EXILE - Richard North Patterson ****

David Wolfe's life is approaching an exhilarating peak: he is a successful San Francisco lawyer, he is soon to be married and he is being groomed as a future Congressman. But when the phone rings and he hears the voice of Hana Arif - a Palestinian woman whom he had a secret affair at law school - he behins a completely unexpected journey. The next day, while visiting San Francisco, the Prime Minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber; soon Hana herself is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder. Now David faces an agonising choice: will he, a Jew, represent Hana - who may well be guilty - or will he turn away from the one woman he can never forget?

David's quest takes him to Israel and the West Bank, where, in a series of harrowing encounters, he learns that appearances are not at all what they seem...

*I have edited this blurb by removing the first paragraph. I did so because in a sentence, it just about gives away the entire plot of the novel which is otherwise so carefully built.

There are two quotes on the cover of this book. Normally I don't detail the "quotes" as they're usually tripe taken out of context such as "amazing" - BLAHBLAH. Such a word could actually originally be "I have never read such amazing garbage". One of the quotes is on the front cover, and as such you see it quite often. And on the rear -

"An astonishing book, a hugely entertaining human drama" BILL CLINTON.

"A thriller so important it absolutely demands to be read" THE TIMES

I wanted to mention them because I found them to both be relevant to the book. The Times quote is much more accurate, it was a compelling book, and Clinton is right in saying it is astonishing. What I am annoyed about with Clinton's quote is that its so at odds with...itself. Astonishing is to imply that it keeps blowing you away, page after page. Entertaining while the book is, I feel that with this one quote, Clinton trivialises the whole story. Although to be fair to Clinton, the only reason he is quoted at all is to lend credence to the political bent of the book, of which Clinton was a contemporary for some of the historical politicos that feature. How exactly does one comment on fiction that implies criticism of the part the US played in geopolitics?

But I digress. As with many books I enjoy, while there is a serious history lesson going on for people like me who know little about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, its wrapped up in a fiction with some love story gluing it all together.

This is perhaps my favourite kind of book. I enjoy fiction immensely, but often feel I am keeping myself ignorant of world events. By taking my history in a medium I already enjoy, I enjoy it all the more having learnt something at the end.

I found it difficult to get into initially, which is unusual for North Patterson, but once it picked up it moved at a cracking pace. It did have to compete with Wii for a few days, but I focused on how much I wanted to finish it and it was all ok. Its a fair tome, weighing it at 700+ pages (with tiny writing M exclaimed!), but well worth it.

Half a star off for the slow start.

4 / 5

Your Money, Starting Out and Starting Over - Anita Bell ****

Hmm Kind of hard to rate this book, it was good and everything, but different people will find it useful in different ways. Having read the first book, Your Mortgage: How to pay it off in 5 years (by a woman who did it in three), it was mostly same-old-same-old: an awesome way to make a budget and stick to it. There is also a heap of easy investing at the back but we're not quite at that point. BUT I got out of it exactly what I was hoping. A refresher, and a kick in the financial pants. It just reinforced principles I already use, and re-inspired me to focus on our financial goals.

For example one of our major goals is to buy a second property (ideally a house). Right now I can't see how that's ever going to happen. Especially as we also have a short term goal of starting a family, if there's a choice to be made, which side will we fall down on? We already made a choice some time ago that we wouldn't sacrifice family for another path. In that instance, it was living and working overseas. We knew we didn't want to have babies away from our families, but we wanted to have babies within the first few years of marriage. So working overseas for a couple of years doesn't work with that plan and we weren't prepared to sacrifice our desire to have a young family for "the experience" . There's plenty of people who make the choice differently, a couple we know are similarly placed but her parents are in the UK. They're now considering having the babies overseas with her mum for the first few years. Of course everyones different and we don't begrudge anyone elses choices either.

We leave for Europe in a scant 2 weeks, and while I'm looking forward to it, I'm really hoping we don't come home with too much debt, as I can't see how we're going to make our (financial) dreams reality right now.

4 / 5

For an interesting insight into how Anita Bell "fell" into having a financial book published, have a quick squizz at her bio here

Deceived - Sarah Smith *****

In the Spring of 1993 Sarah Smith found herself in the centre of a living nightmare. Told she was on an IRA hit list, she was forced to go one the run to save her life and lives of her loved ones.

