BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS — Wonderful books to read and always so many. Sometimes it’s difficult to choose. But, I did! And found two books by authors with the same last name, though from the content of their books and each man’s life style, I really doubt any relation.
The first is PRIVATE GAMES, by James Patterson with Mark Sullivan. This is the third book in Patterson’s new series concerning a very unusual private ‘eye’ firm that works internationally. And this firm is not the kind one finds in a walk-up building on a shady street. The plot is quite timely as it deals with protecting persons aligned with the Olympics set in London later this year. Characters are, of course, well defined which seems to be a talent of Patterson; I often think that when he writes a book with another writer, he just outlines the plot, but really fleshes out his characters. One aspect of this book troubled me to the point of attempting to do research of previous sites of the Games in the U.S.; an enormous amount of money is spent in buying land to construct the buildings and pools and other sites, but what happens to the buildings after the Games have ended? What happens to the rebuilding of an area; is it just left empty? Atlanta was somewhat lucky as part of the constructed area led to the resurgence of the Peachtree area, which was dying. But what will happen in London? Will be interesting to follow.
The second is THE RACE as written by Richard North Patterson. This author is one of my favorites, and I had been searching for this book as it is quite timely and I had read it earlier. The author stated that he had started this book in 2004 but put it aside to work on his books concerning Israel and the constant fight with those who declare a separate state should be designated for the “Palestinians”. He returned to writing it in 2007, which is when I read the book for the first time. This book tells the story of three candidates for the Republican nomination: one a semi-fundamentalist minister; one a strong and devout Senator; and the third, a young Senator from Ohio who walks his own way. Throw in a beautiful and intelligent actress who happens to be black from South Carolina, and an owner of mega media sources who wants to be the “King-Maker”; the result becomes a dirty and unbelievably ugly campaign. Hopefully, we will not see a media run campaign this year, but … !
A new author on our scene is Jodi Compton, whose first book is entitled THE 37TH HOUR, which is the time limit for successfully finding a missing person before the trail goes cold. The heroine is a police detective in Minneapolis, and the book starts with her, Sarah Pribek jumping into the freezing river to save a teenager jumper. And continues with a riveting plot that is difficult to stop reading. As a “Missing Persons Investigator”, Sarah suddenly finds herself searching for her husband, another cop, who unexplainably disappears. Interesting people; a fascinating plot, and I hope that somehow we are able to continue with books in this series.
Just a quickie: we have an unbelievable array of books for purchase at our Library, both hard cover and soft cover, of all types of fiction and even nonfiction. Come see us before you take your trip!
“When an old person dies, a Library burns down.”
Karin Gillespie
