NekkidBlogger Bookblog

The Tightrope Men, by Desmond Bagley

Nekkidblogger — Wed, 18 May 2011 00:26:04 +0000

The Tightrope Men is another of the high quality, exceptionally well written and very tightly plotted classic thrillers by Desmond Bagley. Bagley’s writing is among the best ever in the thriller genre.

Giles Denison has a strange experience. His life is turned upside down when he awakes to find himself in a luxurious hotel in Oslo and, peering into the bathroom mirror, discovers the face of another man!

Denison has been kidnapped from his flat in London and transformed into famous Finnish scientist, Dr Harold Feltham Meyrick. Compelled to adjust to his new persona (including meeting his daughter) and to play out the role assigned to him by his captors, he embarks on a dangerous escapade from Norway to Finland and across the border into Soviet Russia.

As many other Bagley thrillers, this too has a plot that actually twists and characters that actually develop without too much unnecessary detail. The great use of geographical description – giving you the feeling that you are there, looking, seeing the place, along with the fast pace keep the pages turning. The Tightrope Men is another great read from an author who deserves to be much better known than he is.

The Guineaman, by Richard Woodman

Nekkidblogger — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:30:32 +0000

The Guineaman is the first book in Richard Woodman’s William Kite trilogy. It is set in the middle of the eighteenth century. The main protagonist is a young man, son of a town apothecarist, who is forced to flee the scene of a crime, and heads to the coast of England where he is offered a position as surgeon on a ship involved in the slave trade.

William Kite takes it the job and thereafter endures the perils of the slave trade and his repugnance for it; yellow fever and the rapid promotion its toll among his shipmates brings him; the terrible treatment of the slaves by the slavers; the rapes of the female slaves; and in the end falling in love with a slave girl he names Puella.

Finally he lands in the West Indies, at the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War. He has enough of the slave trade already. And now he insists on quitting his job, and goes ashore with his beloved Puella.

There he is befriended by Mr. Mulgrave, a wealthy, civilized, rather Dickensian merchant, and offered a job in his trading company as his clerk. He does his job admirably, and soon becomes a wealthy man – a merchant, ship captain, and a trader. And eventually he sets his course for England with his black bride to attempt to clear his name and start a new life.

This is a well-written and in many ways good maritime fiction book. Richard Woodman knows naval history and he obviously has studied the slave trade as well. The Guineaman is an interesting book, with an interesting protagonist. The plot is intriguing. Also, I founds it interesting to read a martime fiction book where the hero is not a navy officer. This is a book I recommend for fans of Richard Woodman and readers interested in historical maritime fiction.

The Satan Bug, by Alistair Maclean

Nekkidblogger — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:09:23 +0000

This thriller was written in 1962 by Alistair MacLean under the pen name Ian Stuart. The Satan Bug is an intelligent and very interesting thriller dealing with biological weapons – a theme which unfortunately is no less of a threat today than it was at the time when the book was written.

The story revolves around the theft of two germ warfare agents, botulinum toxin and the indestructible Satan Bug (a laboratory-conceived derivative of poliovirus), from the Mordon Microbiological Research Establishment. Pierre Cavell, private detective and retired head of security for Britain’s Mordon Bio-weapon laboratory, is called back to public service to investigate the murder of the chief of the laboratory. Cavell quickly discovers that an incredibly virulent virus code-named the Satan Bug has been stolen.

Cavell’s investigation determines that the theft was an inside job by a ruthless criminal ready to run insane risks to achieve his goals. Cavell and the police must quickly find this man and the hostages he takes before he can escape or use the deadly virus. The chase takes Cavell and his police allies to London for a final showdown with the master criminal and his gang, where the stakes may include the destruction of the City of London.

The Satan Bug is well written, with fast paced action, and features a very twisting plot, excellent and sometimes ironic dialogue, along with the nail-biting finale that MacLean was so famous for. Highly recommended for fans of Alistair MacLean!

The Power Broker, by Stephen Frey

Nekkidblogger — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:56:25 +0000

This is the third book in Stephen Frey’s series featuring Christian Gillette. Unfortunately, it is not quite as good as the previous two.

Christian, the CEO of Everest Capital, a hugely successful Manhattan-based investment firm, faces a host of adversaries, chief among them the Order, a secret society made up of nine white American businessmen and government leaders whose predecessors have been manipulating financial and historical events since the society’s inception in 1839. Led by Jackson Prescott Hewitt, chairman of U.S. Oil, the Order fears that America is falling under the control of minorities whose agendas include statehood for Puerto Rico and Mexico and the election of the nation’s first African-American president.

As usual in Frey’s books there is murder, global conspiracy, treason, blackmail, high finance and sexual infidelity. However, but I miss a little bit in this book is the financial thriller aspect. This is instead a large scale conspiracy book, a genre which Frey does not master nearly as well.

For sure, there is a lot of action, but the lack of a plausible financial thread to it all means that in this book the thread lines are somewhat loosely coupled and solutions seem to more or less come drifting along when needed. In my opinion The Power Broker is one of the weaker Stephen Frey novels, and I will only recommend it to people wanting to read the whole series about Christian Gillette.

The Wire (DVD), Season Five

Nekkidblogger — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:47:42 +0000

I am in the middle of season five of The Wire. I have loved the other episodes – I think it is one of the best TV series ever.

