I started this book report in March. Never could get back to it. Since then I’m finished a few other books, probably a few I don’t remember:
First, Randy Wayne White’s “North of Havana”. What’s interesting about White’s books is how different each one is. So far, he hasn’t landed on a single formula. And the structure of this book is very different. The odd thing is that there is little that the protagonist drives in the plot. Most of the plot washes over him. He jumps down the rabbit hole and the story unfolds. We learn more history of Doc Ford, and we see that he’s not always a mellow, cool beach bum.
What intrigues me the most about this book is that it kept me interested all the way to the end when there wasn’t all that much that I would find interesting. Lots of moving and some intrigue. I’ve got to keep working through the Doc Ford’s.
Read a second Randy Wayne White book. This one I didn’t like as much. I can’t say that it badly written. The construction of the plot, with much of the book a flashback, was well done. There were two twists in the last 10 pages. Both were somewhat expected. One I had a sense about for the entire book and was waiting for it. I didn’t see it unfolding the way it did, though.
John Sandford’s “Shock Wave”. John Sandford produces the Lucas Davenport series which is one of my two favorite book series produced today. “Shock Wave” is from his other series featuring investigator (and fisherman and outdoors writer) Virgil Flowers. The Flowers book, though enjoyable, don’t measure up to the Davenport. However, Sandford found his stride with this one. It’s the best of the Flowers book.
All local politics is about real estate, John D. MacDonald said. One of my favorite books of his about this is “Flash of Green”. “Shock Wave” is about local politics and real estate. There are a couple of leaps of faith on a few plot points, but a book as enjoyable as this one you forgive some.
Jeffrey Deaver’s Broken Window
I have enjoyed Jeffrey Deaver’s books in the past. And there are elements I liked about this one and elements I didn’t. One thing I like, he gets domestic abuse arrests right (they’re now mandatory in most states). This is the second book in a row in which my alma mater is featured.
Something I didn’t like, the way the villain is written. One of the elusive, brilliant, violent maniacs.
Another thing that pisses me off: they discover that the antagonist did something to a particular person. An investigator speculates why the antagonist did it, maybe because of X or Y. Now, I think, those aren’t as good a reason as A or B, then there’s still C & D possible. When the author cuts to the antagonist, he thinks about what he did and explains he did for reasons X and also Y.
Then a huge problem for me. A group of police are stalking this very dangerous and smart killer. And what do they do? Split up, hunting down leads, each alone without back-up. And sure enough, the woman gets caught by the killer. Who, unlike other victims, he doesn’t torture and kill immediately but wastes time long enough to allow the other cops to figure out who the killer is. And not only do the police proceed without backup, as they develop leads and go after people, they don’t even report-in where they’re going or what they’re doing.
Deaver also does one of those old serial movie cheap tricks. He takes you right to a critical point, say a gun pointed at someone, then cuts away to another part of the story, only to come back to that story to find out it was another cop who was working undercover. He also uses a lot of the coincidental accident. The villain only gets away because as he dashes across a road, a truck comes down the road blocking the cops. When the cops have a gun on the villain, a little boy suddenly walks in between the cop and the villain. Another classic: somebody finally gets one-up on the villain. He’s stunned with a blow from a crowbar. What happens next, the person who dealt the blow is distracted long enough to allow the villain to regain composure, pull his gun, and shoot the potential rescuer. Please.
I get how suspense works. I enjoy Mary Higgins Clark even though everyone one of her books follows the same formula. But some of these techniques, used with such an obvious heavy hand is tired.
The book reads like 1960’s and 70’s stories in another way. He establishes the psychological origins of the antagonist’s criminal mind. Certain traumatic events in the killer’s childhood made him the way he is. Think the play Equus or the movie Spellbound.
I went down to spring training in Phoenix and read a couple of books on baseball to get me in the baseball mood:
Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst. Dirk is a major league pitcher who spent a lot of time in the minors. This book is about his time in the minors. It’s Bull Durham, but more real, less Hollywood. The twist is the book is about what baseball isn’t. It’s only game. It’s a career for some. But it’s not everything. Hayhurst’s writing is good at times, funny often.
Read a brief book on the history of baseball (mostly 20th Century).
Read a book on the Brewmaster’s Art. Great book. Learned a lot about making beer. In some ways, in particular the various chemical elements and the processes that generate specific flavor characteristics, I learned a bit too much. I finally learned about British ales – that the dark ones are the less bitter (I’m used to dark beers being more bitter).
A Vegas book:
"Skin City" a journalist’s take on the sex side of Vegas. Only worth about half a book. Much of the book is on the pornography business which I have no interest in. The book started as an article on a student the author had in an English Comp class at UNLV. The student turned into one of the top porn stars. So much of the book is about how a nice girl ends up in a business like that. Some good info on strip clubs. Also, info on swing clubs in Vegas (didn’t realize those were fairly big business). The author’s contention is any man who goes to Vegas is going to have sex every day. Why else come to Vegas? If you wanted to gamble you could go to an Indian casino. So he loses me there. I’ve never hired a prostitute or gone to a strip club in Vegas.
