Dead or Alive- a book review

Do you remember the first time you were introduced to a Tom Clancy novel? Was it The Hunt For Red October like it was for me? Did you get hooked by the intricate detail, suspense and character development and tear right into Red Storm Rising? I sure did! I was an avid fan of Tom Clancy's work and his main character, Jack Ryan, right up until Tom started writing books that read like video game, first person shooter scripts. At that point, I decided that Tom had sold out to the video game producers and I gave up after Rainbow Six.

But let me tell you, Tom Clancy is back to his former skills with Dead or Alive! I picked this up a couple weeks ago and loved every one of the 848 pages! Jack Ryan is back as the now retired, ex-president but his son, Jack Jr, is the main character here, working in a non-governmental, off the books, self-supported terrorist hunting agency, The Campus. This group is intercepting CIA and NSA communications and making their own analysis and then sending out field agents to track them down. John CLark and Ding are back from their service with Rainbow Six and involuntarily retired from their government service and quickly picked up The Campus for their unique skills.

What terrorist are they chasing? Well in this story, he's called the Emir but he's the guy responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001, so you can draw your own conclusions. The Emir has a grand scheme that The Campus gets wind into his plans and the story takes place all around the world tracking down counterfitters, snitches and couriers. The Emir, long sought in the mountains of Afghanistan has departed the area and taken up temporary residence in Las Vegas of all places!

It gets bloody. The story is intricate, detailed and suspenseful. Jack Ryan Sr decides he can't stand the direction that the country is headed under the new president and declares his candidacy for election to replace the soft, unskilled, wishy-washy president currently in the White House...

Clancy really hits a homerun with this book and I heartily recommend it. It is dense but if you remember the adventures of John Clark and Ding and Ryan, you must give this book a read. Look past those disappointing video game script stories and give this one a chance, you will quickly fall under Clancy's amazing story telling spell.

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I've finished Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. It is very good! It's typical Dan Brown- Robert Langdon caught in a bizarre mystery that he unfolds and solves through his expertise in symbology. This one is no different- it takes place in our nation's capitol, Washington D.C. and it is filled with the mysteries revolving around Freemasonry.

It is deep and fast paced. I can't speak to the accuracies of the Freemason details because I'm not a freemason. There are parts of the story that are pretty heavy in concept and some of it spells out hours after the original mystery is solved which I thought extended the story past it's climax.

But it's a good read. I really enjoyed it and the BSU says she is picking it up next. It's a brain teaser and twister and I recommend it!

Book reviews I promised last week

Well its been a full week and I'm finally sitting down long enough to think about blogging a little bit. That doesn't mean I'm actually blogging- just that I'm thinking about it... But I did promise a couple book reviews and its not too late and I'm not too tired right now, so I'll try to fill in the blanks.

Its been a real treat to just sit and read for the fun of it again this summer. Its something I've always done since grade school but my degree chase somehow sucked the habit out of me for a few years. Its nice to get back to reading for fun.

The first of the two books I read was Amazonia by James Rollins. Its a tale of adventure in the deepest reaches of the Amazon Basin with a group of researchers and soldiers trying to locate a source of a terrible disease outbreak that is spreading through out Brazil and into the US. Behind the researchers are a team of cutthoats being paid to track, kill and capture whatever solutions there might be to the outbreak. In front of the researchers are giant locusts, hybrid creatures with legs like frogs and the mouths and teeth like piranha that not only fill the rivers but can climb trees and cross land and 120 foot long crocodiles. There is danger at every step and in spite of a number of the party dieing from the hazards, a terrific secret is discovered, a tribe of people living in a hidden valley with a giant, ancient tree as the center of their culture.

There is, of course, a clash of cultures, a battle with the paid bandits, one of which is a beautiful, naked headshrinker and more surprises that involve the massive tree. Its quite an adventure. The book is fast paced and exciting due to its exotic location and a combination of believable characters. I was reminded of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea for its bigger than possible creatures and bizarre events that are just to big to be possible. But it is exciting and readable and I recommend it.

Next, I read The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne. Think of this book as The DaVinci Code but this time taking place in New York City and the secrets being revealed are part of Jewish & Kabalah tradition instead of the Catholic secrets of the DaVinci Code. There are believable characters and a fast-paced action that is all revealed in the final pages, just in time to prevent the end of the world.

I read it in a weekend, without feeling like I was struggling. Its pretty good, filled with riddles and chases and hidden meanings. I really did like this story and recommend it if you like adventure stories. This one was a good one!