The Girl Who Played With Fire – youtube, movie teaser
Filed under: bestseller, Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist, Stieg Larsson, YouTube
The movie is now playing in Scandinavia, and is a great success. See also review of The Girl Who Played With Fire, and a nice blog post about Stieg Larsson and that girl with the dragon tattoo.
Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child
Filed under: book review, Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Thriller
Gone Tomorrow is the 13th novel in the Jack Reacher series (see also the review of Nothing to Lose). It is a strange and strangely appealing series. And it is one of the most successful thriller series in the world, currently selling six million books or so a year.
Jack Reacher himself is clearly part of the 
Jack Reacher is a born street fighter with enormous fighting skills. He owns nothing, buys a new set of clothes when the current set gets dirty, cleans up, puts on the new clothes and throws away the old set. He is a somewhat mysterious, elusive, and strange character – and sufficiently different from the rest of us to be attractive in his differentness.
In Gone Tomorrow we meet up with Jack Reacher on the New York subway late at night. He happens to see a passenger, Susan Mark, that acts strangely and in a way that makes Reacher conclude that she is a suicide bomber on a mission. He approaches her, and instead of setting off a bomb, she commits suicide. This could have been the end of the story, but it turns out to be the beginning.
All of a sudden Reacher – just a witness, an innocent bystander – is chased by the FBI, the Department of Defense, NYPD and a strange group of terrorists. Susan Mark had something a lot of people are willing to go to great lengths to get hold of, and they all suspect or fear that Reacher may know where it is. So now Reacher must flee or fight for his life. And as Reacher never backs out a challenge, there will be trouble. Big trouble.
Gone Tomorrow is definitely one of the best of the series. Perhaps it is even the best so far. It is a fast paced thriller with an intricate plot, lots of great action, a slowly unfolding mystery and an explosive and very violent conclusion. It has good guys, shady guys and really bad guys. And lots of flat-out-violence. But at the same time it is a smart thriller with lots of good, sound, deductive reasoning. A great mix. I loved it.mYou do not want to miss out on Gone Tomorrow!
.Jo Nesbo about The Snowman – YouTube video
Filed under: About books, crime book, Harry Hole, Interview, Jo Nesbo, Norwegian writer, YouTube
Jo Nesbo talks about his most recent crime fiction book, The Snowman (see review).
The Bomb Vessel, by Richard Woodman
Filed under: book review, historical fiction, Nathaniel Drinkwater, naval fiction, Richard Woodman
This is a book in the excellent and very realistic historical fiction series from the Age of Sail by Richard Woodman, featuring Nathaniel Drinkwater. This books, The Bomb Vessel takes place early in the Napoleonic Wars, and covers the time period from September 1800 to July 1801. Nathaniel Drinkwater has returned from the Red Sea and is on 
At the same time, he is also forced to deal with a problematic situation that his brother has gotten himself into by murdering his girlfriend and her lover.
Virago, with other known characters such as Mr. Rogers, Tregembo and Mr. Q, joins Nelson’s fleet bound for Copenhagen and Drinkwater has ample opportunity to distinguish himself at the first Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801. And being a man that wants to make something of himself, he throws himself into whatever action he can find. In the end, he is personally congratulated by Horatio Nelson and promoted to Commander.
Drinkwater has developed into a tough and skillful man. As Tregembo states, “Men don’t cross the lieutenant too successfully, zur, leastaways not sensible men”‘. He is a tough and quite formidable fighting man even though his wounds from 20 years of service start to bother him. Drinkwater is quicker tempered and less introspective than Horatio Hornblower, but still in many ways reminds me of him. He is very willing to take risks, has a good understanding of tactics, and no fear in battle. In many ways Drinkwater is a more believable hero than Hornblower!
The Bomb Vessel has great descriptions of the Battle of Copenhagen. As well, Woodman’s descriptions of the historical characters involved seem to be very good. The book is a quick but very entertaining read. One of the better in a very good series!
Prime Time, by Liza Marklund
Filed under: Annika Bengtzon, book review, crime book, Liza Marklund, Swedish writer
This is the fourth book written in Liza Marklund’s series 
In Prime Time, well translated by Ingrid Eng-Rundlow, Annika gets involved in the investigation of a Swedish media personality, perhaps the brightest star of them all, TV presenter Michelle Carlsson. Carlsson has been on a Midsummer Eve party with 12 other people, in a beautiful and remote manor house in Sweden, and is found shot to death in a mobile control room. Michelle Carlsson was shot after a late night of drinking, quarreling and sex.
It is quickly established that more or less all of the other twelve people present both had opportunity and motives for wanting Carlsson dead. Liza Marklund takes us into the world behind the cameras, into a world where very few people like one another, where there is lot of envy and backstabbing, where the competition for the top spot is extremely intense and everybody is involved in a more or less continuous fight for power, money and fame.
