Book Review: GHOSTING by David Poyer

Ghosting, a November 2010 release from St. Martin's Press, is the most gripping novel I've read in a long time.  I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading it--I simply couldn't put it down.

Dr. Jack Scales, a prominent neurosurgeon, convinces his reluctant family to sail to Bermuda aboard his brand new yacht, Slow Dance, for an overdue family holiday.  Unfortunately, Jack's confidence as a sailor isn't matched by his skills at seamanship.  In addition, his wife, Arlen, harbors great resentment ... and a secret; his twenty year-old son, Ric, battles the Voices he hears and a schizoaffective disorder; and his teenage daughter, Haley, who is a champion swimmer, misses her boyfriend and her swimming.

The family copes with emotional struggles, life-threatening storms, lightning strikes, and their rescue of a castaway who ultimately brings unspeakable violence to Slow Dance.  As the members of the Scales family fight among themselves--and against Mother Nature and the band of men brought aboard by the castaway--they find the internal strength and fortitude to do whatever it takes to survive.

Although I've never been aboard a yacht and was unfamiliar with some of the terms and language used, my lack of knowledge and sailing experience did not in any way detract from my enormous enjoyment of this book.  Poyer paints vivid word pictures with his narrative, sucking the reader right into the Slow Dance and the awesome majesty of the open Atlantic Ocean.  His characterization is superb:  each member of the Scales family is both heroic and flawed; the castaway and his band of unspeakably vile cohorts are realistic and well-motivated; other secondary characters are used perfectly to enhance the story and play counterpoint to each member of the Scales family.

One technique Poyer used throughout the book that I found supremely effective was to have Jack Scales view the other characters through his filter as a medical professional.  Jack noticed body language and interpreted it within a medical framework to help himself, and the reader, understand the true nature of the other characters:  his mentally ill son, his troubled wife, his emotionally volatile teenage; and the sociopathic castaway.

I enthusiastically recommend that you add Ghosting to your To Be Read List.  I will definitely be picking up some of this other books, which number over a dozen.

Ghosting, St. Martin's Press
Release Date:  November 9, 2010
Hardcover, $24.99
ISBN 978-0-312-61302-0
Publicist:  rachel.ekstrom@stmartins.com
http://www.poyer.com/

Book Review: RED STAR RISING by Brian Freemantle

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book--a spy novel featuring veteran MI5 agent, Charlie Muffin.  The setting is Moscow, where Charlie works on discovering who killed and tortured the fellow found on the British Embassy's front lawn.  He's also attempting a reconciliation with his Russian wife (an intelligence officer herself), whom he secretly married and was forced to abandon when recalled to the UK five years before. 

British, Russian, and American spies battle openly and subversively for intelligence about the motive for the murder--and it's political implications.  Muffin is a wonderful character, complete with strengths, frailties, and and terrific insights.

Freemantle's quick pacing, clever dialogue, and complicated plot snagged my attention on page one and never let go.  Sub-plots and secondary characters were woven into the storyline with cleverness and subtlety, surprising me at nearly every turn.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate this book a 9.

Book Review: BOOK OF SPIES by Gayle Lynds

If you like some history thrown in with a thriller that contains mystery, suspense, espionage, and memorable characters, you should be adding BOOK OF SPIES to your summer reading list.

Judd Ryder, a former intelligence agent, learns that the Library of Gold just may exist.  For centuries, world rulers, historians, and even the Vatican have searched for Ivan the Terrible's personal library of priceless gold and jeweled-covered books dating back to the ancient Greeks.  One of the library's volumes, Book of Spies, surfaces and the CIA links the legendary library to a secret book club that may own the library, a bank account connected to terrorists, and the death of Judd's father.  Together, Ryder and the CIA turn to Eva Blake for help.  Eva's a rare books curator serving time in jail for the vehicular manslaughter of her husband.  Racing from London to Rome, Istanbul, and Athens, Ryder and Eva Blake must locate the library--and stay alive during the process.

The book has a complex plot that keeps readers guessing from the first page right through 'til the end.  A cast of unforgettable characters weaves its way through an endless maze of complications, plot twists, danger, betrayal, and murder.

BOOK OF SPIES is the first book in Gayle Lynds' new series and I can't wait for the next one.  On a scale of 1 o 10, I give this book a 9.5.

BOOK REVIEW: INTELLIGENCE by Susan Hasler

Maddie James and her colleagues are terrorism experts working in a crumbling intelligence agency.  They are certain another big terrorist attack is coming, but in a post 9-11 election year, the Administration is stressing its victories in the war on Terror--and few want to hear the term's warnings.

So begins the press release for Susan Hasler's debut novel.  I have no personal or factual knowledge of what goes on inside our government agencies, but INTELLIGENCE gave me a whole new insight into what just may be going on.  Hasler spent 21 years working for the CIA and she did an excellent job using jargon in a way that actually lent to the story rather than detracting from it.  Her sarcastic and witty sense of humor, along with a depth of compassion, created a cast of memorable characters.

More importantly, her well-laid out plot provided me with much food for thought--even after I finished the book.  I couldn't put INTELLIGENCE down; I read it from cover to cover in one day.  If I had to rate it on a scale of 1 - 10, I'd give it a 9.5.

INTELLIGENCE was released on June 22, 2010 by Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press.

BOOK REVIEW: WHEN DEATH INTERVENES by L.C. Hayden

Harry Bronson is a retired Dallas police detective who finds himself investigating several murders while vacationing in South Dakota.  He meets Linda Randig, whose parents and husband were recently murdered.  He offers to help her prevent her son and grandson from being harmed by the same people who killed the rest of her family to motivate her to drive cross-country to Minnesota--for purposes to be disclosed at a future date.

Bronson hooks up with his former partner and, as the investigation continues, local police accuse Bronson of being responsible for the additional bodies that begin piling up.  As Harry races against the clock--and leaves his wife behind at the campground where she is performing with a theater group--he manages to encounter a variety of unexpected twists and turns in an investigation that soon comes to involve an intriguing case of corporate espionage.

Although I didn't find myself being as engaged by the characters as I would have liked, the plot kept me turning pages.  A variety of secondary characters added depth to a story that, at times, lacked motivation.  For example, Harry got himself involved in a number of physical altercations that--as a retired cop--he should have known better than to step into.  The ending, however, was very well-motivated and entirely unexpected.

If I had to give this book a rating on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 6.  I'd also give the next book in the series a whirl.

You can visit L.C. Hayden's website at:  http://lchayden.com/