Deception Point by Dan Brown

A light, frothy read that follows the exact same formula as “Angels & Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

Rugged, yet highly intellectual hero/ine is called in to consult something mysterious that quickly spirals out of control into violence and mayhem and usually threatens a major catastrophe at the end.  No catastrophe this time, though, unless you count political downfalls as a major catastrophe-which I do not.

The biggest disappointment in “DP” was how incredibly flat the ultimate villain was. I don’t mean the “controller”, who was 1 1/2 dimensional–he was given just enough backstory to fool the reader into thinking he was a good guy, then “revealed” in the end with, despite the usual villainous monologue, no real explanation for the switch.  Now the politico, well, very few authors are willing to paint such a bleak picture of a villain, but this man quite literally had NO redeeming qualities. Of course, it did make it a lot of fun when he got his in the end…

The science is, as always, intriguing, but, frankly, for that kind of stuff I’d rather read Crichton or Clancy, they incorporate the descriptions better—Brown always comes across as a lecturing school teacher when describing technology he thinks may be unfamiliar to his readers.

I read it, and I did so quickly, in about 2 days, but it was a lot like walking by an ice cream parlor—you shouldn’t, you know it’s bad for you, but, dangit, you just walk in anyway.

I enjoy the fluffy lightness that is a Dan Brown novel no matter how predictable the formula, but I will always get them from the library (or borrow them from my dad, lol).

Once Upon an Autumn Eve by Dennis L. McKiernan

Not as good as the first book in the series, but better than the second.  I’m holding out hope that the 4th has returned to the quality of the first.

Honeymoon by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

Starts with a bang, but peters out toward the end…too many shallow peripheral characters, too much coyness with point of view, and a disappointingly tidy ending.

Doesn’t read even remotely like a Patterson–Makes you think he collaborated just enough to get his name on the cover to insure sales and let this other guy do the writing.

Fall of Knight by Peter David

Ah… I love Peter David.  If you’ve never read his “Apropos” series you should.  The modern Arthur series, of which this is the conclusion, is fun, too, especially if you are, like me, an Arthuriana buff.

The Blue Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer

lol… If you look this one up you’ll be able to tell this is one I read to the kiddo. It made it to the list because it isn’t a picture book and I had to read the whole damn thing to her (over the course of 4 days @ two chapters a night).

One Knight Only by Peter David

(book 2 of his modern arthur series)

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

I genuinely forgot how depressing the scene where Charlotte dies is.  After we finished it I rented the animated version from the 70s, you know, the one I grew up one, to watch with my daughter and they handle the death scene very nobly, with Charlotte sinking slowly to the ground and ceasing to move.

In the book it’s much harsher, describing poor Charlotte dying alone in an abandoned fairground.  Blech.  But, all in all, it’s still as good as it always was.

***

This reminds me… The small person is enjoying being read longer books with little or no illustration (at last!) and I’m lookign for suggestions.  Thus far we’ve read “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, a couple of lil Scholastic books (4-8 chapters) , and “Charlotte’s Web”.  We started “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” after we finished this one, but I dunno where to go from there, so I’m looking to the web for suggestions.

Kushiel’s Scion by Jaqueline Carey

It is not a Phedra book.  It takes place in the world of Terre D’Ange, but, despite it’s considerable heft, is just flat out not as interesting and putting Phedra in the cover art is just false advertising.

Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam

I should talk about this, I really should, but it was a book club book for me and I’m talked out about it.  Maybe later.

~~~

I liked the feeling of being immersed in the culture of Pakistani ex-pats in the UK.  I do think, having done more reading since then that featured Muslim women, that the mother in this book catered to all the worst stereotypes of Muslim women from a western perspective.  I wonder now if the author did that so we would pay more attention to the characters he wanted us to focus on–by making her a stereotype he made her largely incidental to the plot…

I liked it, dammit.

One of my best friends STILL gives me a hard time for making her read this book and it’s been nearly two years (I’m editing in Sept 08).