The Inquisitor, by Mark Allen Smith

This is a very strong mystery / thriller.  But it can be difficult to read, as the protagonist is a professional at "information retrieval" - which is a euphemism for torturer.   The graphic scenes weren't over the line horrible, but they were disturbing enough that I'd want to post the warning.

This is a bit of a psychological thriller, as the hero slowly understands more about himself and his childhood.   All the characters are well developed and interesting.

Mr. Smith wrote one of those novels that leave me anticipating a sequel.   I recommend this fine book

What Doesn't Kill You, by Iris Johansen

This last time I read a book by Ms. Johansen, back in 2008, I didn't care for it much but considered it well written.  Since then either my taste in writing has become more refined, Ms. Johansen's writing has severely declined in quality.   Either way, I would not recommend this book.

Important message to readers:  this experience confirms my suspicion (which I mentioned recently in another review) that you can not trust five star reviews on Amazon!   The one star reviews, however, seem quite trustworthy.    At the date of writing this blog post, there are 31 Amazon five star reviews out of 68.   48 are either five or four star.   Only seven are one star reviews.  So 46% say excellent, 71% say great, and only 10% say trash.

Yet this book clearly deserves no more than one star.   I'll quote from the first one star review I come upon, titled "Save your money," the reviewer continues, "The story line is weak, the dialogue is repetitive and the characters are one dimensional. I started reading and by page 50 was scanning, halfway through I was just reading every other paragraph just to get it done."    This is dead on accurate.

In contrast, the first four of the five star reviews all feel fake.  Or perhaps written by folks whose sense of good fiction differs rather dramatically from mine. 

It was a chore to keep reading beyond even the first few pages; I did so out of pure stubbornness.  And perhaps masochism or self loathing.  Really, it would take psychoanalysis to determine why I didn't return this book to the library after just four or five pages.

You probably want some specifics to support my rantings.   The hero is rude, self focused, and addresses every topic with repetitive whining.   Consequently the dialog is stilted, unnatural, and annoying.   The plot holes are massive and while generally forgivable in a spy thriller, in this book they are just irritating.  

You also might be wondering:  for such an unsatisfactory read, why so much effort panning the book?  Why not just say how bad it is and move on?    The reason is simple:  I was pleasant in 2008 and ended up wasting time four years later.   Venting this way should keep me clear of Ms. Johansen's writing forever.

Black List, by Brad Thor

All of Mr. Thor's novels share a style:  there is political ranting (i.e., tea party style) that is sometimes a speed bump amidst the plot, there are good guys who have to moral or ethical compass other than doing what they imagine as appropriate to defend the nation, all exposed with writing and character development at the C to C+ level.

Since the last book of Mr. Thor's that I read (two years ago), his writing hasn't changed sufficiently to make me a big fan.

So, if you want to read an action adventure novel that you don't have to invest much energy into, although you might skim a bit on the boring parts, then this isn't bad.

The fundamental plot line of this book is government monitoring of its citizens.   This topic could be a very interesting skeleton for a well written novel.   Unfortunately here the exposition of the idea is boring and not very well linked to the action.

The Risk Agent, by Ridley Pearson

This is a suspense novel set in Shanghai.   A private security firm, Rutherford Risk, works with a multinational doing business in China whose employee was kidnapped (along with an employee of the security firm).   The two heroes are Knox, a stereotypical action hero, and Chu, who has skills in forensic accounting as well as in spy craft; they both work for Rutherford.

This novel has enough plot movement to keep me interested to the end and reasonable character development.  Mr. Pearson signaled his intent to make this a series featuring the two main characters.   I'll probably read another one of these if I can borrow it from a free library or buy from Kindle at a deep discount.

Discount Armageddon, by Seanan McGuire

This is one of the wackier paperbacks I've read.   The hero maintains balance between humans and non-human creatures.  (By non-human I mean:  ghouls, werewolves, bogeymen, et al.)  An opposing cult seeks to exterminate all the non-human creatures.   A dragon may be in hibernation near a New York City sewer line.

Yes, in my world this qualifies as wacky.  The good news:  Ms. McGuire has a sense of humor and writes with good plot pacing and character development.   So it was (mostly) very fun to read.

Apparently this novel is part of a series.   I don't expect to read more of these, but that's more a statement of personal preference than a critique of the book.  

Oath of Office, by Michael Palmer

The good news:  good character development and strong writing that held my interest right to the end. 

The bad news:  the plot has credibility and reasonableness gaps the size of the Grand Canyon.

Still, all in all, an entertaining novel.

Assassin's Code, by Jonathan Maberry

When I picked this book up at the library I thought it was a spy thriller.   I didn't realize it was the fourth in a series featuring hero Joe Ledger.   In the first few pages, it seemed as though this would be a pretty typical book of the genre:  a smart mouthed hero, commands multiple languages, the introduction of what was sure to be a beautiful women into his life.   Wow, was I wrong.

Before I was done, there were genetically modified vampires, the devil (maybe), a conspiracy over a thousand years old between the Catholic Church and Islamic leaders.   Need I say more?

I'm not sure what I think of this book.  On the one hand it was a fast and amusing read.  On the other hand, the typical spy novel doesn't include vampires.

The Colonel's Mistake, by Dan Mayland

I don't read most of the books that Amazon's algorithms suggest for me, usually because I check out the reviews and find comments that turn me off on the novel.   But today I went with the recommendation, and very pleased by it.

Mr. Mayland wrote a fast paced, exciting thriller.   It is worth pointing out that unlike so many authors who strain credibility with the absurd feats of their heroes, Mr. Mayland stuck to a plot that, for the most part, seemed reasonable.

This is a great airplane read:  the time will pass quickly while you're engaged in the novel.

Night of the Jaguar, by Michael Gruber

Just having read Mr. Gruber's "Valley of Bones," I figured I'd keep up the theme and read the next novel in this series featuring reluctant weirdness detective Paz.    It was as entertaining as every other book of Mr. Gruber's, which is to say, it was difficult to put the book down.

Another highly recommended read.

Valley of Bones, by Michael Gruber

I have become a huge fan of Mr. Gruber's work!    If I had not previously read "Tropic of Night," which featured the same hero in Jimmy Paz, I'd have given this one five stars out of five.   Because that earlier novel was just so extremely good, I'll mark this one down to four and three quarter stars.   Still, as you can see, quite impressive!

(Mr. Gruber has a very different group of characters and setting here than in his excellent novel, "The Good Son.")


Our hero once again gets involved with mysterious spiritualism en route to solving a murder.  In this case, around a nun's order of the Catholic church, mostly.

Absolutely worth reading.