Micro

Micro by Michael Crichton with Richard Preston

Although I’ve read just about every piece of fiction by Michael Crichton, I had my doubts going into this one.  First, I haven’t really thought he’d written anything that spectacular in about twenty years.  Then, there was the fact that this book was released posthumously and was actually unfinished at the time of Mr. Crichton’s passing.  It was so “unfinished” that another writer (Richard Preston) had to be brought in to actually add a significant chunk to the finished piece.  Usually, that’s never a good thing, and always has me wondering if the publisher is simply trying to cash in on the author’s reputation.  Of course, I also glanced at the reviews on amazon.com, and more people gave this book a 1 star rating (the lowest possible) than any other rating.  Not a good thing.

But press forward I did.  Before I go into detail, I must first point out that I can see why so many people disliked this book, but I have to confess that I actually enjoyed it!  To understand such an assessment, a plot setting is in order.

There’s a mysterious company in Honolulu that specializes in making “micro robots”.  One of the Vice-Presidents (a young, twenty-something guy) goes to Cambridge in Massachusetts along with some other executives to recruit some young, talented scientists including his kid brother.  As we meet these scientists, the first major problem of this book appears.  Crichton isn’t much (these days) into character development.  There’s a group of about seven kids, and each one has some one-dimensional stereotypical trait, along with a “speciality”.  So we have people here that you can you could describe as: “the leader”,”the whiner”, “the smart athletic female”, “the slutty female”, etc.  The fact that they each have their own speciality (which the author thrusts in our face rather uncouthly) tells us that our story will “need” such an individual at some point as our story progresses.

So these kids go to Hawaii, and the CEO gives them a “tour” of the facility.  Apparently, not only can robots be micro-sized, but (gasp) so can living things!  Do you see where this is going?  Well, it should be pointed out that the older brother vice-president has mysteriously disappeared very recently.  The kid-brother scientist apparently knows something sinister, so when he confronts the CEO, the CEO panics!  It just so happens that all of the students are in the chamber where people/things are shrunk, so the CEO presses the button!  

So, yes, things are a bit silly already, and I found myself laughing when the author probably was wanting me to scream instead.  These tiny organisms are  now about one millimeter in size, and they’re then dumped into the jungle (which for all we know, could only be a few yards away from a parking lot).  The bad guy knows they can’t survive.  The jungle will destroy them!

And this is where are story really begins.  Our miniaturized protagonists are now in a very unfamiliar environment with insects, birds and reptiles that are now huge and mostly very unfriendly.  If this sounds like one of those cheesy 1950 sci-fi movies, you would be correct in your assumption.  For this reason alone, it makes me think that this could never be made into a movie.  It’s been done too many times, and giant ants and mosquitoes on the big screen just don’t phase us like they did one-half a century ago.  You could also argue that this setting is a bit like Crichton’s most famous work, Jurassic Park.  The environment is very similar, and I must confess that I found giant wasps and grasshoppers a lot more frightening than velociraptors and a t-rex.

As corny as this story may sound, I kept turning the pages.  I found myself enraptured in a way I never thought possible about such a silly tale.  This is definitely Michael Crichton, and there’s just enough references to the things of the scientific world to keep your interest without burying you with too much detail.   Like George Lucas of the Star Wars movies, though, Crichton sometimes gets so involved in what he’s good at, that he loses his focus on the basics of a story - such as characters talking to each other.

When I finished reading this book, I felt a bit like I just watched a movie with an 8 year old child that was made for 8 year old children.  I thought it was very silly and very juvenile, but I had to admit that, for some strange reason, I really enjoyed the experience.

Zero Minus Ten

Zero Minus Ten by Raymond Benson

I confess that I was never that big of a fan of the James Bond books.  The creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming, is held in very high regard for all of the James Bond novels that he wrote from 1953 until his death in 1964.  The reason I was never that big of a fan is not necessarily a reflection of the author, nor his style as a writer.  I tend to simply think that “spy novels” were written very differently 60 years ago, and my modern tastes simply don’t absorb this palette of writing very well (I wasn’t even born until after Mr. Fleming passed away.)  Still, though, every James Bond movie up until 1987 was somewhat based on one of Ian Fleming’s novels and/or short stories, and being such a fan of the movies, I simply couldn’t pass up on reading the original stories.

A second author, John Gardner, actually became the official “next father” of the Bond books starting around 1980.  He wrote about 15 or so, churning out about one book per year.  They never really appealed to that many, and those who were still immersed in the Fleming religion frequently screamed “blasphemy” when each book was released.  It was the overall consensus that whereas some of Gardner’s work may have contained some sparks, he simply couldn’t hold a candle to Ian Fleming.  Again, being a fan, I read them all and agreed with most.

So flash forward to 1997 (only about a year after Gardner retired), Raymond Benson is chosen to be the next torch carrier.  Ironic because in 1983,  Mr. Benson actually wrote one of those trade paperback compendium homages called “The James Bond Bedside Companion”, which unlike any other of the glossy retrospectives, his focused not just on the Bond on screen, but the Bond of the literary word as well.  And, yes, Mr. Benson is a huge fan of the Bond books (well, Fleming’s anyway).

