Brick

A very compelling description of a time and place, with all the elements that make the central question so compelling, why in the world would anyone who had any kind of choice stay in Berlin in 1939? And Downing presents a plausible set of answers for the many characters introduced in the story, as they answer for themselves and suggest answers to one another. The foreshadowing and darkness of the situations are well known to most readers, but the answer to the question of how so many people might have continued to participate in an incredibly terrible situation is the real mystery that is explored here, rather than the spy story itself.

Even though I have read many accounts of these times, both history and fiction, I was surprised to learn of the down side and tenuous nature of the supposed German economic miracle of 1939.

I found this book illuminating in many ways.

Another revisit, from a bygone era. The dialogue and attitudes seem dated, not charming but instead something to put me off. The exciting last portion of the book sped up the pace considerably and made it more enjoyable.

Interesting to compare the lone avenger nature of the Travis McGee novels with Robert Parker's Spencer novels, perhaps a read on the temper of the times. Travis keeps denying that he has any altruistic impulses, but keeps risking his well being and even his life to try to rescue folks, while Spencer seems less concerned about seeming to give in to altruism, but meanwhile is faithful to his significant other. Probably material here for a Master's thesis, to be followed by a career as a writer. Go for it, someone!

I read this quickly, really wanted to see how it worked out. But I was not completely satisfied. Usual excellent sense of place, and description of the business of being a long-haul trucker, but as other's have commented, I was left unconvinced as to whether the victims learned anything. I am afraid that the description of the badness of the bad guys is probably true to life, but awful and awfully chilling, certainly not enjoyable. Finally, the turnaround by the single-parent woman deputy from doormat to avenger was precipitous, I did not see it in her character as the story progressed, it just seemed to suddenly happen.

The combination of a nod to many of the hot button technical, political, and cultural issues seems like a possibly exciting basis for a technical thriller, but it is not well executed, wooden dialogue, combined with not very credible action, not very credible execution of the implications of the technical references, and cartoonish references to the political and cultural issues.

Most ironically, this book comes at the same time as Snowden, assisted by Wikileaks staffers, has revealed the NSA assault on the Constitution. We have the video of DNI Clapper lying about the surveillance of many millions of Americans, and what, exactly, about the justifications offered would you believe from folks who have lied to you? The author's allegiance to conventional wisdom seems misplaced is almost all regards.

Good job keeping me puzzled, with lots of twists and turns, and also puzzled at Hole's continuing self destructive behavior. The violence seemed over the top, and at points unbelievable. And I find with each story in this series a remarkable and hard to understand dichotomy between Hole's ability to notice details that his fellow officers do not see, while overlooking all sorts of indicators that he is walking into personal and deeply counterproductive disasters.

Net: 3 stars, entertaining, but these factors troubled me.

I read all of the Travis McGee stories when they were first published, and have only just now revisited the first of the series. I enjoyed them enormously back in the day, and as others have noted, I now find the language and attitude of Travis remarkably dated with regard to his assessment of all of the women that he meets. This seems to me to be a statement about the times, early 60's, noting his recurrent references to 'bunnies' and the great deal of the activity that centers on Florida beaches, marinas, and bars. The lengthy philosophizing passages do slow the action, but this is the first of the Travis McGee stories, setting up the character, and I will have to revisit the others to see how this plays out. I do remember that I thought back in the day that Travis grew more than a bit as the series continued.

A reluctant Gabriel Allon accepts the call from retirement one more time. This time the first third of the book steps outside of the prior books in the series, and has Allon working without the support of an Office team, and in a different environment, making the book a bit different and more interesting. But soon enough the Office team is back, with all the same 'old' characters, and Allon in a really unbelievable bit of negotiation convinces the Office and the government of Israel to indulge his desire to punish the evildoers at incredible risk to his country and his team. The history of the government of Israel's realpolitik machinations is completely at variance with this quixotic endeavor, but it makes for some fun in a purely wishful thinking sort of way.

This series remains entertaining, if completely formulaic.

Silva's stories could be greatly enriched if he would include some slight appreciation for the other ethnicities that inhabit Palestine.