Always in fear of a snipers bullet, Sarah was constantly moved around the country from one "safe house" to another, working in low paid jobs, never knowing who she could trust. To evade detection she adopted numerous aliases, changed her looks, and deposited her earnings in a special police account to be accessed when the nightmare was over.

One man was there to protect her : a British Secret agent code named Robert Freeguard. To survive assassination Sarah had to follow his rules with complete compliance : sever ties with family and friends, speak to no one, and wait for his orders.

In a spine chilling journey, Sarah Smith spent ten years on the edge of existence, sometimes starving and living rough, often penniless, and alone. But what she did not know was that she had been duped and it was all a lie.....

One of the best books I've read for a while, its simply heart breaking to read. Ten years this psycho stole from her, how he does it is amazing.
I cannot recommend it enough.

5 / 5

What Colour is your Parachute?

You may or may not have heard of this book before. Apparently its quite popular.
You may have noticed it in the sidebar, but only briefly, as I'd say I only read it for about three or four days. And I didn't finish it. *sigh* I always hate admitting that. Its like it defeated me. I even tried to skip bits to see if that helped. It didn't.

So why did I stop reading? I didn't realise it was a book on how to find a job. I know that might sound silly, look at the titles all over the cover. BUT when I found it on Ronnie Ann's site I thought it was going to be more a book on how to figure out what you're passionate about and what you really want to do in life. Not really though, and there's whole chunks about how to start a business, which is also not a road I'm interested in even investigating at this time.

The other reason I want to briefly mention, as a reader, this book was crazy~! There's even a whole disclaimer at the beginning about how its not grammatically correct and the punctuation is all wrong. I should have known then.

He had parts
of the book kind of
written
like this.

I'm sure it had some
purpose, even if the
only purpose was to simply
entertain
him.

But it annoyed the crap out of me, and smacked of indulgence by the publishers of an author going crazy with each reprint of the book. Anyway, not for me, because I'm not really looking for a job. I was just a bit interested to see what it said.

Not much
apparently.

I'm putting
this into "books
I've read" even though
I haven't
quite.

poll by twiigs.com

Princess - Jean P Sasson ****

Think of a Saudi Arabian Princess and what do you see? A woman glittering with jewels, living a life of unbelievable luxury. But in reality she lives in a gild4ed cage. She has no freedom, no vote, no control of her own life, no value but as a bearer of sons. Hidden behind the veil, she is a prisoner, her jailers her father, her husband, her sons.

"Sultana" is a member of the Saudi Royal family, closely related to the King. as she tells of her life, from her turbulent childhood to her arranged marriage - she lifts the veil and reveals a history of appalling oppression and shocking human rights violations such as forced marriages, sex slavery and summary executions.

Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and great courage. By speaking out, "sultana" risks bringing the wrath of the Saudi establishment upon her head and upon the heads of her children. For this reason, she has told her story anonymously.

This kind of book has become a genre of sorts. Expose style narratives about women in Eastern countries, oppressed beyond Western belief. As a genre, it is compelling reading. Each book I read, makes me want to read more of the same. Unfortunately for this story, while it is a great read, it feels dated already, which means it feels a little irrelevant. Is the situation Sultana describes in her country exactly the same now? I don't know, but this book was written and published in 1992, and I've since discovered this is the beginning of a series of 3 about Sultana. Perhaps the two follow ups will feel more relevant to the world today.

Killing Fear - Allison Brennan ****/*

Six years ago, lawyer Theodore Glenn was convicted of brutally murdering four strippers in San Diego. But as he was dragged from the courtroom, he made a vehement promise to kill all those who testified against him …

Robin McKenna, a former stripper, had shared a stage with all four of the victims. Over the last six years Robin's worked hard to turn her life around, transforming the strip joint where she once worked with her friends into an upscale bar. Self-defence courses, a good security team - and the fact that Glenn is rotting on Death Row in San Quentin have helped her to feel safe again. But not a day goes by when Robin doesn't think of her friends. Or - if she's honest - of homicide detective Will Hooper, the man who put Glenn behind bars. Their fledging relationship had not survived beyond Glenn's trial. But when a freak earthquake hits California, Theodore Glenn escapes San Quentin. Convicted of four murders, he knows he's guilty of only three and is determined to find out who framed him for the fourth, whilst systematically eradicating all those who put him in prison…

AWESOME book. I read it in three days I think. Highly recommend if you're looking for a suspense/thriller.
Even some sexy time thrown in for good measure.

