[Books] Ira Levin - The Boys From Brazil

Picked this up in the Amazon Kindle Summer Sale for 99p.  Heard about the book before and knew about its almost classic status so it was a no brainer to download it.

I loved this book.  Really simple and easy to read, nice and short but all the elements of a cracking story are there.  It concerns a plot by exiled Nazis, looked after by ODESSA, who are working for Josef Mengele (The "Angel Of Death") on his plan to bring about a new era of Nazism and the rebirth of the Aryan Race.  The plot is looked into by a Jewish Nazi hunter called Lieberman (who seems to be styled on real-life hunter Simon Weisenthal and his ilk).  The plot Mengele has in place involves the death of 94 men aged 64-66 in various countries.  He enlists 6 other former SS men to help him; but his plot is exposed by a young Nazi hunter who manages to get some information to Lieberman before Mengele snuffs him out.  Lieberman's quest to quash the plot takes him to

A great time killer, you could easily knock the book off in a few hours if you had time to sit down and just read.  I would recommend a joint read of this alongside Forsyth's "The ODESSA File", both of similar length and share a similar theme (the Nazi hunting bit, not the science bit).

[Books] Robert Ludlum - The Aquitaine Progression.

Interesting book this one, took me a while to read too but really got me hooked.

I started the book off in paperback form, having liberated it from a same pile of "books for charity" from my parents as Forsyth's "The Devils Alternative"; but after a few chapters I bought an Amazon Kindle (more of that later), so the first book I downloaded was this beast from Ludlum.

I say beast as it clocks in, in paperback form, at about 850 pages; which although not huge, it's the longest book I've read in years.  I usually read books about 400 or so pages as I can never get my mind around reading an epic length book - I'm not sure I have the attention span for it!  but this one, despite the length, really gripped me.

The story follows a lawyer named Joe Converse who is enlisted to help out in a fight against a growing threat of global instability and dictatorship.  As the book is well worth reading, I'm not going to give out any spoilers (even though the book is 27 years old or so!).  I've not read a Ludlum before, so wasn't sure what to expect from his style; but it turns out it's in the classic thriller/spy mould. One thing I did like about this book was its linear progression.  Everything took place in order, no time jumping.  And even more impressively, there were no sub plots to speak off.  Every time the story jumped away from the main Converse character, it was to relay the story of what was happening to the major players at the time, and linked it to the main story directly.  This made it really really easy to read, you could turn off the part of the brain that was trying to link things and work out what was happening elsewhere and just enjoy the ride.

Good character work, you actually like the heroes and dislike the bad guys; although the pointless killing of Converse's father was an odd plot device - it served no point at all and wasn't really wrapped up in at the conclusion of the book (Joe never mentions him again after he finds out he is killed; hell, he at the end when he is looking at his new life he doesn't lament on it at all). Also the sudden change in Joe's wifes character is odd, but explained to some extent. A few too many new faces are thrown in quickly at the start of the final third, but if you are on the ball you can run with it.

It's definitely worth reading this, even at £4.99 on the Kindle it seems a bargain - but even better see if you can find a copy in a charity shop.

[Books] Frederick Forsyth - The Devil's Alternative.

Another week, another Freddy book finished. Becoming a bit of a habit, this. This was one of the books I liberated from my parent whilst down there in June, along with another FF book, a Ludlum, a Deighton and some others. They were having a clear out and the books were off the charity shop - so I had a selection away. So this copy is another "classic" Corgi one, looks to be produced in 1980 (when I was 2, ha ha). There is something about old books.

I started reading this straight after I had finished "The Odessa File", which probably wast a good idea. Why wasn't it a good idea? Well, I still had that book swimming in my head and that confused the first few bits of this book. I've noticed this before with Forsyth books. "The Devil's Alternative" is a lengthier book that "Odessa", about twice as thick; which was a good sign as despite being a decent read, I found "The Odessa File" a bit short and quick.

Plot wise, well where to start. I'm used to the typical "multi-plot" device used by Forsyth, but this one was something else. This was the authors fourth novel proper, and it seems he fancied building more and more sub-plot then before. The three previous books ("Day Of The Jackal", "The Dogs Of War" and "Odessa") all had a maximum 2 or 3 plot lines to follow which combined at the 3/4s mark and then flowed to the end. "The Devil's Alternative" didn't. It had about 7 I think, which could get confusing at some points - especially when you think you have all the plots sorted and he throws a new one in! Saying that, the way he works them together is excellent. At no point did I think that any of the sub plots were superfluous and there purely for filler. Even with FF's penchant for endless reams of facts and figures, real-life historical information and technical gubbings; the many fractures of the world fitted well. I think it helped that everything was happening at the same time; unlike some of his other novels when you had to remember that at some point you were reading what happened years prior to the part just before it.