This excellent series about Baltimore, with the eternal struggles of a group of Baltimore policemen against crime on the streets, against their short-sighted bosses, and corrupt politics in big-city USA fascinates me. Perhaps most of all the tortured, alcoholic and very charming Irish detective named Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) who cares more about putting criminals away than he does about departmental rules or, for that matter, even himself.

And, for reasons I don’t much understand, I am also quite intrigued by the homosexual modern day-Wild West gunslinger Omar (Michael K. Williams) who has chosen a very dangerous way of living: he robs and kills drug dealers (“Rip and run” is what he calls it) and lives by a strict moral code of his own.

However, while I loved the first four episodes – perhaps especially the first and fourth seasons – I am not so sure about the fifth season. Is is as worthwhile as the other ones? Should I go on with it? Any advice from people who have watched The Wire??

The Girl Who Played With Fire – youtube, movie teaser

Nekkidblogger — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 03:21:57 +0000

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.

Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton

Nekkidblogger — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:28:41 +0000

This book by Michael Crichton was filmed in 1999 with Antonino Banderas: The 13th Warrior. The movie is in this case better than the book.

Eaters of the Dead is set in the 10th century. The Caliph of Baghdad sends his ambassador, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, to the king of the Volga Bulgars. He never arrives but is instead captured by a group of Vikings. This group is sent on a hero’s quest to the north. Ahmad ibn Fadlan is taken along, as the thirteenth member of their group, to bring good luck. There he battles with the ‘mist-monsters’, or ‘Neanderthals’.

Eaters of the Dead is narrated as a scientific commentary on an old manuscript. A sense of authenticity is supported by occasional explanatory footnotes with references to a mixture of factual and fictitious sources.

Eaters of the Dead is a a good and interesting read, but in my opinion not among Michael Crichton’s best.

E-book readers: More choices

Nekkidblogger — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:07:41 +0000

More and more readers seem to buy e-book readers, and the competition in the marketplace is getting more and more intense. Kindle, by Amazon, is a huge hit. And now Barnes & Noble has released its own e-book reader, the Nook. The third major contender among consumers is Sony’s e-book readers, the PRS-600BC and PRS-700BC. And more e-book readers are on their way. This is good news for readers: more alternatives to choose among and competition that reduces prices.

New York Times has published a comprehensive review of e-book readers, but these for the moment seem to be the major competitors.

Nook is the device on the top, and below are pictures of Kindle and the Sony reader.

It’s hard to say which is the best. They all seem to be very good. Their prices are fairly similar too. I suspect that to a large extent it is a question about what your shopping and reading habits are and which company you have the strongest relationship to.

It will be interesting to follow what is happening in this area in the near future. Readers are faced with several good choices, and with more to come.

The Man with the Iron Heart, by Harry Turtledove

Nekkidblogger — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:49:21 +0000

Harry Turtledove is known for his alternative history novels. In a way, the method he uses is similar to a methodology employed by some writers in of new economic history. He ask “what if” about some important historical event, and then writes a story exploring the implication of a different answer to this question than what actually happened historically.

In The Man with the Iron Heart, Turtledove examines the possible responses of the Russian Army, the U.S. Army, Congress and ordinary Americans if they had been confronted with asymmetrical warfare after the official surrender of Nazi Germany. He explores what would have happened if German resistance had continued after Hitler committed suicide and the Germans surrendered in World War II.

So, while number two SS leader Reinhard Heydrich was killed in 1942, Turtledove examines what might have happened had Heydrich survived and lived to lead a grassroots resistance movement. Borrowing ideas from their late Japanese allies, the fanatics of the German Freedom Front launch a campaign of suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations. The Russians responded with calculated brutality, while the mother of a slain American soldier pressures President Truman to bring the boys home. The parallels to the current situation in Iraq are obvious but cleverly drawn, leaving readers on both sides of the war debate with much to think about.

The Man with the Iron Heart is an interesting book, and overall an interesting way to generate plots. However, I didn’t get really excited about the book. The plot was a little to mechanical and the characters didn’t really connect. But if you’re interested in alternative history, you may feel differently.

“Turtledove is the standard-bearer of alternate history.”

–USA Today

“Turtledove pulls out all the stops in a panoramic display of historical speculation. [He] sets the standard for alternate history and once more proves his worth.”

–Library Journal

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, by Jeffrey Archer

Nekkidblogger — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:41:21 +0000

This is the book that to a large extent made Jeffrey Archer famous and as a world class bestseller writer. Harvey Metcalfe, a self-made American millionaire, finalizes an elaborate scam in which he cheats four strangers out of a million dollars. They all thought they would be rich, but the next day they discover that they are penniless. However, they decide to work together to get the one million dollars back from Harvey Metcalfe, using whatever means necessary.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less is fun, it is full of plots, has humor, irony, good characterizations and interesting characters, and is a great read as well. However, the writing style is a little mechanical and simple, and not quite as good as in Jeffrey Archer’s later books. However, even today it provides great entertainment and is a book you should not miss out on.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was televised in 1990 by the BBC.

(Order Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer from amazon UK (clicking the picture takes you to amazon US).

See more reviews of Jeffrey Archer’s books!