REVIEW: The Silent Man by Alex Berenson

So the love affair continues between me and Alex Berenson. No, not THAT kind of love affair. The I-continue-to-love-his-books kind. See, I was recently burned by an author who I long ago fanned, and the feeling of betrayal was as acute as if she was a longtime friend in real life and she told me she'd become besties with the girl who bullied me in high school.

Anyway, back to Senor Berenson: His most recent book, The Silent Man, came out early this month. A short plot synopsis thusly:

We continue where we left off (this is book 3, I forgot to mention) in the life of CIA spy John Wells who is now trying to live a domestic life with his domestic partner. Of course Mr. Wells finds all this domestication intolerable, but he gamely attempts to chug along despite some lingering PTSD and a sense that he still has some contributions to make in the fight against al Qaeda.

Naturally the bad guys couldn't leave well enough alone. In this world of pseudo-domesticated bliss, they ambush Mr. & Ms. Wells' convoy to work and nearly kill our intrepid hero's significant other. Of course that just won't do. Despite warnings of dire consequences, Wells tries to get revenge. He fails, but it turns out his attempt and subsequent failure make the real bad guys scared shitless enough that they offer him a carrot. And thus the plot to stop a nuclear bomb from detonating in D.C. ensues.

Good shit all around.

And now, for the review:

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK:

1. Roland. I like it when my hero gets to act out his inner bad guy. I can just picture Wells in this persona -- all black Armani and dark sunglasses and sexy as hell. And don't forget about that accent.


2. The humor. Best parts of the book all involved something funny -- Ellis rescuing Wells at the airport after the revenge trip, Ellis giving Wells shit for not buying Jen a ring, Ellis Googling the Penn State women's soccer team in the middle of a tense chase scene. Actually, come to think of it, one of the best things about this book is...


3. Ellis. Love this guy. Does he deliberately spill ketchup on his suits? Is that absentminded persona real or fake? Things that make you go hmmmmm...


4. The bad guys. Great backstories, believable motivations.


5. The freaking plot. My gawd, this book scared the living shit out of me because everything sounded real. It's like Two Bad Guy manuals in one: "How to Steal Two Nuclear Bombs From a Top Secret Russian Weapons Depot," and "How to Make a Nuclear Bomb 101." The best part about all this technospeak is that it was so clear and compelling and believable it didn't make me want to skim over, unlike Clancy.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK:

1. I read a review of TSM where the author said that Berenson said the story this time around is about revenge. I said, "Uh oh." A lot of revenge stories are also lone wolf stories. You know, the kind where the hero, against all sane advice, goes after the killer/perp, endangering not just himself but also the mission and those around him. Yes, Wells did go off on a revenge trip, but he failed (good thing). AND, best of all, his bosses end up sanctioning his mission and gets the power and support of the CIA without dangling by his lonesome.


2. The ending. I know Berenson is setting me up for a 4th book, but man! The mission is successful, but the man is broken. John better get some lovin soon. And I don't even mind that it might be from Ms. Universe.


3. The doctor's death. Poor guy. I thought this character's purpose all along was to be the bridge between the bad guys and the good. That he'll see the error of his ways (which did happen) and he'd be at least partially successful in reaching out to the kaffirs. That his character represented the enlightened, redeemed fundamentalist. But no. He dies after realization but before redemption. When I got to the part of his death, I thought, "what a waste of a good character. He could have been so much more compelling.

BEST LINES IN THE BOOK:

• "You really don't know anything about women, do you?"
-- Ellis to Wells after Wells tells him Jen doesn't want a diamond engagement ring.


• "In the desperate weeks to come, [Kowalski] would ask himself more than once whether he would have made a different decision if he hadn't been so damned hungry.

OVERALL RATING: 4.5 out of 5. Loved this book. Fantastic read, pulse-pounding action, great characterization, exciting and believable end-of-world scenario. I highly recommend. But only after you read books 1 (A Faithful Spy) and 2 (The Ghost War).

Way to Pull a George Lucas, Mr. Card

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card

You know how franchises sometimes make another movie or a spin-off of something just because the original is wildly popular and want to keep the gravy train rolling? And the newly created entertainment is just a shadow of the original and you wish it wasn't created in the first place? If you're not quite certain what I'm talking about just refer to Episodes I, II, and III of Star Wars and the joke that was the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Or read Ender in Exile.

