BOOK REVIEW: The Shell Game by Steve Alten

RATING: D

SYNOPSIS (From Amazon.com): In 2012, with a centrist/conservative president in the White House, the federal government plots to detonate a nuclear bomb in a U.S. city and blame Iran as a cover to take out that country’s radical leadership. Standing in the plotters’ way is Ace Futrell, an energy expert whose murdered wife was possibly targeted by U.S. intelligence.

REVIEW: I loved the first 3/4 of this book. The more I read, the more convinced I was that there was some truth to this book’s allegations, especially those concerning 9/11 (that the U.S. and international intelligence community, including Vladimir Putin, knew about the impending attack and had warned the White House about it). The oil-is-about-to-run-out scenarios and the doomsday forecasts surrounding also rang true. What do these two situations have to do with this fictional novel? Those two things are what propel our hero, Ace Futrell, to action. In the beginning, we see his wife’s murder, and this is what initially starts him on his Quest for the Truth. But the more he discovers, the more sinister things become, until at the very end Los Angeles is nuked. Exciting action, compelling story, sympathetic characters.

But then I fell out of love the last 1/4 of the book. Why? Because I hate it when the bad guys don’t get their comeuppance. Alten painted them as so self-righteous, so patronizing, so evil, so set in their ways, that I wanted them not only to fail but to fail big. But what happens? They succeed in blowing up Los Angeles, in creating panic in the American population, in their positioning of oil prices, in basically everything they set out to do except for elect the president of their choice.

Blech. This book disappointed me. So what if the ending is probably realistic? It’s FICTION. Give me my happy, nay, my TRIUMPHANT ending and ease the hero’s suffering. I hate it when authors make me fall in love with the long-suffering heroes but do not give me a payoff in the form of alleviating said hero’s suffering (yeah, I’m talking to you, John Grisham).

BOOK REVIEW: Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn

RATING: C-

SYNOPSIS: A continuation of Vince Flynn’s long-running Mitch Rapp series, this book starts right when Extreme Measures leaves off—a terror attack in the U.S. that wreaks horrific damage and the masterminds on the run. Rapp and team try to find them using any and all means necessary. Along the way, Flynn, through his characters, opines on the necessity of torture as an interrogation tactic, the uselessness of politicians in general and Democrats in particular, and the stupidity of the American public.

REVIEW: As a long-time fan of Vince Flynn, I picked this book up with much anticipation, especially since with Extreme Measure, Flynn seemed to have been phasing out Rapp and moving his sidekick, Mike Nash, into more of a starring role. Which was fine by me. I felt that by the time Protect and Defend came along, Rapp had become a fully evolved character, meaning he no longer seems to suffer from any kind of emotional wound or plagued with self-doubt. Might be fine for some readers, but not for me. I like my characters flawed (makes them more interesting, gives them inner conflict) and Rapp had become too perfect, too full of himself, with no one around to punch holes in his ego. Nowhere in Flynn’s other books displayed Rapp’s “my road or the high road” mentality more than in this book which left a really sour taste in my mouth even though Rapp turned out to be right and the bad guys went down in spectacular fashion. Why the sour taste? Two reasons: (a) Rapp’s rightness bordered on the self-righteousness, and (b) came at the expense of his good friends. He figuratively castrated his good pal Nash but felt no remorse about it because he was right dammit, and acted like the worst know-it-all from page one all the way to “The End.” I put up with it because I expected some kind of contrition at the end of the book, to humble himself in front of his friend whose fate he changed, and yet nothing. Nada. He was right, he knew it, he told you so, and you’re gonna like it because he saved your ass yet again and you should just shut up and be grateful.

Lovable guy, isn’t he? Oh, you want my opinion on the rest of the book? The plot was good, the bad guys compelling, the pacing excellent, yadda yadda.  None of the goodness can make up for the sheer arrogance of the main character. There wasn’t even any sex to soften the hard edges. As far as I’m concerned Rapp’s all played out. Unless he gets a smackdown in the next book (from a sexy blonde operative named you-know-who), I might just skip the next one. And the next.

BOOK REVIEW: North From Calcutta by Duane Evans

RATING: A

SYNOPSIS: A highly entertaining geopolitical espionage story starring a Pakistani intelligence officer who must race to stop an attack against India that, if successful, could mean a nuclear war between India and Pakistan and the death of the woman he loves.

REVIEW: Great first effort by Duane Evans. First and most unusual about this book: the hero is a Pakistani Muslim.  Probably why this book didn’t get picked up by a big New York publisher, which is a damned shame if you ask me.  This book is thoughtful, thought-provoking, highly nuanced, and gives us a peek at the world beyond U.S. geopolitics.  Evans made his hero, Pak intelligence officer Tarek Durani, a multifaceted character, with deep-seated emotional wounds, scars to his psyche, loads of experience under his belt, great instincts, high intelligence and ramrod-straight morals. And he sounds hot. The cast of characters are all as equally multidimensional. Evans explores all their motivations and foibles, careful not to paint anyone as a caricature.

North From Calcutta by Duane Evans

As for the story itself: this one is a realistic spy novel, and what I mean by that is that it has lots of thinking, talking, observing and careful planning within the pages of the book. I say it’s realistic because that’s what espionage is—a deliberate, unassuming and stealthy activity. Excuse me if I’m being a little soapboxish here but let me clear up a misconception about what spying is: spies don’t want to get noticed. When shots are fired and bombs explode, that’s the sign of a mission gone awry. And so this book has some really nice, authentic-feeling spying moments, like Tarek’s first trip to India. The backstopping of identity and other op-tech tasks are kept to a nice minimum.  There’s no waxing rhapsodic about guns and weaponry (although I appreciate a good arms description as much as the next spy novel fan).  All I’m saying is it’s there, but not excessively so. And the descriptions of the exotic locations are the Goldilocks version: not too big, not too small, but just right. And the plot is a scary-believable end-of-world scenario that leaves the heart pumping till the very end. Great stuff.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. If I were to come up with a few things I didn’t like, I’d say it was the clunky writing (too much head-hopping, which I wholly attribute to the fact that this is Evans’ first novel, and will undoubtedly improve over time), how it started out a tad too slowly, and the fact that he left me hanging with the ending (which is good for him, bad for me). Methinks he’s already busy with the sequel. Hope it comes out soon.