So how would Raymond Benson fare, then, as the new author?  I must confess that my expectations were pretty high since Benson could be very critical of anything James Bond related (A bit TOO critical.  As much as I enjoyed his “Companion”, I was a bit turned off by all the negativity he emulated).  

I must say, however, that this was the best James Bond book that I have EVER read.

So much so, that I would recommend it to NON James Bond fans.  The overall story seemed to flow beautifully.  Benson stated that he tried to bring the “old” James Bond back, but I really can’t tell that much of a difference between any of the “Bonds” in any of the books.  He does modernize the M character.  Like the Pierce Brosnan movies that were coming out right about this time, the new M is a lady.  Based on the description of the new boss, it sounds as though Raymond Benson was trying to model her after her cinematic counterpart, Judi Dench.  This is a good thing.  Another good thing is Q is back.  He was gone for the Gardner books, but he’s thankfully been resurrected under his true moniker, Major Boothroyd.

The setting for this tale is Hong Kong in 1998.  I normally wouldn’t mention this, but Benson carefully constructs some major, real-life history in this book.  Without going into detail, 1998 was the year that Britain had to “hand back” Hong Kong to communist China after over 100 years of English rule.  People were a bit panicky back then, as no one really new how China would handle a democracy that would now firmly be under her rule.  This adds a lot of suspense to the plot, as this story is essentially leading up to this particular event.

So all the key elements of a Bond novel are here, and Benson weaves through all of the intricacies quite masterfully.   You never get lost as to who is who, nor what anyone’s motivations are.  It’s simply a great story with many interesting plot twists, character twists, and exotic locations.

My only criticism is that sometimes Benson tries a bit too hard to be like his idol Ian Fleming.  Fleming could sometimes get sucked into giving us a bit too much detail around an event.  Remember the scene in the movie Goldfinger when Bond realizes he’s being cheated on the golf course?  Well, thankfully the movie only spends a few minutes detailing the event.  In the book, however, Fleming details each and every hole of the entire 18 hole match.  You think watching golf is boring?  Try reading about it.  Fleming would repeat this instance of the bad guy trying to cheat Bond at some game (Bridge, Poker, Backgammon), only to have Bond outwit him.  All this to say that Benson has the same setup here between Bond and the villain as they play a game of Mahjongg.  Now, I’ve never played the game, so when Benson spends an entire chapter detailing the game, the progress of the game, Bond being cheated at the game, and then Bond’s strategy to cheat the cheater of the game…… Well, it goes on a bit too long.  A minor complaint, however. 

I’m eagerly looking forward to reading the other five installments by Raymond Benson.  I was very pleased and very surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

Eisenhower: Soldier and President

Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen Ambrose

I fell in love with Stephen Ambrose’s style of writing after reading his 3 volume retrospective of Richard Nixon.  He’s very clear, concise and easy to understand.  He seems never to spend too much time on laborious details about any one event in his subject’s history except where obviously needed (case in point – volume 3 of the Nixon series spent a lot of pages on the Watergate crisis.)

Because of this, I was a bit put off by the fact that this biography is actually an amalgamation of two books that the author devoted to Dwight Eisenhower – the first one focused on the soldier, the second one, the President.  I’m not a big fan of anything abridged when it comes to literary works, but I confess that I couldn’t pass up on the bargain price offered up by Kindle!  So, suffice to say, I think I would have liked to have read more, but whether or not the information I would have liked the author to expand on is discussed in the two “uncut” versions remains unknown to me.

That’s not to say that this is not a good read.  Everything that I expected from an author such as Ambrose is present.  We don’t get too much detail on Eisenhower’s early life – other than he was a typical Midwestern boy around the turn of the twentieth century who had four brothers, got into a lot of fights, and played a lot of football.  Yes, even then you could see that this young boy had the potential to be a general and/or a president.

Although he enters the army via West Point, he never engages in any military conflict up until World War II.  His promotion to General is based on tenure, and not necessarily accomplishments (the only real action he could have seen was in World War I, yet he “just missed” being in the thick of things).  One thing that all see in this brilliant young man is his ability to succeed at battle “case studies” that is apparently prevalent in one’s military training.  He has the smarts to know just how to win the big battles.  As World War II progresses, he’s in some very high level conflicts.  He makes mistakes, but is such a strong leader that eventually everyone “back home” likes Ike.  Loves him actually.  Strangely, the politics of war time can be just as exasperating as anywhere else, and by the time Ike is the Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, he has to deal with a lot of bickering - especially with Bernard Montgomery and George Patton (the two men hated each other, and Ike really doesn’t care for them either).  Still, he succeeds as a strong leader should, and we get a very detailed glimpse into the preparation of Operation Overlord (D-Day).  Although history tells us that this turning point was a major success, there was a lot of gambling, second guessing, and uncertainty up until the morning of the invasion.  This event alone warrants its own narrative (which Ambrose, amongst many others, has written).

