Case Histories

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

I’m giving this book a five star rating.  Having stated that, I’ll also tell you that when I finished this book, I went to amazon.com and read all of the one star ratings (the worst) by readers, and I pretty much agreed with all of them.   How is such a thing possible?  Well, you really can’t explain such a concept or idea, unless you’ve actually read a Kate Atkinson novel.

First, Kate Atkinson’s books, while not really necessarily depressing, are certainly filled with depressing people.  I’m thoroughly convinced after reading several of her books, that this author had a pretty miserable, warped childhood.  When all you know is heartache, depression, and trauma, how can you really be expected to write about anything else?  She always injects humorous observations and witty descriptions throughout the pages, which makes you laugh out loud at the same time as you’re reading about the lives of these sad lugs.

Next, we must remember that Atkinson’s strength is writing about people and their thoughts, feelings, and emotions.  She doesn’t necessarily tell a linear story.  This book was labeled as the first of one of her many “Jackson Brodie Novels”.  Jackson Brodie is a detective, yet these books are not in the traditional “whodunnit” vein.  If you’re looking for a good mystery novel, the Jackson Brodie series probably shouldn’t be your first choice.

Yes, this book does have a few crime investigations running through it.  We get a missing child, a random murder of a child, and, what could be described as an “ax murder”.  What’s unique is that these incidents happen in different times and in different places, and Atkinson’s skilled writing manages to somehow make all of these situations current, which is when we meet Jackson Brodie.  Jackson (obviously) is just as miserable as all of the people affected by all of these tragedies.  He had a rotten childhood, a rotten marriage, manages to get beat up a lot, and on and on and on.

Once we arrive at the book’s conclusion, many were disappointed at the abruptness of the finale, and felt that things were thrown together to conveniently to appear the slightest bit realistic.  Those observations are correct.  As stated, though, this book is about people and not necessarily events.

If you have the stomach for books such as this (and I haven’t even discussed the foul language, the sex, the suicides, etc.), you’ll probably find it enjoyable as I did.  I’ll probably have to wait several months before I read the next book by this author.  And when I do, I’ll ensure to have some Prozac handy.

The Man With The Red Tattoo

The Man With The Red Tattoo by Raymond Benson

Raymond Benson’s sixth, and last, entry in the literary James Bond series.  I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed Benson’s tenure as the official author of 007.  True, some did not, but comparing authors of James Bond is a bit like comparing the actors that played the role - everyone has their opinions.  I actually like Benson better than Ian Fleming.  I think part of the reason is that Fleming was churning out these books more than half a century ago (he died in 1964), and the style of writing that was popular then, doesn’t necessarily translate to popular mainstream fiction more than 50 years later.  Plus, for me, I saw most of the films before I read any of Fleming’s books, so my imagination was a bit unfairly biased.  We then had John Gardner (actually Kingsley Amis wrote one book in the late 60s, but in my opinion, one book doesn’t count) take over the series for about 15 years beginning in the early 1980s, but I found most of his books to be somewhat subpar and a bit confusing.

Benson always has the ability to be clear, concise, yet pack his books full of action, beautiful women, and exotic locations.  I really don’t care if he doesn’t describe people, places, and things in the same meticulous fashion as Fleming.  All I want is a good story, and not to get lost in a confusing espionage laden plot.

I will concede, however, that this book doesn’t necessarily have a stellar plot, and it can be a bit confusing.  It’s not confusing because of the plot, but it’s confusing because this book takes place in Japan, and there are lot of characters with long, hard to pronounce Japanese names with a lot of “Ys” and “Ks”.  If that sounds racist, I’m sorry.  It is what it is, and I got a bit lost with all of these protracted names.   The plot is so-so.  Apparently, some evil Japanese mafia types are trying to bring the world to its knees by germ warfare.  Specifically, they’ve manufactured a species of mosquito that can spread a lethal disease very quickly.  A very scary synopsis for someone such as myself that lives in a very humid climate in Southern Texas.  I would also think it would be a lot easier to stop a criminal superpower such as a Blofeld than it would be to stop any type of mosquito.  But anyway….

As Bond travels through Japan, Raymond Benson also gives his reader a primer in Japanese culture.  We learn an awful lot about Japanese people, Japanese culture, and Japanese customs.  Again, some readers are turned off by this diversion and find it completely unnecessary, yet it never seemed too big of a diversion for me, and I actually enjoyed the author playing a bit of a tour guide as well as telling me a story.   He also brings back some main characters from the literary Bond’s past (he did this in his last Bond book Never Dream of Dying).  For this one, we go back to the last time Bond was in Japan, which would be the Fleming Novel You Only Live Twice.  We are reintroduced to Tiger Tanaka again, as well as reminisce about the Bond girl (deceased, naturally) Kissy Susuki.  Fortunately, one doesn’t really need to read that book before tackling this one, so don’t feel as though you’ll be at any sort of disadvantage if you’re unfamiliar with that one.

