Paris Echo
by Sebastian Faulks
Dashed Expectations (9/7/2018)
This is a book I thought I would love and wanted to love. I didn't. I just liked it. Despite its most intriguing premise, the pacing is akin to that old molasses cliche.
Tariq and Hannah were both annoying individuals. I would not want to spend more than 5 minutes with either.
Despite my complaints, I am glad I read it. I felt much the same way about Birdsong, which shares the same author and basic flaws. It, too, moved slowly, yet finally revealing something of the resilience of the human soul.
Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
by Anne Sebba
Enlightening Read (9/11/2016)
So many men were sucked into the war machine, but the French women who were left behind fought bravely and intelligently in their own way. I learned a lot.
All the Old Knives
by Olen Steinhauer
These Knives Need Sharpening (12/12/2014)
Olen Steinhauer has produced a well-written spy story, but one with not much zing. His method of telling a story, in this case a conversation over the course one dinner between two old colleagues and lovers, fails to pace an otherwise intriguing plot to a satisfying climax. I was disappointed. I do, however, look forward to what other readers have to say.
How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, #9
by Louise Penny
Once Again (7/23/2013)
Louise Penny never fails to deliver. Her prose captures me completely, making me want to know Gamache, visit Quebec, and follow the trail to discovery myself. How the Light Gets In is another delightful mystery from Louise Penny. Her writing is poetic! Other mystery fans are sure to love this novel, too.
Agent X: A Novel
by Noah Boyd
Agent X Needs Help! (12/29/2010)
Noah Boyd, pen name for Paul Lindsay, needs to focus. Is he using Dan Brown's plot construction model? Perhaps Lee Child's? The tedious plotting through way too many puzzles suggests Brown. The rogue main character suggests Childs. I suggest Boyd/Lindsay find his own legs.
His main character's attitude about management-level agents in the Bureau, while somewhat over-stated, are nevertheless quite accurate.
The writing mechanics are careful for the most part, but awkward and amateurish in many places.
I plodded through this book. I wanted to skip.
Beautiful Assassin: A Novel
by Michael C. White
Beautiful Assassin (3/17/2010)
This novel should be a rip-roaring good read. It is carefully written, the plot structure would get an A in a creative writing class, and the characters are dutifully developed. Michael White has done a good job of crafting his novel.That is where, however, this book gets into trouble.
All the good work is overshadowed by a lack of art. I wanted more tension, excitement, and suspense. After all, the main character was a rare creature in World War II Russia . . . an excellent female sniper. I wanted much more than I got and left this reading feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.
The Lotus Eaters: A Novel
by Tatjana Soli
The Lotus Eaters Does Not Mesmerize (1/13/2010)
A book with as much promise as The Lotus Eaters should be able to earn the highest reviewers' marks. Instead, I expect other readers will experience the same level of disappointment that I did.
I approached my reading of this novel with excitement. The Viet Nam conflict was the war of my generation, and the women's movement came into mainstream America during my twenties. What could be better than a novel set in the Viet Nam of the 60s with a female combat photographer as the main character?
As I turned the last page, I realized I was deeply disappointed. Although Tatjana Soli excels at narrative description, her plot structure and development are mediocre and juvenile. I tripped over too many syntax problems, anachronisms, and unexplained non-sensical acronyms. I realize this was a pre-publication draft, but no good writer should let such sentences loose in the world.
I would like to have been able to give a better review, especially to a writer who seems gifted at evoking a vast sense of time and place. Soli, however, needs to do some serious work on character and plot development.
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