Now, I am a huge fan of Ender's Game. Seriously, I read that book at least once a year, and right now am rereading the Ender's Shadow series. And so when Ender in Exile came out, of course I had to get it. And while it was nice to extend my time with Ender, and getting to see him grow a little older (sort of), there were numerous issues with book that led me to not enjoying it as much as I hoped:

1. Valentine (Ender's sister) has become exceptionally whiny and overbearing.
2. Part of what made Ender so wonderful was his ability to love and understand before ultimately destroying something. In Exile, his characterization is a shell of that. It's fairly one dimensional.
3. The climax of the story is completely abrupt and random.
4. Exile is supposed to directly follow Ender's Game, in fact, there's even some overlap. However, if you hadn't read the Ender's Shadow series (I have) or the Speaker for the Dead series (I haven't, but plan to), which are both divergent continuations of Ender's Game, you will get massively confused. Kind of like reading that sentence. Card assumes his readers have detailed knowledge of those two series and refers to events that occur in them constantly. But his reference to the events are not clear and would be impossible to follow if his readers actually read Exile right after Game, without reading the original follow-up series.
5. Too much talk, very little action. I've become very aware of this trap since Twilight, and Card fell into it. And the brief moment of action, the climax, was so jarring from the rest of the novel because there had been no set up for that flow.

So do yourself a favor, don't watch Episodes I, II, and III of Star Wars, the fourth installment of Indiana Jones, and don't read Ender in Exile. Stick with the originals.

Review of "With the MD...At the Altar?"

Title: With The M.D...At The Altar? (Curse of Raven's Cliff)
Author: Jessica Andersen

This is the first book in the series called Curse of Raven's Cliff, and I must say, "With the MD...At the Altar?" has got to the the stupidest title ever. Looking at the title and the cover gives you the impression of a hokey category romance where the girl is obviously putting out so she can snag herself a rich doctor husband. Nothing can be further from the real story. This book is actually a medical crime mystery set in a gothic seaside town complete with mysterious lighthouses, haunted monasteries, and curses.

The heroine is the town doctor trying to battle an outbreak among the townspeople, some of whom turn very violent and murderous. Enter the hero, also a doctor, but who works for the CDC. He has arrived to help the heroine figure out what's causing the epidemic and find a cure. He and the heroine also have a history - they used to be an item when they worked together in rescue medicine in various developing countries in the past.

The mystery was interesting, the writing was solid, but the characters were so bland that if you notice, I don't even remember their names and have to refer to them as "hero" and "heroine" for this review. The hero is supposed to be this hotshot hot stuff, but he had no personality whatsoever. I also found both the hero and heroine's motivations to be contrived and forced, and when I finally found out what the reasons were that had kept them apart all these years, I was like, "so what? That's been the problem this whole time? Eh." Also, when they finally got together for teh secks, I was was so bored that I actually skipped ahead. No chemistry to speak of between these two.

And, because this is part of a series, the mystery wasn't resolved, which pissed me off. Hello, who was the killer?! I devote time to read through this book and get no payoff? Blah!

Grade: B-

Sound familiar?

I don't know about you, but the heroine in this new book by Susan Elizabeth Phillips sounds like it's been modeled after Jennifer Aniston.

How did this happen? Georgie York, once the costar of America's favorite television sitcom, has been publicly abandoned by her famous husband, her film career has tanked, her father is driving her crazy, and her public image as a spunky heroine is taking a serious beating. What should a down-on-her-luck actress do? Not go to Vegas ... not run into her detestable former costar, dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard ... and not get caught up in an ugly incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, a fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life. It's a paparazzi free-for-all, and Georgie's nonsupporting cast doesn't help. There's Bram's punk-nightmare housekeeper, Georgie's own pushy parent, a suck-up agent, an icy studio head with a private agenda, and her ex-husband's new wife, who can't get enough of doing good deeds and saving the world--the bitch. As for Georgie's leading man, Bram's giving the performance of his life, but he's never cared about anyone except himself, and it's not exactly clear why. Two enemies find themselves working without a script in a town where the spotlight shines bright ... and where the strongest emotions can wear startling disguises.

It's too bad I despise Jennifer Aniston, because if it weren't for that, I would totally read this book!