Even though the overall story wasn’t as strong as others by Benson, I still really enjoyed it.  I’ve always liked the fact that even though Benson’s Bond is infallible, he’s not above pain, and walks around a lot through these stories beaten and bruised. It’s nice to see that even 007 is human.  

I’m not sure why Raymond Benson stopped after six novels.  Maybe it was his choice to stop, maybe not, but I’d highly recommend them.  If you do a search you can now find these six novels within two “collections” that will serve your reading purposes just fine if you’d like to save a bit of money.  I’m actually even eager to read more of this author’s work other than his James Bond novels.  Nice job, Mr. Benson.

Medusa

Medusa by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos

As I’ve stated in other reviews of Clive Cussler’s work, I really can’t tell any difference between the Dirk Pitt adventures and the Kurt Austin adventures.  Since the Kurt Austin adventures (the proper title of them are “The NUMA Files”) are co-authored with Paul Kemprecos, the argument is often made that it’s Kemprecos that is doing most of the writing, with Cussler merely standing by as some sort of advisor.  Perhaps.  Again, though, all I care about is the final product, and most of the Kurt Austin stories are just as enjoyable for me.  We even have a very similar supporting cast of characters.  Instead of Al Giordino as the main sidekick, we have Joe Zavala, and instead of Rudi Gunn, we have  husband and wife team Paul and Gamay Trout.  So, no, there’s not a lot of variety, but most of the books do pack a significant punch.

In this book, in some remote aquatically located area in the globe, there has been a discovery of jellyfish like creatures called medusae (plural for medusa – I guess).  These things are highly toxic, but if their venom is extracted correctly and with care, the venom can be used to heal as well as harm.  A good thing, right?  Well, not if these things fall into the wrong hands.  It seems like a high level Chinese Mafioso type gang discovers that they can unleash a plague across the globe and wipe out millions (if not billions) of people, with the only cure coming from these strange medusae.  As long as they have and hoard these jellyfish, a huge profit can be made, and governments can be toppled.

As usual, Kurt and crew kind of find all of this out by accident.  They usually happen to be just at the right place and at the right time when some sort of catastrophic planning is in the works, and Kurt is smart enough to dig deep enough to not only figure what the evil plot is, not only who is behind the evil plot, but to also know exactly how, when and where to stop them.

If you’re a fan of Cussler, I would recommend this book.  Usually, I have to read these books somewhat spread apart, as they can end up feeling similar in many aspects.  As it is, it’s pretty hard not to come to the conclusion that anytime Kurt or Joe (or Dirk or Al) are submerged in a small vessel going down thousands of feet, that something unusual is going to happen to the occupants – and it ain’t gonna be good.

Kudos to Cussler.  Or to Kemprecos.  Whatever.  Good book.

Twisted

Twisted by Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver’s first collection of short stories, and fortunately not his last.  My favorite thing about this author is his ability to fool you.  I can’t recall any of his novels where there wasn’t some sort of bizarre plot twist (or two) near the end of the book that threw you for a loop.  Even after he’s tricked you before and you have your guard up, he still manages to baffle you with his brilliance.

So it really shouldn’t be any sort of surprise that all of these short stories contained here do exactly the same thing – hence the name of the book.  Of course, I thought the title was probably derived from the somewhat sick nature of many of his books (and these stories).  On reflection, you could argue that it’s probably a bit of both.  This guy isn’t known for happy sappy stories.

After reading the first few stories within this collection, even the novice can detect a pattern, and the reader starts to carefully turn the remaining pages, wondering when they’ll be duped again.  There were many instances where I thought “Ahh.  I see where he’s going with this, and I know what he’s going to try to pull”.  Yet Deaver would again prove me wrong, deliberately pulling me in a path where I thought I knew the direction, only to trick me once again.  There was one story that pulled the wool over my eyes in such a clever fashion, that I had to go back and reread the entire thing, just to make sure the ruse was genuine.

Reading these stories reminded me of the old television series “The Twilight Zone”.  Once you became a fan of that show, you simply knew that, even if the first 25 minutes of he program seemed completely normal, something was going to baffle you at the end.  So in a way the shock value wears off once you’re about 75% through with this book, but that doesn’t take away any of the enjoyment.

