Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Black Order by James Rollins
William Morrow, July, 2006Hardcover, 423 pages
ISBN: 0060763884
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
At the end of World War II, the Nazis smuggled out and hid the research for a number
of cutting-edge experiments involving quantum theory. The research didn't stop after
the war and has continued to this day. When
villages and a monastery in a remote area of Nepal suffer a devastating illness that
causes madness, Painter Crowe, director of SIGMA Force, infiltrates the monastery to
investigate. Lisa Cummings, an American doctor, is brought into help investigate
and finds Crowe, the last remaining sane occupant of the monastery. They
evade a mysterious assassination squad sent to clean up the mess but are
eventually captured themselves. What they find in the mountains of Tibet
is a terrifying secret that could change the face of humanity forever. Meanwhile,
SIGMA Force operative Grayson Pierce is in Copenhagen
running for his life, after his investigation into who
is buying up certain rare books and manuscripts turned deadly. The two investigations
merge, and it will be up to
Crowe and Lisa in Nepal - and the other members of SIGMA Force working on the other
side of the globe -- to put a stop to a deadly terrorist plot that could literally
remake the world.
James Rollins manages to amaze once again with his latest thriller which examines the theory of evolution (including a very interesting twist on "intelligent design") and the very strange world of quantum physics. Rollins enters the territory of Michael Crichton and Clive Cussler and takes his place as one of the top adventure thriller authors today.
Hit Parade by Lawrence Block
William Morrow, July, 2006Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN: 0060840889
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
John Keller, assassin for hire, is starting to worry that he might be a sociopath after
his business associate and friend Dot asks him one day if he thinks he might be one.
The question disturbs Keller more than he likes to admit, and his existential musings
as he carries on with his morally reprehensible profession makes for some
vastly entertaining reading. In a series of vignettes, Keller takes care of business
while discoursing on various topics, from stamp collecting (his one true obsession),
to baseball, to retirement and the aftermath of 9/11. In one of the funniest stories,
Keller gets hired to take out a killer pit bull named Fluffy who has an owner who is
truly vile. One thing leads to another and -- before you know it -- Keller is an unwitting
player in a farce that really has nothing to do with the dog at all. It just doesn't
get any darker -- or any funnier -- than the Fluffy adventure. Keller mulls over the
possibility of retirement in this book. That would be a boon for anyone who's on an
assassination list, but a sad day for readers.
The Messenger by Daniel Silva
Putnam, July, 2006Hardcover, 352 pages
ISBN: 0399153357
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Israeli intelligence agent Gabriel Allon returns in this gripping thriller
from Daniel Silva. After his last mission, Gabriel had his face and name
splashed across the French newspapers; his cover is now thoroughly blown.
Offered the directorship of his intelligence service, Gabriel is considering settling down in Israel with his love Chiara. When the Vatican is attacked and Gabriel's old boss
Ari Shamron is ambushed, Gabriel agrees to run a covert op for the Mossad, secretly backed by the CIA. The mission is to find and liquidate one of the world's worst terrorists and his personal banker, a wealthy Saudi who collects Impressionist paintings when he's not arranging financing for
Al-Qaeda terror strikes. The terrorist mastermind is Ahmed bin Shafiq, a former Saudi intelligence officer. Ahmed bin Shafiq's personal banker is Saudi billionaire Abdul Aziz al-Bakari, known as "Zizi" to his friends who share in his lavish, globe-trotting lifestyle. Gabriel must find a way to get an agent inside Zizi's organization, and gorgeous American art expert Sarah Bancroft is perfect. With Sarah and a missing Van Gogh masterpiece as bait, Gabriel and his team set out on their most dangerous and harrowing mission to date.
Daniel Silva ups the action quotient in The Messenger, which squarely addresses the politically inconvenient facts that the majority of funding for terrorism is funneled through Saudi Arabian "charities." Silva meshes two fascinating worlds: the cutthroat world of fine art and the cutthroat world of international espionage to create a thriller as entertaining as it is informative. Silva doesn't shy away from his antipathy for the House of Saud and how its activities are hurting its ally, the United States. Global politics are complicated and make for strange bedfellows, and that too is illustrated in Silva's books, which feature an Israeli assassin who has a close friendship with a Vatican cardinal and who has saved the Pope's life. A very interesting vignette between Gabriel and the American president open the door for what should prove to be an equally compelling sequel.
Return to the August 2006 issue of The IWJ.
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