conspiracy

Scorpion by Christian Cantrell – Book Review

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Scorpion by Christian Cantrell – Book Cover

The pace of the cross-border killing spree is picking up fast. But the motive? Murky at best. The only clue comes in the form of cryptic four-digit number sequences tattooed on the victims’ bodies. CIA analyst Quinn Mitchell has never faced a tougher assignment. Scorpion, Christian Cantrell’s philosophical techno-thriller, offers a glimpse into the brutal future knocking at our door.

The Future Is Now

Just a stone’s throw away. And yes—it’s just as ugly as we imagined. Scorpion could be set five years from now. Or ten. Or the day after tomorrow. The staggering pace of technological advancement has already brought the achievements of the near future into view. And artificial intelligence—as we’re already experiencing—is changing everything, day by day.

Christian Cantrell—an engineer and software developer in civilian life—offers a vision that’s filled with both the familiar and the unknown. The tech and gadgets in Scorpion are so convincingly real, you’ll find yourself wondering whether you read about them here first—or in yesterday’s news.

In any case, they’re surrounded by the gentle warmth of familiarity—and thankfully, by credibility as well. That’s where many future-set thrillers stumble right out of the gate, either trying to say too much or trying to say it all at once.

But there’s one thing you definitely haven’t heard of: no one has ever received a message from the future. (Or at least, no one’s been willing to admit it—so far.)

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Firestarter by Stephen King – Book Review

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Firestarter by Stephen King – Book Cover

Oh, we know all about the CIA and the likes of them, don’t we? Of course we do! If some genius over there comes up with the idea to inject shady concoctions into unsuspecting college students as part of an experiment, well, they don’t hesitate. They just go for it. And if a few people drop dead in the process, they probably figure it’s not too steep a price to pay for developing psychic abilities… Of course, messing around with the secrets of the universe always comes with a side of danger. You can bet the real trouble only begins if the experiment actually works. When the genie’s out of the bottle. Or when someone shows up who can set things on fire. With their mind. Easily. And on any scale. A Firestarter, if you will.

Firestarter Walk With Me

Stephen King has never shied away from the supernatural. (There. We said it.) The pyrokinesis that serves as the basis for Firestarter may have been heard of before—if nowhere else, then at least in connection with so-called spontaneous combustion. And it’s no secret that during the Cold War, both the Americans and the Soviets were digging into the mysteries of the human mind. (With, let’s say, varying degrees of success.)

Still, having a real, living, breathing fire mage? That’s a whole different level!

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The Night Agent by Matthew Quirk – Book Review

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The Night Agent by Matthew Quirk – Book Cover

At the White House, a secret phone line can ring at any moment. FBI agent Peter Sutherland, sidelined to the fringes, has spent the past year working the night shift, waiting for a call that may never come. His only task: to answer and pass it along to the right people. When the phone finally rings, and a young woman in mortal danger begs for help, Peter follows his conscience. And just like that, he finds himself caught in a life-threatening conspiracy.

The Night Agent is Impossible to Put Down

It’s rare to come across a book that pulls you in with such ferocity as Matthew Quirk’s spy thriller—at least for the first 80 pages. Quirk sets the stage with an immediate sense of tension, relentless action, and a merciless antagonist, making the pages fly by.

Action, life-or-death stakes, a covert power play inside the White House. Spies operating under the radar. And to top it all off, the Russian GRU makes an appearance—an agency that, compared to them, even the FSB (the successor of the old KGB) seems like a bunch of Girl Scouts. At least, according to Matthew Quirk. And once the GRU shows up, they waste no time hunting down anyone who gets too close to the fire.

That’s about the first 80-100 pages of The Night Agent. If you don’t want to be disappointed, stop reading right there! And that applies to both the book and this review.

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Argylle by Elly Conway – Book Review

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Argylle by Elly Conway – Book Cover

Young Aubrey Argylle is drifting through life in Thailand, unable to break free from the paralysis caused by the double shock of his parents’ death and the truth he uncovered about them. However, fate takes an unexpected turn when the young man’s remarkably brave act catches the CIA’s attention. At the Agency, they believe Argylle would be a perfect fit.