He even throws in a Lincoln Rhyme short story.  It’s good, but far from the strongest thing here.  The best stories in this compendium seem to revolve around romance and relationships gone bad, and there are quite a few.  Unlike someone like a Stephen King, these stories usually have the good guy (or gal) prevail in the end, and most of them could actually happen in real life – even if they are, severely, twisted.

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870 - 1914

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914  – by David McCullough

My first David McCullough book that was not about a “person”.  This one takes on the creation of the Panama Canal.  The people, the places, the motives, the governments, the struggles, and on and on and on are featured here.  This is an awful lot to digest, but I guess that was kind of the point.  This book succeeds in many ways, but I must confess that there were times when I wished the author would have trimmed things down a bit, or at least tried some different methods of writing.

As the book’s title tells us, we’re dealing with 44 years of history around this thing.  That’s a lot of time, and I felt like the author left nothing out.  The problem is, this much detail can be a bit overwhelming.  First, anytime you read a book that deals with geography, it’s always a good idea to have a map handy.  While this book does contain maps, I read it on a Kindle, which means it isn’t as easy to flip back and forth every time you’re reading about a town, city, river, dam, lake, jungle, etc.   Since the book was probably written long before anyone ever envisioned what an “electronic book” would look like, I can give this particular annoyance a pass.

What really is hard, though, and I mean really hard, is trying to keep up with all of names of the key players.  There are literally hundreds of people within these pages, and at times, I couldn’t keep my head from spinning.  I believe this story could have been told without so many people being named.  It really became frustrating.  Example: there’s one section in the book that deals with the Panamanian Revolution, and you’re forced to keep the names Amador, Arias, and Arango straight in your head.  Not easy for this reviewer.

Now, you may have read that last paragraph and wondered why the Panamanian Revolution is discussed in a book about the Panama Canal.  Well, actually it has an awful lot to do with the canal, since it essentially happened right in the middle of the project.  That being said, the inclusion of such an event is warranted, it’s just that the author goes on and on (and on) about every singles aspect of the uprising.  You tend to forget that you’re  reading a book about, you know, a canal, and it’s very easy for one to lose focus.

In addition to the revolution, we get to read about the initial attempt by the French to build the thing (they failed, essentially), the living conditions, the diseases, the American government picking up the pieces, the politics, and mosquitos.  A lot of mosquitos.  There’s even a diagram of a mosquito in the illustration section of this book.

Again, all of this really is important to the story, and it’s a bit sad that, over a century later, people really don’t appreciate this part of history that accomplished the unthinkable – bridge the two biggest oceans together by creating a man made canal.  I was glad that I read the book, but to be completely honest, I was more glad to be finished with the book than anything.  However, I did learn quite a lot.

Unbroken

Unbroken - by Laura Hillenbrand

This was a very harsh read.  Excellent, but harsh.  I’m not sure I could ever read it again and if the film (released on Christmas Day 2014) is any bit as descriptive as the book, I’ll definitely skip it.  It’s hard for me to stomach certain things, such as how human beings can possibly be so cruel towards one another.  Even towards an enemy during war time.

This is basically a biography of World War II hero Louis Zamperini and his incredible survival and resilience that he preserved during his time as a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp.  Many camps actually.  More on that later.

Now, I usually don’t post spoilers during my reviews, but since this story is well known, I reveal a lot from this point forward.  So before reading anymore, be forewarned.

Author Laura Hillenbrand first tells us the background of Zamperini before the war.  We meet a fairly typical kid growing up during the depression in California with a knack of getting into trouble.  It seems this kid has a lot of restless energy.  With the help of older brother Pete, he learns to channel this energy into running and becomes quite the track star - even competing in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.  We read quite a bit about Zamperini’s accomplishments during this phase of his life, and to be honest, it kind of drags.  Maybe because most readers know what the real story is about and are impatient for the author to hurry up and get there.

Anyway, World War II breaks out and Louis joins the air force.  Laura Hillenbrand really does do a stellar job of providing a lot of detail without boring the reader to tears.  We learn a lot about flying planes in combat during the time, and just how dangerous such a thing was - even without an enemy around.  Well, we eventually see plenty of enemies, and the Japanese manage to knock out Louis’ plane, The Green Hornet, out of the sky into the Pacific Ocean.  Only three of the crew survive - drifting aimlessly in an ill-suited raft.  

This is really where the story begins.

If the 47 day journey in the raft was the entire story, it still could have been a good one, if not depressing.  We hear immaculate details of just what such an encounter brings.  No food, no water, a lot of sharks and sunburn and delirious survivors.  It’s really amazing that two of the three actually manage to survive this ordeal.  When they finally wash up on a Japanese controlled island, you feel exhausted, but briefly euphoric.  Sadly, this torture is nothing compared to what the two survivors are about to face.