With the murder, things get more complicated for Annika Bengtzon. One of the suspects is a close friend. And the relationship to her partner Thomas gets worse – he accuses her of letting the family down. And, on top of all of that, her boss also involves her in a power struggle in the newspaper. So Annika is often angry, complaining and difficult in this book. Meanwhile there’s a killer on the loose – and a tense drama about to unfold in the public eye. And in the center of it all is Annika, who in the end is the one who actually solves the mystery.
Prime Time is an interesting and good book, and times quite suspenseful. Even so, in my opinion it is the weakest of the books in the Annika Bengtzon series. However, it is still well worth reading, and you should, if possible, read the series in chronological sequence – that is, read Prime Time after Paradise and before The Bomber.
at amazon US andamazon UK: Liza Marklund (books and DVD’s)
. Links to books by James Patterson at amazon US
and amazon UK
.The Bourne Deception, by Eric van Lustbader, Robert Ludlum
Filed under: book review, Eric van Lustbader, Jason Bourne, Robert Ludlum, Thriller
Robert Ludlum died in March 2001, but even so 
In this book a very highly placed American makes a deal with a Russian to have Bourne killed – once more. And in exchange for this, the Americans will kill a terrorist for the Russians (a bit of a shift from the old days, when the *Russians supposedly supported terrorists?) A Russian sniper, who turns out to be Leonid Arkadin (see The Bourne Sanction
Then the canvas widens. A US airplane is shot down over Egypt. War hawks plot for an American invasion of Iran. A rouge American security outfit with extremely greedy owners meddles with intelligence reports and kills high ranking US Government officials. The American Secretary of Defense pushes for war to increase his own standing in the government.
The plot in The Bourne Deception is rich and past paced. And there is lots of action – almost too much, in the sense that it feels a little like sitting in a roller coaster train. The plot moves along, but its underpinnings are weak and strange, the logic that drives it a little artificial, and in the midst of it all Van Lustbader – who has a metaphysical leaning – throws in a little meta-physics (something Ludlum would never have done!).
I have to say I have read the follow-ups to Ludlum’s Jason Bourne novels by Eric van Lustbader with growing frustration. More and more I experience the books as overwhelmed by movie-like action descriptions as a substitute for intelligent plots and clever dynamics. The Bourne Deception I liked even less than the previous. To my mind, these books are now moving into a territory where only for the really diehard fans of the Jason Bourne saga will enjoy them.
Dead Reckoning, by C. Northcote Parkinson
Filed under: book review, C. Northcote Parkinson, historical fiction, Richard Delancey
Dead Reckoning is the fourth book in the Richard Delancey series by C. Northcote Parkinson, and a very good one at that. We have now reached the year 1805, during The Napoleonic wars. Richard Delancey has 
There is a lot of naval action in this novel. There is convoy escort, a special assignment to chase down a French privateer that disturbs trade, an attack on Mauritius, as well as a bloody fight against two French frigates. In several instances Richard Delancey shows both courage and intelligence. His ingenious strategies while escorting a convoy of East Indiamen is very entertaining. So is the demonstration of pure willpower in the attack against a French privateer.
Delancey is a creative, solid, smart and very likeable officer in Her Majesty’s Navy. Dead Reckoning is thick with excellent plots and smart thinking. It is perhaps the best in the series so far, and certainly one that increased my interest in C. Northcote Parkinson’s series! Being a fan of nautical fiction, I rank this series highly!
The Wicked Trade, by Jan Needle
Filed under: book review, historical fiction, Jan Needle, William Bentley
This is the second book in the continuing story of Midshipman William Bentley, in Jan Needle’s realist and grim naval saga. The story of William Bentley is set in the early 19th century. The Wicked Trade is 
William’s earlier experiences have stripped away his last traces of innocence, but his service in the London River-surrounded by corruption and greed-teaches him new lessons about the darker side of city life. When Biter is reassigned to combat the “wicked trade” of smuggling, Bentley and his fellow midshipman friend, Sam Holt, are soon drawn into a complicated conspiracy after two customs men are brutally murdered by a well-organized smuggling gang. Greed, corruption and betrayal reach high levels in the navy and the government, and the two midshipmen soon are way over their heads in a cesspool of savagery and duplicity.
The story is multithreaded, and mostly very well told. It is a book about smuggling, press gangs, whores, and love and class relations in England at the time. The books is not for the soft reader – it has some very brutal scenes (some nasty amateur dentistry for instance). As Jan Needle says, his project with this series of books is:
“What I am trying to do in my books is to get behind this myth, to show an age of desperate, ruthless struggle. In the eighteenth century, the British Navy carved out, with blood and violence, a huge portion of the world. The losses were enormous – but not from warfare, mainly. Firstly came disease, then accident: the peril of the sea.”
And he does manage to get behind the myths. In many ways The Wicked Trade is an outstanding book, even though I thought the ending was somewhat lacking and much too “lucky”. I to some extent feel Needle should concern himself a little bit more with the plot and the story, and a little less with gruesome details. Also, the plot, while exciting, doesn’t have the gripping quality of the first book in the series. However, for the most part, the characters are strong, vivid and well drawn.