Entertqining, long running mystery within the story, keeping up the tension througout. Another good outing for Harry Hole!

Again, as in Hole #4, another fine Harry Hole procedural, as opposed to a police procedural, since Harry has his own procedures. Very complex, lots of twists and turns as the story proceeds, and Harry and the reader are misled, and mistaken, but perseverance rewards in the end.

Harry is likable for his capability, his drive to find the killer, and his unorthodox and successful ways of investigation, but his personal failings are more than exasperating, leaving me wanting to reach out and smack him as he is on his way to do something obviously stupid and self destructive. Of course, he might feel the same about me, although he seems more tolerant of personal failings, as opposed to criminal activities.

In his most recent turn, he hides his competence from the reader, so that the exasperation reigns, until the surprising end.

An astonishing book, its language and style are hypnotic, ironically hypnosis is referred to over and over again as an explanation used by by the citizens in the novel who refuse to admit the possibility of what they are experiencing, and so did I.

Powerfully evocative of a period and culture, at turns serious, sarcastic, astonishingly funny, and always illuminating. A wonderful book.

I am looking forward to reading it again!

Another fine Harry Hole procedural, as opposed to a police procedural, since Harry has his own procedures. Very complex, lots of twists and turns as the story proceeds, and Harry and the reader are misled, and mistaken, but perseverance rewards in the end.

Harry is likable for his capability, his drive to find the killer, and his unorthodox and successful ways of investigation, but his personal failings are more than exasperating, leaving me wanting to reach out and smack him as he is on his way to do something obviously stupid and self destructive. Of course, he might feel the same about me, although he seems more tolerant of personal failings, as opposed to criminal activities.

Not quite sci-fi, not quite techno-thriller, this story builds on the background of the two previous Dagmar stories, and it is fun to make contact again with Dagmar's team. They make the cyber stuff and tech stuff easier, and lets WJW concentrate on this tangential story, a funny and often sad look at the seamy side of the Hollywood entertainment industry and the child actors whose lives fuel this bonfire, often to their great regret. Sean, the protagonist, is the archetype of a child actor, great success and self-developed skill, and amazing and distressing selfishness that allows him to survive his exploitation by his parents and the implosion of his career, until he gets the role of a lifetime, during which he, as required by the script, grows his character into an appealing person, some of which growth seems to rub off on Sean. Lots of detail on the business of acting, developing character, the personalities of people in the business, very often funny, suspenseful, entertaining. A large part of the suspense is in trying to guess who is trying to murder Sean, who is murdering others in the production, and why Dagmar is making this movie.

Wonderfully written, and I suppose translated, this mystery does it all, it combines a tremendous sense of place, and of time with flashbacks to the Eastern Front during the Second World War where Norwegians fought along side Germans against the Russians, as well as current Norway, with an interesting view of the struggle with the conflict and cooperation between corrupted and conscientious police and politicians. The tension created as Harry Hole works to solve the mystery of a number of murders and prevent an impending assassination continues to the very end of the story with its surprising denouement. An interesting and entertaining story from the gripping start to the finish, and an interesting and nuanced depiction of the Norwegian volunteers from WWII.

The reviews that point out the formulaic nature of these novels are a riot, reading the book was worth it for this alone, since it made me enjoy these reviews even more. A fast and easy read, if, as I did, you skim thru the travelogue portions, since the action is dispersed throughout the travelogue like raisins in raisin bread.

Although it was fun to skim thru such a fast paced story, several points struck a discordant note: why in the world would the brilliant scientist/Transhumanist go to such trouble and risk his whole enterprise to leave this wealth of arcane clues; why would Langdon be so surprised at all of the twists and turns and betrayals, after his prior experiences in the earlier novels; why are the primary characters, in the midst of life and death struggles using such stilted language and saying such inane things to one another; and why do all the characters constantly engage in inner dialogue that invariably includes asking themselves "why is this happening to me . . .?" Of course, as I continued to read along, I found myself asking, "Why is this happening to me . . . ?"