4.5 / 5

The Unknown Terrorist - Richard Flanagan ****

So, I finally got to read this. After my earlier misstep in reading the wrong book, I managed to borrow it from the library. I was looking forward to it as I'd sort of forgotten why I wanted to read it (hence why I initially persevered with the incorrect book).
I actually really enjoy doing that, it's one of the reasons after I pick a book to read, I don't read the blurb. Its sort of like getting a surprise picked by the best selector possible; yourself!

What would you do if you turned on the television and saw you were the most wanted terrorist in Australia?
Gina Davies is about to find out.
....a fast paced thriller that paints a devastating picture of contemporary Australia.
Five days, three unexploded bombs, and every truth of your life turned into a lie.
What would you do?

The reason I didn't give this book a five, is that it was as if it couldn't quite commit to what genre it wanted to be. In the blurb it claims its a thriller, but it doesn't quite make "Thriller" I don't feel. Almost like Flanagan isn't comfortable joining the ranks of so many thriller and crime writers, he may be portrayed as a fraud. So he holds back just so much as if criticised he could jump back into his own camp and claim he'd never strayed.

I also found it a teensy bit pompous at the start. The language is so descriptive, its almost TOO descriptive, I thought it was trying to hard to describe Kings Cross, and Darlinghurst, and well, Sydney.
Trying too hard to be literary in its approach, not thriller.
What I will say is its a terrifying insight on the hysteria that can grip a city, and the way the media drives it.
Perhaps I enjoyed as as I'm a Sydneysider, as it's been caned a bit by Australian Reviewers, while lauded overseas.
Curious.
Worth a look if you're after something, with wide appeal I think.

4 / 5

Judge & Jury - Patterson & Gross ***

Andie DeGrasse, an aspiring actress and single mom, is not your typical juror. Hoping to get dismissed from the pool, she tells the judge that most of her legal knowledge comes from a bit part curling around a stripper's pole in The Sopranos. But she still ends up as juror #11 in a landmark trial against a notorious mob boss.

THE JUDGE IS TERRIFIED OF THE DEFENDANT.

The case quickly becomes the new Trial of the Century. Mafia don Dominic Cavello, known as the Electrician, is linked to hundreds of gruesome, unspeakable crimes. Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante has been tracking him for years. He knows Cavello's power reaches far beyond the courtroom, but the FBI's evidence against the ruthless killer is iron-clad. Conviction is a sure thing.

SO IS THE JURY.

As the jury is about to reach a verdict, the Electrician makes one devastating move that no one could have predicted. The entire nation is reeling, and Andie's world is shattered. For her, the hunt for the Electrician becomes personal, and she and Pellisante come together in an unbreakable bond: they will exact justice-at any cost.

THE VERDICT: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.

James Patterson spins an all-out heart-pounding legal thriller that pits two people against the most vicious and powerful mobster since John Gotti. Judge & Jury is a stunning feat by "one of America's most influential authors" (New York Times).

Standard Patterson fare really. Good read, not spectacular though. Grisham probably better for a Courtroom drama.

3 / 5

The Sleeping Doll- Jeffrey Deaver ***/*

California Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Kathryn Dance is an expert in kinesics-the science of interpreting behaviour. It makes her a brilliant interrogator. But she's up against Daniel Pell, a master of control, who mesmerises, seduces and exploits people for his own murderous ends. A convicted killer who is known as "the Son of Manson" for the chilling parallels between him and the notorious ritual murderer. To track down Pell before he destroys yet more lives, Kathryn Dance must enlist the help of four people from the killers past. The three women who lived under his sadistic sway in the cult he once headed. And the young girl known as "the Sleeping Doll", the only survivor of her family's slaughter at Pell's hands.

