The Tesla Secret, by Alex Lukeman

I'm on a roll, going through all the books in Mr. Lukeman's "Project" series.   See my prior posts for context.


The Tesla Secret (The Project Book 5)

The Seventh Pillar, by Alex Lukeman

I'm on a roll, going through all the books in Mr. Lukeman's "Project" series.   See my prior posts for context.

The Seventh Pillar (The Project Book 3)

The Lance, by Alex Lukeman

After reading volume seven of Mr. Lukeman's series about a small US spy organization called the Project, I decided to read more of his books.   I'm not sure why I started with number two, this one, but I'll get to the first volume eventually.

This isn't literature; it is fast moving adventure / spy writing.  Forget credibility and artistic turns of phrase.  But you do get a well paced plot and just enough character development to keep it interesting.

The main character is super spy Nick Carter.  His boss is Elizabeth Harker who is portrayed as sane and competent.  Carter inevitably has a girl friend as a team member, Selena Connor.  Stephanie is the mandatory computer genius / hacker.  Ronnie is the mysterious American Indian and Lamont the obligatory black man.

Sounds trite, yes?   Perhaps, but I'm going to keep reading this series.


The Lance (The Project Book 2)

Kinder Than Solitude, by Yiyun Li

The writing is good but this novel just isn't my cup of tea.   Ms. Li represents real literature (as opposed to the usual rot that I read), so I'm a bit distressed that I didn't like it.  But that's the way it goes.

Part of the problem for me is that I dislike books that shift back and forth in time, as this one does.   I also found myself ambivalent about learning who among three one-time friends poisoned Shaoai long ago, leading to her death many years later.   But there's much more to the story than this mystery; it is about the feelings of two Chinese emigres to the USA.


Kinder Than Solitude: A Novel

The Catch, by Taylor Stephens

I enjoyed the last book of Ms. Stephens, and expected this one to be good too.  It exceeded my expectations.

The hero is Vanessa Michael Munroe, a professional fixer, sometimes assassin, and all around tough lady.  She's working in Africa and finds it easier to pass as a man than deal with the misogyny.

In addition to being exceptional with a knife, Munroe has a savant's ability to pick up new languages very quickly.   Well, most novels in this genre invent special capabilities for their heroes, and these are more believable than many others I've read.

It is pretty clear that this is a volume in a series about Munroe, and because it was a while since I read Ms. Stephens' prior novel, I felt a bit disconnected.  But this was a fleeting problem.   The big attraction of this book is the quick moving plot and the interesting writing.   This is not a novel to start late in the evening because you might not get to sleep on time.

The Catch: A Novel

Damage Control, by John Gilstrap

I've really taken to Mr. Gilstrap's novels.  This is another in his series featuring hero Jonathan Grave, a former special forces operator who now runs a private security company.   His specialty (when not saving the USA from forces of evil) is recovering kidnap victims.

In this story, Grave finds himself in a hostage rescue gone wrong in Mexico, with Cartel bad guys doing their thing, and our hero doing the usual.

Quite fun.

Damage Control (A Jonathan Grave Thriller)

The Ajax Protocol, by Alex Lukeman

I've jumped into Mr. Lukeman's series with book seven, but haven't felt any ill effects.   The hero  is Nick Carter; he and his team of operators are part of the "Project," an uber-secret spy force that reports directly to the President.

This is pretty good for what it is.   In this genre, the nature of things is that whatever you need is conveniently supplied by the author.   Need an island?  One of the operators owns one.  Need a flight to a restricted military location?  Someone has a buddy willing to break the law.    Personally, I find it grating, but as mentioned, it is the norm.

Anyway, in this volume, a group of fascists within the US government seek to kill the sitting president and take over the country along with committing a range of violent domestic and international terrorist acts.   Carter, his girl friend Selena (also on the team), and his boss Harker, all try to save the day.

Bet you can guess the outcome.

The Ajax Protocol (The Project Book 7)

Out of the Black, by Evan Currie

I'm just going to repeat myself.  There's not much to say, and I've been staying up way to late at night to finish the books in this series, of which this is number four.

I've been reading Mr. Currie's novels in rapid succession because as soon as I complete a volume I'm eager to keep going to learn what happens next!  As of this writing, this is the last volume in the series; when there are more, I'll read them.

As I've said before, the net of the story line is that the hero, Weston, continues to defend the Earth and its allies from an evil alien race focused on destroying them all.

Out of the Black (Odyssey One Book 4)

Homeworld, by Evan Currie

I've been reading Mr. Currie's novels in rapid succession because as soon as I complete a volume I'm eager to keep going to learn what happens next!  This is volume three.

As I've said before, the net of the story line is that the hero, Weston, continues to defend the Earth and its allies from an evil alien race focused on destroying them all.

Homeworld (Odyssey One Book 3)

The Heart of the Matter, by Evan Currie

This is the second book in Mr. Currie's Odyssey series; I quite enjoyed the first one and this was just as good.

There's really no point saying much about the books in this series except that the hero, Weston, continues to defend the Earth and its allies from an evil alien race focused on destroying them all.

Tough to put down.

The Heart of Matter (Odyssey One Book 2)