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!

The Last Oracle by James Rollins

The Last Oracle-- Five Stars

I have been meaning to read this for some time. Rollins is a favourite of mine and I truly enjoy his Sigma Force Series, reading every new story. The Last Oracle was no different. We follow the usual team on an adventure through Washington DC and Russia with a Romani gypsy and an archeologist in tow. The world is about to be thrown into a nuclear Holocaust and the only hope lies in the hands of a few autistic savant children and a man without a memory.

As with every one of Rollins' novels, it was nearly impossible to put down. Having an hour for lunch doesn't seem long at all when I'm nose down in a good book. Sigma Force is everything that a good adventure should be, face paced and unpredictable. I love a reading books that make me sit on the edge of my chair and hope and pray that everyone will come out at the end all safe and sound. This is one of the few authors that makes me care so much about the story that I will talk out loud to the characters to not go down that road; to duck because there is someone behind that door; to look out because that truck isn't going to stop. I walked away from The Last Oracle feeling satisfied at the ending. And waiting for more...

House On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet by Jamie Ford

House on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-- 4 Stars

I picked this book up a few years ago and read so far into it then became distracted and left the book on the shelf for some time. I'm glad that it was recommended that I pick it up again. Such a lovely story, so many emotions in one book! Love, joy, anger, confusion, pain and back to joy again.

We meet Henry, a Chinese boy in Seattle. He falls in love with a girl, Keiko. This is out of the question for several reasons not the least of which her being Japanese and Pearl Harbour is not a distant memory. Henry and Keiko are friends, no matter what his family and the government say. So when the government takes the Japanese people and ships them inland to "interment camps", they continue their friendship, for a time anyway.

Fast forward forty years, Henry is now a widower and his son is at university. Life has been kind to him for the most part, but its also given him pain. His wife has died of cancer and the past has come back to haunt him. An old hotel is being refurbished, the contractors have found a stash of items dating back to those terrible days of 1944 when America was at war with Japan, a time when innocent families put their precious belongings in the basement to save them from looters. Henry recognizes a parasol from his long lost Keiko.

And thus the story begins. Mr Ford writes a wonderful story in which he goes between Henry's past in 1944 and his present in 1986. A part of American history that most people either don't know or don't mention, the interment camps. People, second generation American citizens, were packed up and shipped off to camps around the country, treated as little more then cattle. There were some at the time that viewed them as mistreated human beings, convicted without a court hearing, without justice. Some went home again, most relocated to other areas, never returning to their homes again and starting over.

I couldn't put my book down and had to finish last night, in spite of the raging head ache. I was left with a feeling of having completed a wonderful tale of more then joy and pain, bit one of hope... always hope.

Snow Flower And The Secret Fan By Lisa See

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan -- 3 Stars

This novel is one of pain and love, two things most common to all women. We follow Lily and her laotong, old same, Snow Flower. The two girls are matched much like a marriage and will be friends for their lives with a deeper love then a man and a woman. They endure foot binding, a custom to make a girl's feet very small and thus shows her strength and obedience. A woman's worth is only secure when she produces a son, but with a laotong you are worth much more.

We follow these two women through their lives, through their joys and pains, triumphs and sorrows. We listen to Lily as she tells their story and it is full of so much, yet not enough.

Lisa See has trouble making me care about the characters. I almost tossed the book aside but pushed myself to the end. I was afraid to miss something, the way other people have raved about the title. I was glad that I did. Without giving anything up, the final chapters were perfect. All the turmoil finally comes to a head and we see true redemption and true friendship. More then that, we are shown how strong women truly can be, and are.

While there are several things in this novel that I disagree with, I understand that they are all parts of ancient Chinese culture. Arranged marriages are never a guarantee of a happy lifetime. Foot binding is simply barbaric and telling your daughter she is worthless is horrifying. While I realize these are all parts of a culture, it doesn't mean that I agree with it.

Honestly, my biggest problem with this book is the characters! Lily is pathetically selfish and is given much, so much that she becomes a "holier then thou" type. Her redemption at the end is a case of too little too late. And yet... the memories of my own past came flooding back. All the times I should have done something, could have done something and didn't. I cried at the end though I'm not sure if I was weeping over the book or myself. 

The Innocent Man by John Grisham

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town  --5 Stars

I'm not sure if it is completely possible to be enthralled with a book but infuriated by it as well. If this is indeed possible then I am in those shoes. In 1983, a lovely young woman was found brutally murdered in her apartment in Ada, Oklahoma. The police and prosecutor knew who committed the crime, they just had to prove it... by whatever means necessary. The prosecutor didn't care that he actually needed evidence to convict, the confessions heard by jailed prisoners would be plenty. Give him an attorney who didn't defend and his fate was sealed with prison bars.

Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz were innocent of the murder of Debbie Carter, as they stated throughout the "investigation". The entire thing was not merely injustice but a severe miscarriage! I was appalled that no one seemed to notice that the confessions, so called, were illegal; the prosecution failed to convince beyond a reasonable doubt that either man was even seen with the victim prior to her death, let alone in her apartment; the defense missed that Mr Williamson was obviously not competent enough to stand trial.

I do believe that if you commit the crime then you must serve the time for it. But what if you are indeed innocent? Twelve years of legal maneuvering and two men are finally free but forever changed. I know I just gave it away, but the so does the synopsis. Getting to the end is the trial, if you'll forgive the pun.

John Grisham has not before, nor since, delved into the world of true crime or non-fiction. "Writing fiction is just too much fun," he says. His style, though, is clear throughout. The Innocent Man reads almost like a work of fiction. Indeed, I hoped that it was, instead of some cruel imprisonment for two men. This book has been on my shelves for some time and once started, I found it difficult to put down.