enough twist, a man from some agency blackmails Kyle McAvoy, law school graduate, by using something from his past. His job is to infiltrate a law firm, the largest in the world, and steal documents. But that is where the adventure and twists end, really. Boring and straight forward. Sure we see what happens to every law student after they pass the bar exam. They are over worked, but they get paid well, so there's reason to complain. Unless of course, you have some guy telling to betray everything you've ever known.

Not one of my favourite books by Grisham. I haven't read one of his books in some time and was depressed by how predictable the entire thing was. Most of the time, I have to run to catch up with him, but not this time.

The Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale-- 5 Stars

How could this book have been sitting, languishing on my shelves for so many years? How had I managed to deprive myself of such a story for so long? Its inexcusable, simple as that.

Upon suggestion from a fellow book-aholic on GoodReads, I picked up The Thirteenth Tale. I was not disappointed. We follow a young woman by the name of Margaret Lea, who is contacted by the author Vida Winter to write her biography. Margaret doesn't read books written by authors still among the living when there are so many others to read by authors who will never write again. However, she is intrigued by Ms. Winter and accepts the commission to "tell the truth".

The story unfolds of strange relationships, feral twins, a governess, a ghost, a garden and fire that destroyed it all. All too often, I found myself, or rather lost myself, in this telling of gothic strangeness and I loved it. I would come up from this story only to eat or drink and that begrudgingly. I stayed up late last night reading, it was well after two in the morning before I turned the last page and shut out the light. I've not done that in some time and it was a joy. Our protagonist, Margaret, left no stone unturned and even told us what happened to all the side characters in this tale, something that most authors don't bother to do. I had to find out what happened to everyone.

The Thirteenth Tale pulls you with a strange magnetic force into the pages of the story and doesn't let you go. You find yourself thinking about the characters long after you've had to set the book down and go back to work. You find yourself wondering what is going to happen next. Will Margaret finish the commission before time runs out? Will we ever know what really happened in that house so long ago? Will Margaret find the peace she is looking for? Questions such as these haunt you until you reach the last page and smile at the complete story, happy that everything worked out in the end even if it wasn't how you thought. In a rare fashion, I actually cried when this novel reached its conclusion. I was sad that the story was over.

There are books that we find a few times in our lives, if we are very fortunate, that have a power over us, that mystical power of a story. It fills us, guides us down it's own path and when we reach the end of that journey, we are left feeling a sense of both joy at completion and sadness that these characters we have met will go on without us. You see, their story is over for now and ours must continue. We have to say good-bye and good-byes are rarely kind and happy affairs in their entirety, but a cloud of sadness always lingers. Always, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

City Of Bones by Michael Connelly

City Of Bones -- 4 Stars

Yes, yes, yes... I know I read them out of order, but oh well. Good thing about the Harry Bosch novels is that they can stand alone, though I really do think I should have read them in order. Oh, well...

Anyway... when a dog digs up an old bone from a small child, Detective Bosch is assigned the case. It turns out to be a cold case, the bones buried twenty-five years ago. Harry is distracted slightly by a beautiful young "boot", a probationary officer. We follow a budding romance and a gruesome murder of a young boy. Will Harry be able to find his killer after all this time?

Again my only major complaint is the amount of swearing in this novel! Its demeaning. I like a good mystery, the more twists the more I like it. My wish is granted in a Connelly novel, but that amount of swearing is just getting on my nerves.

The Closers by Michael Connelly

The Closers -- 4 Stars

This is one of the books in the Harry Bosch series and the first of which I've read. Detective Bosch has just returned from a three year retirement and he has been assigned to the Open-Unsolved Unit, also known as Cold Cases. His first case is one that is seventeen years old. A teen girl is found dead in the hills behind her home, an apparent suicide. The detectives on the case at the time botched the investigation and her killer was never caught. Now its up to Harry Bosch and his partner Kizman Rider to give this young girl a voice once more.