The premise of the story is interesting and frightening, although presented in a surprisingly pedantic manner, and the denouement is more than a bit disappointing, mathematical analysis and projections convince all the players of an impending global disaster, and the arguments against the antagonist's resolution of these concepts seem to net out to an emotional response "it's unthinkable" but maybe that is the point of leaving the story with this ending.

And Dan Brown deserves a heartfelt nod for the tag line that precedes the story and appears again within the story, "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis" although perhaps we have always felt this way, from even well before Dante's birth, after all, when have we ever not been in a time of moral crisis, although surely this is more the case now than ever before, maybe, . . . or maybe not.

A wonderful book, a must read. Every now and then I come in contact with a book that is the product of an incredibly impressive amount of research, conducted with diligence and perseverance over an extended period of time, written by a person with an astonishingly encyclopedic grasp of important events and concepts, and written by an author with a graceful and enjoyable grasp of the language. Wow! If you want "Shock and Awe" this is it! Good to be reminded again how wonderful non-fiction can be.

Most of those who have read this book have lived through much of the times described, particularly the later periods, and I am sure that these folks, like me, will have learned an enormous amount about the development of the variety of religious outlooks and cultures, modified by the historical development of many different countries, that have led to 9/11, that was new to me.

There are many very enjoyable and worthwhile reviews of this work already in place here at Goodreads, one by Jessica, on February 6th, 2012, popped up at the top of the list when I looked for The Looming Tower, and it makes many very interesting points, but it apologizes for slipping into a 'boring moronically political rant' and I take exception to this, its not really a rant, but to the extent that it might seem to be one, it is needed.

In this context, it is interesting to look back at the definition of "idiotic", sometimes a synonym for moronic, here from Wikipedia: An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private—as opposed to public—affairs. Idiocy was the natural state of ignorance into which all persons were born and its opposite, citizenship, was effected through formalized education. In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education (although citizenship was also largely hereditary). "Idiot" originally referred to "layman, person lacking professional skill", "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning". Declining to take part in public life, such as democratic government of the polis (city state), was considered dishonorable.

Our response as a country and as citizens to the facts presented by The Looming Tower require that we be educated in these facts, and this wonderful book can and should be a large part of that education. Our response after that education may well require that we vigorously become involved in the politics of our country. Lawrence Wright provides the education, it is up to us to respond, and rant if we must.

I have heard the "failure to connect the dots" meme offered as an explanation over and over again in the last 12 years, and the interagency conflicts and operations at cross purposes described here are tragic. In the midst of incredible sacrifice by many brave and astonishingly competent Americans, the bureaucratic infighting enabled this disastrous attack, the book is replete with near misses, where bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, and others were almost stopped, all the way to the point where the one of the lead FBI agents involved in counterterrorism had requested photos from a CIA monitored meeting of conspirators, and finally got them hours after the Twin Towers fell (provided, too late, only by the impetus of this disaster), saw faces he recognized, and knew as he retched in the bathroom that he could have stopped this conspiracy if he only had been shown this evidence. The NSA, the FBI, and the CIA all come in for deserved blame. The book comes to a conclusion as the Towers have fallen, but the tears inspired are all the more bitter for the organizational failures that led to this result.

Another fun read, featuring Alternative Reality Game (ARG) creator, Dagmar, and her team. This is the second in the series, and is best read after the first, This Is Not A Game, although not required, it will add to your understanding and enjoyment. Very interesting to contrast what is going on in this story, where an ARG staged on location with ARG tourists and remote participants searching for clues in Turkey acts as a compelling promotion for a new James Bond thriller, leading to follow-on activity, where the Web and flash-mobs respond to the ARG techniques to bring down a repressive military junta.

Lots of action, a technothriller with cyber-warfare complications, very interesting ironic deployment of the High Zap internet disruptive technology by the military who have acquired/captured it during a deployment by the CIA and NSA against Syria, against the home team. Very topical, reminds me of the Stuxnet virus escaping after deployment by the US and Israel against Iran, these cyber weapons are multi-edged. See this link, http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/289-134/18389-focus-did-google-and-the-nonviolent-serbs-help-stir-up-obamas-coup-in-egypt
for some conjecture about the fall of Morsi in Egypt, once again sci-fi gets out ahead of the reality, but not by very far.