First, Randy Wayne White’s “North of Havana”. What’s interesting about White’s books is how different each one is. So far, he hasn’t landed on a single formula. And the structure of this book is very different. The odd thing is that there is little that the protagonist drives in the plot. Most of the plot washes over him. He jumps down the rabbit hole and the story unfolds. We learn more history of Doc Ford, and we see that he’s not always a mellow, cool beach bum.
What intrigues me the most about this book is that it kept me interested all the way to the end when there wasn’t all that much that I would find interesting. Lots of moving and some intrigue. I’ve got to keep working through the Doc Ford’s.
Read a second Randy Wayne White book. This one I didn’t like as much. I can’t say that it badly written. The construction of the plot, with much of the book a flashback, was well done. There were two twists in the last 10 pages. Both were somewhat expected. One I had a sense about for the entire book and was waiting for it. I didn’t see it unfolding the way it did, though.
John Sandford’s “Shock Wave”. John Sandford produces the Lucas Davenport series which is one of my two favorite book series produced today. “Shock Wave” is from his other series featuring investigator (and fisherman and outdoors writer) Virgil Flowers. The Flowers book, though enjoyable, don’t measure up to the Davenport. However, Sandford found his stride with this one. It’s the best of the Flowers book.
All local politics is about real estate, John D. MacDonald said. One of my favorite books of his about this is “Flash of Green”. “Shock Wave” is about local politics and real estate. There are a couple of leaps of faith on a few plot points, but a book as enjoyable as this one you forgive some.
Jeffrey Deaver’s Broken Window
I have enjoyed Jeffrey Deaver’s books in the past. And there are elements I liked about this one and elements I didn’t. One thing I like, he gets domestic abuse arrests right (they’re now mandatory in most states). This is the second book in a row in which my alma mater is featured.
Something I didn’t like, the way the villain is written. One of the elusive, brilliant, violent maniacs.
Another thing that pisses me off: they discover that the antagonist did something to a particular person. An investigator speculates why the antagonist did it, maybe because of X or Y. Now, I think, those aren’t as good a reason as A or B, then there’s still C & D possible. When the author cuts to the antagonist, he thinks about what he did and explains he did for reasons X and also Y.
Then a huge problem for me. A group of police are stalking this very dangerous and smart killer. And what do they do? Split up, hunting down leads, each alone without back-up. And sure enough, the woman gets caught by the killer. Who, unlike other victims, he doesn’t torture and kill immediately but wastes time long enough to allow the other cops to figure out who the killer is. And not only do the police proceed without backup, as they develop leads and go after people, they don’t even report-in where they’re going or what they’re doing.
Deaver also does one of those old serial movie cheap tricks. He takes you right to a critical point, say a gun pointed at someone, then cuts away to another part of the story, only to come back to that story to find out it was another cop who was working undercover. He also uses a lot of the coincidental accident. The villain only gets away because as he dashes across a road, a truck comes down the road blocking the cops. When the cops have a gun on the villain, a little boy suddenly walks in between the cop and the villain. Another classic: somebody finally gets one-up on the villain. He’s stunned with a blow from a crowbar. What happens next, the person who dealt the blow is distracted long enough to allow the villain to regain composure, pull his gun, and shoot the potential rescuer. Please.
I get how suspense works. I enjoy Mary Higgins Clark even though everyone one of her books follows the same formula. But some of these techniques, used with such an obvious heavy hand is tired.
The book reads like 1960’s and 70’s stories in another way. He establishes the psychological origins of the antagonist’s criminal mind. Certain traumatic events in the killer’s childhood made him the way he is. Think the play Equus or the movie Spellbound.
I went down to spring training in Phoenix and read a couple of books on baseball to get me in the baseball mood:
Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst. Dirk is a major league pitcher who spent a lot of time in the minors. This book is about his time in the minors. It’s Bull Durham, but more real, less Hollywood. The twist is the book is about what baseball isn’t. It’s only game. It’s a career for some. But it’s not everything. Hayhurst’s writing is good at times, funny often.
Read a brief book on the history of baseball (mostly 20th Century).
Read a book on the Brewmaster’s Art. Great book. Learned a lot about making beer. In some ways, in particular the various chemical elements and the processes that generate specific flavor characteristics, I learned a bit too much. I finally learned about British ales – that the dark ones are the less bitter (I’m used to dark beers being more bitter).
A Vegas book:
"Skin City" a journalist’s take on the sex side of Vegas. Only worth about half a book. Much of the book is on the pornography business which I have no interest in. The book started as an article on a student the author had in an English Comp class at UNLV. The student turned into one of the top porn stars. So much of the book is about how a nice girl ends up in a business like that. Some good info on strip clubs. Also, info on swing clubs in Vegas (didn’t realize those were fairly big business). The author’s contention is any man who goes to Vegas is going to have sex every day. Why else come to Vegas? If you wanted to gamble you could go to an Indian casino. So he loses me there. I’ve never hired a prostitute or gone to a strip club in Vegas.
