False Impression, by Jeffrey Archer
Filed under: book review, International bestseller, Jeffrey Archer, Thriller
In this thriller, written by Jeffrey Archer in 2006, it’s September 10, 2001, and 
Lady Victoria Wentworth is sitting in spacious Wentworth Hall considering the sad state of family fortunes
The next day in New York, art expert Anna Petrescu heads to her job as art wrangler for wealthy magnate Bryce Fenston of Fenston Finance. The pair’s offices are in the Twin Towers, and when disaster strikes, each sees the tragedy as an opportunity to manipulate a transaction scheduled to transfer ownership of a legendary Van Gogh painting, Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear, from the Wentworth estate to the larcenous Fenston.
Another great story full of twists and turns from a master storyteller, but even so False Impression is not quite up to the pre-prison standards of Lord Jeffrey Archer. It is still well worth reading, of course.
Order False Impression
Prince of Fire, by Daniel Silva
Filed under: book review, Daniel Silva, espionage, Fiction, Gabriel Allon, recommendation, Thriller
Prince of Fire is Daniel Silva’s fifth novel in his Gabriel Allon series. Allon is an internationally renowned art restorer, assassin, and 
In Prince of Fire terrorists bomb the Israeli embassy in Rome and massacre the people working there. And so, once more, Gabriel Allon gets a visit from the spy master of the Israeli secret service, the legendary Ari Shamron. Ari Shamron, who once was the head of Israel’s secret service and is Gabriel’s mentor, is now special advisor to Israel’s prime minister.
When Shamron visits Gabriel in Italy, he informs him that Palestinian terrorists have uncovered Gabriel’s true identity and may be targeting him for assassination. He urges Gabriel to come out of retirement. Reluctantly, as always, he returns to Israel to head a team investigating the bombing. After some difficult work, the team finds traces leading to a Palestinian mastermind named Khaled al-Khalifa. He is, as well, believed to be the brain behind two earlier terrorist attacks. Allon is now assigned to find and execute him.
As in his other books, Silva weaves facts and fiction in a rough, hard reality which is grim and requires tough decisions, especially by those involved in the espionage business. The story in Prince of Fire is, if anything, even darker than most of the stories in this series. None of the actors involved – both individuals and the organizations – are able to walk away with clean hands in this story.
Khaled al-Khalifa turns out to be perhaps the most difficult opponent Gabriel Allon has encountered so far. Both have lots of resources to back them up, and both are extremely skilled and smart.
The complex and very well told story in Prince of Fire has a lot of twists and turns, as well as false identities, double-crosses and misleading information. And the action is fast and furious: assassinations, bombings and kidnappings.
Prince of Fire is a great addition to the Gabriel Allon series. It is an excellent, very exciting spy thriller.
Doyle Brunson’s Super System: A Course in Power Poker 1 & 2
When this book was first published in 1979, it caused a sensation. Immediately 
There is some truth to this accusation. Poker is an evolving game. Write a revealing book and the old games disappear more quickly and the “rocks” have to learn the new game in order to continue to make a living.
What makes Brunson’s Super System more interesting than many other other poker books, is partly the prestige and celebrity of the writers, especially Doyle himself, but also Bobby Baldwin, David “Chip” Reese, Joey Hawthorne, David Sklanski; and Mike Caro (MJC). Sklanski, for instance, is one of the game’s great theoreticians and the author of several excellent books on poker. Caro, known as “the Mad Genius of Poker,” has formed his own “Poker University”, and has become quite a poker entrepreneur.
Second, there is the comprehensive coverage of the games from five card draw to no limit hold’em. Not everything is explained and some of the tricks are held back. Still, in my library of poker books, this is my favorite, and reading it was a great learning experience.
This is a poker classic, and a must read for students of the game. A lot of intriguing ideas and notions, and interesting commentary as well. Also, it is very well written!
More reviews of poker books!
Links to Doyle Brunson’s books at amazon UK
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