A Spy Novel—Possibly Written by Taylor Swift. Or Maybe a Waitress…

If you haven’t been following the media frenzy surrounding the Argylle movie, you might be happily reading Elly Conway’s spy novel under the impression that it was written by an unemployed waitress. If you have, however, you might have believed for a while that the one and only Taylor Swift, queen of one-size-fits-all pop songs, dashed it off between two suspiciously identical verses. That rumor made the rounds after it was revealed that “Elly Conway” was just a pseudonym.

For me, the “written by a waitress” theory held up until about a third of the way through the book. By then, it became obvious that Argylle could only be the work of some seasoned old pro. And not just because it lacks any featherlight emotions or dramatic spats. No, the real giveaway is that the author knows way too much—about Russian domestic politics, covert operations during the Vietnam War, the internal workings of the CIA, and the current situation in the infamous opium-producing region known as the Golden Triangle.

And, well, these aren’t exactly things you’d expect a waitress to be an expert on.

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The Secret by Lee Child – Book Review

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The Secret by Lee Child – Book Cover

In the 28th installment of the series, Lee Child’s uncomprimising protagonist, Jack Reacher, revisits an old adventure. The year is 1992, and Reacher, recently demoted to captain, finds himself assigned—almost as a punishment—to a special investigative unit probing a decades-old CIA operation. Someone is systematically eliminating the scientists who were once part of this ultra-secret mission. Behind it all lies a deeply buried, grave secret. But with Jack Reacher on the case, it won’t remain hidden for long…

Andrew Child Finds His Groove

We all know what it means when co-authors start appearing in a series. Usually, nothing good. “The Secret” is the fourth installment in the long-standing Jack Reacher series where Andrew Child has lent a hand. Or, to be more precise: he likely wrote it entirely by himself. The previous three books were noticeably weaker than their predecessors.

Andrew Child, of course, tried his best. In fact, he tried quite skillfully. However, long-time fans of the series could instantly sense that something was off. The little details didn’t quite click. Reacher wasn’t putting as much effort into analyzing the clues. The tactical finesse in the confrontations was missing. Sometimes, the major developed incredible, almost superhero-like abilities. And even his sense of humor seemed to have dulled.

Yet, when reading The Secret, if you didn’t know beforehand, you might not even notice the co-author’s involvement. The Secret almost feels like a classic Reacher tale.

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The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz – Book Review

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The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz – Book Cover

Dean Koontz and Jane Hawk Are Starting to Tire

In The Forbidden Door the fourth book in the series, Jane Hawk continues her battle against a conspiracy at the highest levels of American political and economic life. Our favorite vigilante starts from the unenviable position of being the USA’s number one public enemy. And she’s pretty exhausted.

The same can be said for the initial chapters of Dean Koontz’s book: the writing is undeniably sloppy. The text is dripping with pathos from the very first scene, overflowing with exaggerated positive descriptions of the protagonists.

Then, interestingly, the situation suddenly normalizes, and these anomalies mostly disappear. How did that happen? Who’s ever heard of a book’s beginning being thrown together? Whatever.

Dean Koontz Is Still Aiming for the Nobel Prize in Literature

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The Last Mile by David Baldacci – Book Review

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The Last Mile by David Baldacci - Book Cover

Amos Decker Used to Punch Above His Weight

I bet you thought Memory Man, the first book in the Amos Decker series, was pretty great. Sure, beneath the surface it was just another run-of-the-mill crime novel—but it still stood out as something oddly gripping and refreshingly original, thanks to its 286-pound, grumpy, and socially awkward main character who remembers literally everything that has ever happened to him, down to the exact second. In The Last Mile, this oddball Amos Decker returns—a man who, on top of everything, had to avenge the murder of his own family. Now that was one hell of a start.

Especially if, like me, you once swore off David Baldacci for good, convinced he was a truly awful writer. And yet, Memory Man—I’ve got to admit—turned out to be weirdly irresistible.