Ike is such a national hero that everyone wants him to run as President upon conclusion of the war.  Even current President Harry Truman wants him to run in 1948 (Ike declines, Truman is re-elected).  Finally the masses are placated in the 1952 election, and Ike has two successful terms.  That’s not to say flawless – he makes several mistakes, but overall history holds his presidency in higher than average regard.  The best thing about Eisenhower’s presidency is that the man never had to pander to anyone.  Being a successful five-star general essentially means you can win election to the highest office of the free world without having to kiss anyone’s backside.  This was very refreshing.  The man never really cared much about what others thought of him.

Such attitudes did have some downsides however.  One example was his Vice President, Richard Nixon.  Although the relationship between the two was never perfect, Ike did respect Nixon.  He wanted Nixon to step down as Vice President in 1956 and accept a Cabinet position instead so Nixon could be “better prepared” to be President one day.  What Ike never realized is that such a move would have been viewed as a horrible demotion and probably would have killed Nixon politically.

Unlike the stereotypical war monger that becomes Commander in Chief, Eisenhower is very cautious when it comes to the military and military spending while he is President.  Quite frequently, Eisenhower is constantly telling the country that the military is too large, spending too much money, and has too many bombs.  He is persistent in balancing the nation’s budget, and if he has to massively cut military spending, it’s a no brainer to him.  It’s not that Ike has become “anti-military”, it’s just that as a successful military leader, he’s smart enough to know it’s not how much money you spend on defense, but how you spend money on defense.  He looks at the military in the nuclear age as just being wasteful.

We also read about wife Mamie, son John, and his wartime secretary Kay (despite consistent allegations over the years, an affair was never proven between the two, but it’s very obvious that the two were somewhat in love with one another being so far from home during the war.)  Ike’s post presidency years are talked about a bit too briefly.  I was hoping for more reflections as to his thoughts on the country during the 1960s.  It’s talked about, but not as much detail as I would have liked.  Why, for example, was Eisenhower so against involvement in Vietnam back in 1954, yet seems to be one of the biggest hawks of the 1960s during the Lyndon Johnson administration?  This was very odd indeed to read, and I had to wonder if Ike was getting a bit senile.  I wish there could have been more explanation.

Although this book is favorable towards Eisenhower, I was very pleased that the author showed the man’s warts as well.  He was not perfect.  Especially heartbreaking was his response (or lack of) to the Civil Rights movement.  He literally just wished the whole problem would “go away”, and worried too much about alienating his southern friends than he did pursuing equality.  To be fair, this seemed to be the attitude of most leaders in the Oval Office (even, to some extent  Kennedy and Johnson), but you can’t help wonder how much better things could have been, and how the Civil Rights movement could have taken bigger leaps in a quicker time frame had Ike actually cared.

Reading about the goods and the bads is what I always like in a biography, and I’m very glad that the author didn’t elect to gloss over nor ignore the man’s shortcomings.  I can now honestly say, that overall, I like Ike.

Split Second

Split Second by David Baldacci

For fans of David Baldacci’s “King and Maxwell” series, this is the first one where we meet the couple.  We start our story eight years in the past.  Sean King is a secret service agent guarding a presidential candidate.  During a speech where king is guarding his boss, the unthinkable happens - an assassin kills the presidential hopeful with one bullet.  Although King  returns the favor and knocks the assassin out with a bullet of his own, he’s basically too late.  Sadly, if you’re a secret service agent and the guy you’re protecting goes down, your career is basically over.

Flash forward to the present day.  There’s another scenario with another secret service agent (that would be Michelle Maxwell) guarding another presidential hopeful.  Like King, she makes an innocent “slip” and her “assignment” is kidnapped.  So she’s finished as well.  Fortunately, King has picked up as life and is doing pretty well, yet there are a series of mysterious murders that are popping up with his acquaintances being the targets.  Since the latest presidential hopeful is a kidnapping, it provides an opportunity for these two washed out secret service agents to meet each other and join forces to bring some sort of redemption for themselves and their careers.

Although these two characters are described as flawless specimens of beauty, their relationship remains purely platonic.  They work very well as a team, and with the help of a huge supporting cast of characters, the hunt is on.  I should say “an extremely” huge supporting cast of characters.  I found this to be a bit of a drawback, as my brain was constantly having to shuffle all of these individuals in my head - trying to remember who is who.  This is one of those books where we “meet” the bad guys as well, but Baldacci keeps their identities as a mystery as well as their motivations, so this keeps up the curiosity factor.

Everything pretty much goes as you would expect it to in a story such as this.  We see our heroes’ make slow progress as they interview people, discover clues, investigate locations etc.  When the bad guys are finally revealed during the climax, I found it a bit weak and out of character.  True, we’ve only met these shadowy figures sparingly, but when we discover the true motivation and purposes of the so-called showdown, it comes across as a bit too fantastic and somewhat silly.

I enjoyed this book overall.  It’s fun to match wits with the two heroes, and anytime we meet new characters within the pages, you simply know that although they may seem inconsequential to the plot of the story, the author spends so much time with them, that you simply know that we haven’t seen the end of them.  There were a few times where coincidences and fate seemed placed a bit conveniently within the story, but it was mostly a fun ride.