Re: What are you reading?
 

Just a request (and not just directed at you, Shaun :) ) but rather than simply putting a title and "read it" or "I've not put it down" a bit about the book (genre, style, good characters/ plot/ writing?) would be nice.

Thanks :)

Re: What are you reading?
 

Well, currently reading "One Shot" by Lee Child.

It's a whodunnit/thriller about an ex US military sniper who goes into a small US city and kills 5 random people in cold blood.

Characters: All of the Lee Child novels I have read have been about the adventures of an ex us military policeman called "Jack Reacher". This book is no exception, so obviously, the Reacher character is well defined. However, the author has the ability to create a believable (IMO) character in a few words, and he does this in this book.

Plot & Writing: Obviously, I can't give away too much here. Partly because I haven't been reading it long, so don't know a lot. Partly because I don't want to put people off. There are quite a few twists in the plot, but it is well written and quite easy to follow. Lee Child also has the honour (in an earlier book: The Visitor) of being the only whodunnit auther to have totally led me to the wrong conclusion about a character. I won't say too much about that book, apart from the fact that the murderer is in the book, pretty much from the start, and has motive (again pretty much from the start) yet it is not obvious who it is.

If you want to find out more about the Reacher character (why he is like he is), I would also recommend you read another book by Lee Child called "The Enemy".

As a side note, I did read somewhere that, although he is now based in the US, Lee Child is English and actually started out as a scriptwriter for "London's Burning". Can't verify this though.

Re: What are you reading?
 

Blenheim by Charles "Guess who I've got buried at the bottom of the garden" Spencer. The battle, not the house. Actually, he hasn't made too bad a job of it; quite an interesting style. Obviously, him not being a professional historian, there's probably nothing particularly new in it, so he's tried to inject a bit of originality by quoting from the diaries of various of the participants.
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And if I may put a plug in for the one I read before this. Dark Star by Alan Furst. Too be honest, I got it out of the library on spec; I'd never heard of the author before, but he is first rate.

It is a spy novel, but that is like saying that Romeo and Juliet is a Mills & Boon romance. It concerns AndrÃÃâ€*’© Szara, a Pravda journalist between the wars who becomes entangled in Soviet intelligence infighting and ends up as part of a Russian spy ring. It has enough plot twists to satisfy the most discerning of readers of spy novels and a protagonist who totally engages your sympathies. Oh, and you get a load of information on how Russian spy rings operated thrown in free of charge.

Highly recommended.

Re: What are you reading?
 

I was thinking "Dark Star - Bombed Out in Space with a Spaced Out Bomb" novelised by Alan Dean Foster and then going "Uhhh... :confused: what's that got to do with spies...???" :dunce:

Re: What are you reading?
 

The Demon in the Freezer: The Terrifying Truth About the Threat from Bioterrorism - Richard Preston

Basically it talks about Anthrax (the events after the scares in America) - and smallpox - and how sooner or later, someone, somewhere is going to use smallpox as a biological weapon, and depending on what they've done with it, it may or may not just tear through the vaccine.

I don't think he's got a great style of writing, but it's an interesting read..

Re: What are you reading?
 

I've got a couple of Richard Preston books I'd recommend :)


1) "The Hot Zone" - true story of an Ebola outbreak in a monkeyhouse in the US. Very good, & scary as it's true.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...589911-8934238


2) "The Cobra Event" - fictional story about a bioterror incident in the US. Excellent read.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...589911-8934238



And, in a similar vein to "Demon in the Freezer":


"Biohazard", by Ken Alibek.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...589911-8934238


"Germs, the Ultimate Weapon", by Judith Miller et al.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...589911-8934238


"Plague Wars - A True Story of Biological Warfare", by Tom Mangold & Jeff Goldberg.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...589911-8934238


All very interesting.

Re: What are you reading?
 

*shuffles away from Matt slowly*

:erm:

Re: What are you reading?
 

What? You've got the snuffles?

OMG
:Sprint:

Re: What are you reading?
 

:LOL:


I'm a molecular biologist, & I find this stuff interesting... :shrug:

Re: What are you reading?
 

Whereas, I'm just a lone nutcase :)

Re: What are you reading?
 

"The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln. Bit of a hard book to categorise, as it encompasses Mediaeval history, origins of Freemasonry, Knights Templar, Crusades, and other stuff much more modern; however it all starts with the mysteries and myths surrounding the village of Rennes-le-Chateau in France.

It's a heavy read, and some of the threads are difficult to keep track of. However it's been interesting, and I would recommend it if you fancy something that tests the brain cells. It's also got a certain significance to me personally as the village is in a part of France that I love.

Re: What are you reading?
 

In a similar vein to that I recommend :

The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ
By Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince

Their 'Stargate Conspiracy' is a good read too...

Re: What are you reading?
 

Thanks. I actually picked up "The Hiram Key" and "The Book Of Hiram" at the weekend, but I shall look out for that one too.

Re: What are you reading?
 

panasonic lcd projector operating instructions

wow 200" screen :hyper: :PP:

Re: What are you reading?
 

I'm fairly sure that Dan Brown read this book before he wrote the 'Da Vinci Code'