Long story short: Amos caught the bastard who murdered his family—that nasty little piece of garbage—and ended up joining the FBI as an outside consultant. Just like Patrick Jane in the final season of The Mentalist.

Hey—Decker’s Starting to Lose His Mind!

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Robin Hood (2010) – Film Review

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Robin Hood (2010) movie poster

Robin Hood (2010) – Film Review

Ridley Scott’s 2010 creation is, without a doubt, the most baffling Robin Hood movie ever made (yes, including Men in Tights), which, after a reasonably well-executed opening battle scene, quickly devolves into a weird, multi-threaded mess:

Warning: major spoilers ahead! But honestly—don’t worry about it.

—Robin Hood Steals, Cheats – and Plants Wheat

Robin Hood, the SIMPLE ARCHER, under the alias of Sir Loxley, ends up delivering King Richard the Lionheart’s crown to the Queen Mother (but only by accident, because he and his bros GOT HAMMERED while sailing and forget to make a run for it).

Then Robin, the SIMPLE ARCHER, using the Sir Loxley alias, infiltrates the Loxley family, and at this point the story turns into The Taming of the Shrew, with the understandably reluctant Lady Marion (who, by the way, spends her free time ploughing, sowing, and reaping alongside peasants, and feels an irresistible urge to personally drag the common folk’s goats out of the muck.).

Robin, the SIMPLE ARCHER, secretly sows the grain he EXTORTED from Friar Tuck — in the DEAD OF NIGHT.

The Martial Arts Masters of Sherwood Forest

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Die Trying by Lee Child – Book Review

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Die Trying by Lee Child - Book cover

Since hardly anyone reads this blog anyway, I think I can safely admit—without becoming a public laughingstock—that Major Jack Reacher is one of my all-time role models! Yep, I said it. Big words, I know. But anyone who reads the thriller Die Trying will definitely find themselves admiring Lee Child’s ex-military cop hero from that point on.

Jack Reacher. Role Model. Period.

My role model, Major Jack Reacher, in the second installment of Lee Child’s excellent series (which I picked up again after some 20 years and accidentally reread) finds himself in the back of a van—alongside a very attractive FBI agent. She’s been kidnapped. My role model, Major Jack Reacher, just so happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up in the van by accident. The hopelessly dumb kidnappers in Die Trying don’t just toss him out of the van—they drag him with them. These poor fools have no idea what kind of trouble they’ve just signed up for.

Because my role model, Major Jack Reacher, is strong, smart, highly trained, cunning, and more Sherlock than Sherlock Holmes himself (see: The Hound of the Baskervilles). (Just watch how he analyzes the girl at the beginning.) His sense of justice is off the charts. He’s also the best sniper around. (You can bet a few people are gonna take a bullet to the head.)

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Gods of War by James Lovegrove – Book Review

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Gods of War by James Lovegrove - Book cover

A Lukewarm Investigation Begins

In Gods of War, James Lovegrove’s crime novel, Sherlock Holmes is now in his sixties. No surprise, then, that his joints creak and crack like an old staircase. And chubby Dr. Watson? Let’s be honest—he’s not exactly in top shape anymore either. Lucky for them, they barely need to do anything in this story.

The great detective, get this, can’t even be bothered to pull off the biggest cliché in every Holmes story—using his signature method to deduce, without breaking a sweat, what extraordinary adventures his long-lost buddy had on his train ride—because, supposedly, he’s “too excited about the new case.” Which, by the way, turns out to be nothing more than a pathetic little burglary.

(Feels a bit cheap, doesn’t it? I mean, how hard would it have been for Lovegrove to throw in that Watson’s seatmate across the aisle was an elderly, half-limping horse trader from Devonshire on his way to buy feed for his prize stallion, Oxhead—while to his right sat a spinster in a pheasant-feathered hat, off to visit her sister, who suffers from trichotillomania, casually reading Northanger Abbey, fourth edition.

Cost him nothing.)

Laurel and Hardy Back on the Case!

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