Overall, The Wicked Trade is an entertaining but gruesome swashbuckler, albeit without the glory of a Hornblower, the class of a Ramage or the naval action of the Alan Lewrie series. Instead Needle gives a thoroughly grim and accurate portrayal of naval existence and the life of the poor. Prepare to be horrified!
Post Captain, by Patrick O’Brian
Filed under: bestseller, book review, historical fiction, International bestseller, Jack Aubrey, Main character, Patrick O'Brian, recommendation
It is 1802. Post Captain is the second in Patrick O’Brian’s epic 20-volume 19th-century maritime series about the unlikely companions Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Finally 
He meets the Williams family and their cousin Diana Villiers. Jack courts Sophia Williams, but is also very attracted to Diana, and commences an affair with her. His approach to courtship leaves a lot to be desired, and creates problems for him left and right – both with his superiors and with his friend Stephen, to the point where the two friends even challenge each other to a duel.
However, he plans to marry Sophia Williams, but quickly finds his fortune in prize money gone – he has been ordered to repay a wrongly captured merchant ship and at the same time he has been embezzled by his prize-agent. So instead of being a rich man, as he thought he would be, he is now severely in debt and at risk of being imprisoned for it! He has to flee the country and plans to live with Maturin in Spain.
But the peace of Amiens did not last long, and even before Jack gets to Stephen’s estate in Spain, France declares war and begins rounding up English subjects. Jack and Stephen escape, and are able to make their way back to England from Gibraltar.
In England, Jack – constantly seeking to avoid his creditors – is restored to active service. He is given command of HMS Polychrest, a very strange experimental ship designed to launch a secret weapon. As it turns out, she is a very bad sailing ship, and on top of it, Jack’s patience is tried by a sadistic lieutenant. But in the end, Captain Aubrey is able to take her to battle and win a decisive victory – he loses the Polychrest but leads three boats to board the Fanciulla. And returning to England in the Fanciulla, he is finally posted captain. Afraid of being captured by his creditors, he asks for a temporary command and is assigned to HMS Lively.
As luck will have it, Lively is assigned to a squadron sent to intercept Spanish ships bring bullion back to Spain from her American colonies. The Spanish convoy refuses to surrender, but after a short battle where Jack Aubrey plays an important role, one Spanish galleon explodes and the other three surrender. The victorious captains’ share of the prize money will be enough to pay off Jack’s debts and make him a rich man!
Post Captain is a wonderful book. It is rare to find a book that has such a rich blend of various ingredients. O’Brian’s writing is crisp and spare. The characters are fully-developed human beings, the writing is full of O’Brian’s quirky humor, and the action is exciting. The book is very hard to put down.
Praise:
Master and Commander raised almost dangerously high expectations; Post Captain triumphantly surpasses them…a brilliant book.
– Mary Renault
Aubrey and Maturin compose one of those complex and fascinating pairs of characters which have inspired thrilling stories of all kinds since the Iliad.
– Iris Murdoch and John Bayley
More reviews of nautical fiction book series?
A Fine Boy for Killing, by Jan Needle
Filed under: book review, historical fiction, Jan Needle, Main character, recommendation, William Bentley
This is the first volume of Jan Needle’s series of nautical fiction adventures called The Sea Officer William Bentley Novels. The novel is a very promising start to this series, 
In A Fine Boy for Killing, the focus is much more on daily life in the ship itself, and less on naval action, battles and heroism. Needles presents a much more realist view of the Navy than any other writer of this particular era that I have read so far. HMS Welfare is helmed by Daniel Swift, a notoriously ruthless captain. Bentley is actually his nephew and favorite, and looks up to his uncle. However, what he learns from his uncle, and tries to make sense of to the best of his abilities, is a view of the common sailor as a little more than a beast – scum, cowards, treacherous and deceitful.
The novel is focused on the inner life of the ship, both among the officers and midshipmen, and among the common sailors. We witness how excessive use of force by the sadistic Captain Swift, as well as hostile attitudes towards the crew from all officers, gradually builds tremendous tension in the ship. Floggings take place more or less daily on this ship – they are given for the slightest offenses. The abusive atmosphere aboard the Welfare is thick and immediate, as is the struggle for power over the ship.
I liked this book a lot, and could hardly put it down. It is an intense story, quite dark, yet rich in its characterizations, with a good plot, lots of attention to detail and good pace. It is a book devoid of naval action, and without heroes and heroism – there are no Hornblower’s or Lord Ramage’s here – but the perspective of A Fine Boy for Killing is very interesting and quite intriguing. A great start for this new series!
See more nautical fiction book reviews!
Praise:
“. . . A superbly written and engaging nautical adventure tale.”
– Midwest Book Review
“…A powerful story of lost humanity, its violent emotions and unremitting bleakness are shattering.”
– Guardian
“…His portrayal of the Age of Fighting Sail is gritty, realistic and thoroughly entertaining…”
– James L. Nelson Author of The Brethren of the Coast Trilogy
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