Good read, Deaver is very good in ever book I've read.
Bit cautious about the front "Introducing Kathryn Dance". Deaver has become very popular with his series of Lincoln Rhyme books, a forensic specialist who happens to be a quadriplegic. Deaver's skillful portrayal of the crime balanced with the personal battle of a fantastic investigator that can't actually investigate any more. The "Introducing Kathryn Dance" leads me to believe he may wind down the Rhyme books, which I enjoy immensely. Hmmm.

This story is good, but I feel it kind of loses it at the end. It makes a small leap of faith that affects the ending, and I would have preferred a better explanation, or set-up for the twist it takes. BUT that said, Deaver is a master storyteller, and I'm intrigues enough in Dance's characterisation that I will read the ones to follow.

3.5 / 5

If you're a follower of Deaver and Rhyme already, check out this Trivia quiz on Deaver's website.

Double Cross - James Patterson ****

One of the wonderfully predictable (in a good way) books I love to rip through. The latest from Patterson in the Alex Cross series (the same series that features the books and movies Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider). I love James Patterson, he writes great book. I do however wonder whether because he's been so good for so long, he;s doing himself a disservice by continuing to churn books out. He now collaborates with other authors, resulting in say six books a year with his name on the cover. The average crime fiction writer will release one book a year generally
(feeling sorry for the people {like hah} that got into the Sue Grafton Alphabet murder series, they're up to T finally! Sue Grafton must be rolling in it, she started with A for Alibi in 1983!)
but is Patterson flooding his own market?

Hmmm.... Anyway, Patterson has widened his character scope in his writing, he now has two series, the Alex Cross and the Women's Murder Club, because even though Cross is still kicking, he's getting a bit boring. You can only be targeted by serial killers for so long before you're using all the same material.

So the Women's Murder Club series is up to book 7, and it kicked off nicely. The main character, a female detective called Lindsay Boxer was a refreshing change to the masculinity of the Alex Cross series. I was pretty excited when I heard they were making it into a TV series. But just like the disappointment when a book is made into a movie, this just hasn't cut the mustard for me. I like Angie Harmon, I do, I thought she was great in Law and Order. But she's all wrong as Lindsay for me. *sigh* It will be interesting to see if that series survives in Oz.

4 / 5

Brothers & Sisters, Joan Sauers ****

A woman who gave birth to a baby for her sister...Brothers who fought each other in the Supreme Court for the family farm...Two sisters who survived Auschwitz together, one convincing the other to choose life over death...A famous actress and her not-so-famous sister...Five loving siblings of whom four are adopted from different racial backgrounds....

....Sometimes sad, often quite funny, Brothers and Sisters is a book for everyone, and especially for those who still have arguments about who was the favourite child...

**Couldn't find the cover art, I tried! So here is cute pic of random brother and sister. :)

Great book. I really enjoyed the perspectives it offered on sibling relationships. My only criticism was that there was no summation at the end of the issues raised and theories offered.

The book finishes with Sauers' own siblings and their answers to the same questions asked of the included parties, but it is delivered in the same interview style as all the other chapters. I would have liked Sauers to have offered opinions and theorems on the subject and the "why's".

4 / 5

It did, naturally, make me reflect on the relationship I have with my own brother and sisters, and others that I know. There's also a few interviews with Single children, or "only children". {Hmm, has anyone thought about where that phrase comes from? Only Children? Only what? When you actually go to write that down you realise it doesn't quite make sense....}
One of the things I have speculated about often recently is my sisters. As they are both overseas presently, it does make you reflect more on your relationship with them, people are ask how I'm "doing/going". And I do miss them, a lot. Interestingly the way they interact with us while they are away affects how much we miss them.

At least I think it does, it's hard to say. I miss Beeb a lot, and I think the fact that she's constantly texting has an affect on that, but then its possible that it feels like I miss Eca less only because she's been gone so much longer. By the time she's home she will have been gone 2 years. I do think the time she's been gone though, has only been bearable because she's actually been back twice in that time for visits (which were fab!). I was definitely a lot sadder the last time she left, and when Beeb left everyone was a blubbering mess so I totally lost it.
In Eca's defence also, she's been way more communicative in Philadelphia where she can just sit at the computer at home and chat away :)

I actually think Facebook has helped a lot too. Its as useless as tits on a bull for friends that live in the same city as you (you remember them, the ones you actually SEE)
But it's been really great for communicating with my sisters.