Japan, during World War II, was a savagely brutal country, and one would almost wish to be killed rather than be taken prisoner by them.  This is where this book almost became too unreadable for me.  The details of what these poor soldiers endure is borderline unbelievable.  We are exposed to meticulous detail of what Louis and the other prisoners are put through.  Just when things can’t seem to get any worse, they do.  Whether there’s a new, sadistic guard that arrives at the camp or whether their being transferred to a different camp where we hope they’ll be treated more humanely. Things never get any better.  It goes on and on and on.  There were times where I had to skim some of these chapters since it was so disturbing.

Well, eventually the war ends, the sickly, malnourished prisoners are finally freed, and their loved ones back home (who never knew they were still alive) are ecstatic to have the boys back home.  Now, I haven’t seen the movie, but my guess is this is where the movie ends.  This would make the film end on a high note.  However, as you can probably imagine, the nightmare of the camps never really leaves Louis and the rest of the prisoners.  There lives are so traumatized that they simply can’t function anymore.  Constant nightmares, real and imagined surround them.  There was one instance where a former POW freaks out in a restaurant.  Why?  Because his dinner had rice on the plate.  Rice was essentially the only food they ever had in the POW camps.  Very sad indeed.

Louis manages to meet a young lady and fall in love.  They get married and are happy for a brief time, but he’s slipping away.  He’s violent, scared, shell shocked, and is drinking far too much.  Well, at some point, he remembers that when he was in the life raft, he made God (whom he was never close to) a promise that he would devote his life to him if he was rescued.  It seems Louis forgot that promise.  One day, his wife (the two are literally on the verge of divorce) drags him to a prayer revival that is being conducted in town by some young minister named Billy Graham.  Fortunately for Louis, he now realized that God has not forgotten him.  Louis becomes a Christian, and he slowly recovers from his torturous life.

This part of the book is quite brief.  One almost wishes that we could see more of the post war, Christian era, but we’re simply told that life is once again good.  He’ll never run professionally again but he manages to live very happily, one day at a time.  Without going into too much detail, Louis also learns about this cool Christian thing called ‘forgiveness’, which is also crucial for his future well being, and serves as a good story within the story that I won't go into here.

A truly remarkable story.  Hopefully you can stomach the disturbing parts better than I was able.

Kill Shot

Kill Shot – by Vince Flynn

The second to last Mitch Rapp book before Vince Flynn was lost to this world due to cancer at the very young age of 47.  Was he aware he was terminally ill when he was writing his last few books?  I have no idea, but you would never know he was sick based on anything in the story.  

Flynn’s prior novel, American Assassin, took us back to the beginning of CIA super counter terrorist Mitch Rapp's career.  This book picks up where that one left off.  Why are we going backwards?  Not really sure, but this really isn’t a bad thing.  In these “early” episodes,  Rapp is still very green in terms of what he knows about his new world, yet he is already perceived as a diamond in the rough by the powers that be.  This guy is “something special”.

Although in many ways this book is just like all the other Mitch Rapp novels, this one does have some interesting new things in terms of settings and plot.  It goes something like this:  Rapp is sent to kill a Libyan terrorist in Paris, France.  During the attempted execution, something goes very wrong and Rapp realizes he’s been set up.  He barely escapes with his life.  So he’s crawling all over the streets of Paris – regaining his health while trying to figure out who the traitor is.  Since this is Mitch Rapp we’re talking about, we know there’s going to be hell to pay for whoever tried to kill him.  And, since this story is early in the series, many of the supporting cast that we know very well, can’t quite be trusted yet by Rapp.  Remember, he hasn’t been at this for very long, so no one is safe from his suspicions.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book is that Vince Flynn leaves a lot of politics out of this one.  I was a bit tired of hearing about all the whiney liberals in Congress who are out to dismantle the CIA and have “no idea” what kind of dangerous world we live in.  These bleeding hearts were always wanting to stop Mitch Rapp and company from doing his job.  They just never seem to “get” how dangerous some terrorist factions in the world really are.  No, this bickering is mostly absent, and instead we get a nice, fast-paced spy story where our hero must always stay just one step ahead of the people that set him up, in addition to the “real” bad guys.  And there are plenty of them here.

Flynn does an admirable job with character development, and always provides his readers with believable backgrounds and back stories of all the new people that we meet within these pages.  That was one of my favorite aspects of the whole book.  These books, though, are an acquired taste, and I really can’t tell that much difference from book to book.  It was still a fun ride, though, and I’m sorry that Vince Flynn passed away so young.

Note: To my knowledge, there will be a new author that will carry on the Mitch Rapp series.  Terrorists beware!