Do you want a plot outline and spoiler? Well, I guess the book is so old it's not going to make much difference. Concentrating on the main plot; a group of Ukrainian dissidents want to strike a blow to the heart of the Soviet Empire and free the people of their homeland from years of suffering and persecution. To do this, they plan a act that will, if known to the outside world, shake the Kremlim to it's core and bring down the secretive and totalitarian government. Unfortunately, this dont go exactly as planned, so a second act is needed to help the first complete in full. Alongside this, Russia is suffering from a problem with it's annual grain harvest. The US learn of this and use it as a bargaining tool to force the Soviets to agree to lower there military power - but the acts of the Ukrainians threatens to blow the deal out of the water and bring Europe, if not the World, to war. Inside this there is story of love lost and re-found; a story of pride and achievement; a murder plot in the West by factions of the East; and a story of political subterfuge and cover ups.

A pretty enjoyable book. I found it hard to get my teeth in to at the start, but by the end I was lapping the words up, willing for the plot to reach its boiling point. It's well written, well paced (no odd drop out, such as I found in "Odesaa" and "Avenger") and the character development with pretty good too - at no point do you think "hold on, that's a bit out of character for him/her" - and that really helps you differentiate between the plot lines. I'm actually amazed that this hasn't been scripted for a film yet. I could see this working as a retro-thriller, still basing it in 1982 during the Cold War. It would need to be a long film, but I would go and see it...

Maybe I need to write a script? Errrrr..... no. I'll leave that to someone else.

Oh, as an aside this will probably be the last paper-back I read for a while.  I've gone and got myself a Kindle. :)

[Books] Frederick Frosyth - The Odessa File.

Been after this book for a while. It's the second novel that Forsyth had published and one of his most well known after The Day of The Jackal. It's a short book, only clocking in at about 300 pages in paperback form. The copy I have is form the mid 70s (the book was originally published in 72); I picked it up at the local school fayre for the grand total of 10p. Awesome.

It's an odd book I think. The story revolves around one man's hunt for the Nazi SS commander Eduard Roschmann. The ODESSA it the title refers to the secret organisation that was allegedly formed to help ferret members of the SS out of Germany in the months prior to, and after, the end of World War II. Whilst most of the character in the book are fictional, Roschmann, ODESSA and a host of others are based on real life, albeit altered for artistic reason. Another real life person that makes the book is infamous "Nazi Hunter" Simon Wiesenthal, who also acted as a 'document historian' for Forsyth whilst the book was being produced. The novel was also made in to a film 2 years later.

The hero of the story is a young German newspaper reporter called Peter Miller, who lives in the Western side of the divided Germany. On the day of the assassination of American President John F Kennedy, Miller finds himself at the home of an old, poor Jewish man who has killed himself. A friend in the police force gives Miller the old man's diary as he believes it would make a good story. The diary contains the details of the man's life in the Jewish camps during the war where he was under the control of Rocshmann. Miller is so affected by the story that he starts a crusade to bring Rocshmann to justice. Linked in to this, the death of JFK is worrying Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. They are hot on the trail of a plot by Egypt to produce biological and nuclear missiles, which they plan to launch on Israel. Egypt is being aided by ex-Nazi scientists, given new lives by ODESSA. The two plot lines intertwine and loop all over the place before the final showdown. I wont spoil that with detail though.

As usual with FF, there is a lot of historic background on the subjects; be that ODESSA, Mossad, Rocshamnn, the Nazi party. It does help to blur the lines between the real (Rocshmann was in command in Riga and did escape by the means in the novel) and the fictional (Millers personal crusade, the finer details of the Egyptian rocket plot). Its a enjoyable book, but being so based on real life, you feel that there isnt enough time for the (fictional) character to develop. Also, the middle section, whilst blessed with glorious details and accuracies, does tend to plod a bit.

One interesting thing about the book is the part that the afore mentioned Wiesenthal played in forming the plot. In the mid 70s, fact mirrored fiction and the real Rocshmann was located in South America after the interest in him was stirred up by the book and film. Wiesenthal has admitted to bending the truth a bit in the facts he told Forsyth about Rocshmann to do just that; stir up interest and bring about the capture and trail of Rocshmann. Ultimately he fled from Argentina to Paraguay and died in 1977 (well maybe, maybe not according to Wiesenthal). So an interesting footnote to the story there.

Worth reading?  Yeah I would say so.  Despite its short length and the slow middle section it's a rewarding enough book.  The detail of the camps in Riga, the escape by the SS and the twist (which, annoyingly I didn't see coming) should keep you on your toes (no pun intended - don't worry, you'll get that when you read it)

[Books] Anthony Kiedis - Scar Tissue.

"Scar tissue that I wish you saw | Sarcastic Mr Know-it-all" - Red Hot Chili Peppers, 'Scar Tissue'

I love rock biographies.  I went through a period of reading nothing but, but I haven't read one for a few years now, so when by boys gave me this for a Fathers Day present I was looking forward to getting my teeth into it.