My brother has always been a little left of centre. I hope as we get older we can relate better to each other. Interestingly I've always clashed the most with him of everyone I think, and yet, of the four of us, we've the most in common now as we're both married.

Hmmm....

Die Trying - Lee Child ***/*

A Chicago street in bright sunshine. Jack Reacher, strolling nowhere, meets an attractive young woman, limping, struggling with her crutches, alone. Naturally he stops to offer her a steadying arm, and then they turn together - to face twin handguns held level and motionless and aimed straight at their stomachs.

Chained to the woman, locked in a dark, stifling van racing 2,000 miles across America, Reacher needs to know who he's dealing with. The kidnappers say nothing, and his companion claims to be Holly Johnson, FBI Agent. She's fierce enough and tough enough, but he knows there must be more to her than that. And (sic) at their remote, hostile destination, they will need to act as a team and trust each other, pitting raw courage and cunning against insane violence and seemingly hopeless odds, with their own lives and hundreds more at stake.

Great Reacher novel, Lee Child never fails to deliver.

3.5 / 5

The Innocent Man - John Grisham ****

An excellent book, and an excellent example of reasons fiction writers should also pay attention to the wider world. Grisham has demonstrated that fact can be stranger than fiction, and when it is, it needs no decoration. He has employed a no nonsense writing style in this work which while you may imagine it could drag, it works wonderfully and keeps great pace.
I admit I was so incensed by the subject matter and the injustice of it all that at one stage I simply had to stop reading, and regroup.
If you like legal thrillers, or True Crime, this book is a must read.
Library loan I'm sorry.

4 / 5

The Husband - Dean Koontz ****

Great Book.
Good Thriller, good plot twists.
Thanks to Susie and Tom, who gave it to me for my B'Day :)
4 / 5

Murder & Deception - Brian Bock ***

A good little collection, best thing about Short stories is you can pickup and put down with ease. Problem when they're all by the same author is that they can get tired. Not the best I've read recently (I'm also trying to get through another two short collections).

3 / 5

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling

NO SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!NO SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!
Great book :)

Yes I'm a pop culture/media whore. From Nelson Mandela to Harry Potter, the irony is not lost on me I assure you. I was determined to finish Mandela before starting Harry though.

The Long Walk to Freedom- Nelson Mandela autobiography

Facsinating book, quite a heavy tome however, certainly not for the lighthearted. I was keen to finish it however, as I always felt it was something I should know more about. Sometimes I feel myself to be incredibly ignorant, regardless how much I've read. An extraordinary man.

4.5 / 5

Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali ****/*

An amazing book about the life of a woman who grew up a devout Muslim in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. For me, it was an incredible insight into Islam from a woman's perspective who went on to be a fierce critic of Islam after she fled to The Netherlands and became a prominent controversial political figure in Dutch parliament.
Highly recommend, and I intend to go on to read The Caged Virgin, a collection of essays she has written on the matter also.
Good article here in SMH from when she was in Oz

4.5 / 5

Beach Road - James Patterson & Peter De Jonge *****

I'm going to forego the blurb today, in honour of my first 5 star rating.
This book has all the hallmarks of classic Patterson, bit of a legal/courtroom drama/ whodunnit. Well written, and for once I agree with the blurb when it says

"The final scenes of Beach Road unveil a truth
so unexpected it will leave readers gasping in shock"

I really was reeling at the end.

5 / 5

Bad Luck & Trouble - Lee Child ***/*

YOU DO NOT MESS WITH JACK REACHER

September 11th changed Reacher's drifter lifestyle in one practical way. As well as his folding toothbrush, he now carries photo ID/ Yet he is still as close to untraceable as a human being in America can get. so when a member of his old Army unit finda a way to get a message to him, he knows it must be deadly serious:
I want you to put the old unit back together.

You DO NOT MESS with the Special Investigators.
They always watched each others backs. Now one of them has shown up dead in the California desert. And six others can't be found at all.

You DO NOT MESS with Jack Reacher.
His old buddies are in big trouble, and he won't let that go. Not now, not ever.

Another good read from Child. Always a good one. Harry Potter came out today. Woo. I'll hold off til the hype's died down though.

3.5 / 5