The investigation unfolds in so many ways and leads the reader down the path to the truth, not the fabrication that everyone else was led to believe over the years. There are so many twists in this book that a map may be required.

I did enjoy the action and the way the plot unfolded in such an intriguing way. However, I personally think that Bosch swears far too much for my liking. I understand that he's an old man, left over from Vietnam and a resident of L.A no less, but seriously? I don't hear sailors swear so much. That was a real detractor for me. The story has great merit but all that useless and stupid language was unnecessary.  

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

The Lincoln Lawyer -- 4 Stars

This is the first Connelly novel I've read and I must say it was thoroughly enjoyable! We start by meeting Michael Haller, a defense attorney in L.A. His job is to not just get you off for possession, but to neutralize all evidence that the District Attorney's office may have on you. And he's not too bad at it.

Enter his latest client, Louis Roulet (pronounced roo-lay) who is accused of attempted rape, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Its clear that he's guilty, but guilt and innocence is not Haller's job, acquittal is. Roulet isn't the type of guy we thing he is, though and Haller may in over his head this time.

I read this book rather quickly, but it took me a bit to get the review up. After reading this novel I would absolutely read another by Connelly. I was completely wrapped up in his character and the plot. Speaking of which, the twist at the end had me almost "No way!" at the lunch table at work. It was that unexpected. I'm looking forward to another Michael Haller novel. He's a very sound character, even if he is a defense lawyer.

How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill

How The Irish Saved Civilization -- 4 Stars

I picked this up a few weeks ago in a used book store and was rather surprised with the out come. I have seen this title before but never bothered to read it. Oh, why did I wait so long? WHY!? Anyway... Cahill writes in such an easy to read fashion that you can hardly tell this is a history for it reads more like a novel. Using a multitude of available scripts, scrolls and codices we are transported to the post Roman world where only the most wealthy are literate, maybe. The clergy can read and write but usually they are limited to Latin.

In the first millennium, the Irish present themselves in a strange way. Many people today would not think of Ireland as a seat of great learning but in those crumbling years of the Roman Empire, they were far enough away to be just that, an educational Mecca of sorts. Monks, starting after Patrick (yes, the saint), started to copy down every scrap they could get their hands on. Whether Greek tragedies and mythologies, Roman histories, or their own verbal stories passed from the Celts to the "modern" Irish, the monks started to copy down everything, so doing creating libraries.

Knowledge used to be gained through books, pages provided enlightenment. Nowadays we have Google and Wikipedia, when we used to have Encyclopaedia Britannica. From the Dark Ages to the dawn of the Middle Ages, Ireland and the monasteries started by traveling monks and friars were the reservoirs of learning. Once the Vikings started sacking everyone along any known coastline, Ireland lost that, but still today we can look at the early Irish and say "thank you". Had they not copied everything that came their way, we would have lost the stories, the histories and the commentary of their own day and going back certainly farther then the First Century.

Truly a fascinating read!

The Doomsday Key By James Rollins

The Doomsday Key -- 5 Stars

All right, all right... so I'm partial, sue me. I truly love how the novels of Rollins unfold into these grand epics of intrigue and mystery. In The Doomsday Key, Rollins pulls from history and science, which is his usual mix, though it never seems to get old. This time, we follow Grayson Piece and the rest of the people at Sigma as they travel throughout Europe on the trail of an answer to a problem that could wipe out the world's population in a mere few years.

From the science of genetically modified crops and diseases, the political firestorm of over population to the history of the Celts, the pagans and the early Church, we are taken on a whirlwind of adventure. I had a hard time putting this book down, as I wanted to figure out the puzzles with Gray and Rachael and Seichan. There were several times when I was literally sitting on the edge of my chair waiting to see what would happen!

The Sigma Force Series is always a fast moving tale of... well of everything. I never do get tired of reading them and can never wait for the next one to come out. These books are everything that I love. A little mystery, a little adventure, a little history, and a little science with a smidge of romance tossed into the mix to make things interesting (as if they weren't already). With this novel finished, now I can start the next in the series. Oh joy and delight!