As is the way, Kiedis' autobiography is ghost written.  The ghost writer is Larry Sloman, most well known for co-penning US "shock jock" Howard Stern's two autobiographies, as well as his book "On The Road With Bob Dylan", the story of the Rolling Thunder Revue.  From what I can tell, although the book is written as "I did this, then I did that, then this happened to me", the book was written by Sloman from various interviews with Kiedis and the other main players in the book.  Not that you should let that distract you from the book itself.

Ian Drury coined the classic phrase "Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll" which has since become the rasion d'etre for many and most rock-stars since.  Kiedis ticks these off with aplomb during the course of the book, starting from his early teen years. The tale starts in earnest when he moved to Hollywood from Michigan to love with his Dad, John "Blackie Dammett" "Spider" Kiedis, a full time drug user, pat time drug dealer, part time scenester, part time actor.  Kiedis jr is thrown into his Dad's world and laps it up.  He is, by his own accounts a Grade A student during the week at school, but some the weekend he goes with his Dad to the LA clubs and starts his journey.  When you read the opening chapters, it's hard to like Kiedis.  He revels in the drug taking, the fights, sleeping with his Dads girlfriend (under the guidance of his Dad), the law breaking and risk taking.  You read it and you start to think "what a cock", here is this kid living the life that later one leads to addiction and problems, yet he seems almost boastful of it.   It's not until you get near the end of the book that you realise that the writing has shifted style as the book had gone on, with the over exuberance of youth replaced with a steady thinking style; which makes you realise that the early chapters are meant to sound like he is being boastful as he is writing as his 14 year old self, after all what 14 year old would love to boast about a life like that?  It's a clever way of pacing he book, but I'm left wondering how many have started to read but got put off by the opening style - maybe an opening chapter at the present day would have helped "set the scene" more, I don't know.

It's hard to review this book without basically writing a synopsis of it.  Of course, there is no conventional plot or character development, so unless you know the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other associated 80s/90s American alt. rock stars you will be relying on Google a lot.  But that is not to say that this is a RHCP book.  Its not, its a book about Kiedis.  Even at the heigh of the Peppers' fame, he writes more about his failed love life and his drugs that the experiences of writing, recording and playing.  Of course, those things are covered off; from the recording sessions with George Clinton to headlining Woodstock (no, not the 60s one).  His relationships within the band are talked about in detail too.  You see how he met Flea and Hillel Slovak at school; how Slovaks death from drugs shock him up; his relationship with John Frusciante and the pain he felt with Frusciante fell in to the drug hell that Kiedis was battling with.  Every Chili Peppers' member and album is talked about, usually in glowing terms - even Dave Navarro!  The love he shows for his band mates, past and present gives one of the only insights to a nicer side of his personality, alongside his descriptions of the various girls that he has loved over his life.

One thing that does strike you through the book is the lucidity of the tales.  From this teenage years, Kiedis claims he was getting higher and higher, snorting cocaine, shooting heroin, acid tripping, drinking, smoking... and yet he remembers, sometimes in graphic detail, all the important points, discussions and decisions in his life.  That's amazing and to be honest, a tiny bit unbelievable.  But if you take the exact-ness of the tales of the ex-drug addict rock and roll star with a pinch of salt, then it's a bit easier to swallow.

The books is let down by the ending as much as it is by the start.  The last few chapters that deal with the period from the release of "Californication" onwards start to drag.  Kiedis' life seemed to be a never ending cycle of 'get sober, music, love girlfriend, slip and get high, rehab in Mexico, hate girlfriend, get sober, music, love girlfriend' etc etc.  It all gets a bit too much, and by the time he has either gone to rehabilitate himself back at his mothers in Michigan or at a hotel in Mexico for the 20th time you start to think that maybe, even after all his bravado about how he is now sober, that he never really will be and that one day he will binge one last time and die.  He claims he is now sober entirely, regaling us with a tale of the last time he had the itch for a fix but he didn't go through with it, but based on the previous 400 pages of addiction and lying about it, it seems unlikely.

Kiedis and Sloman turn out an overall enjoyable, well paced and decently written book that does his life justice and certainly paints a picture of his journey through the afore mentioned holy rock trinity of sex, drugs and rock & roll. Does it make you like him?  No.  Does it make you envy him?  Again, probably no.  Now that could just be me and my age, but I feel its not and that is a shame - you should be able, even at 30+ years, to look at rockstars and be jealous...

[Books] Jeff Abbott - Fear.

Heard of the author?  Nope, me neither.  This book was liberated from the holiday villa in Mallorca.  I had finished the only book I had taken with me, so started on one of the many they had stashed on the shelves that had been left by previous visitors. Amongst the usual chit-lit there was this, the only one that took my fancy.  The "Tesco Value" sticker should be a pointer as the quality...  I didnt have time to finish it before we had to leave, so took it with me, on the assumption that no-one would miss it, and the fact we were leaving a football and a swimming pool inflatable in exchange. 

So.... well, its an odd one.  Not concerning myself with spoilers with this one.  The basic story is that the main character is on witness protection as killing his best friend during an FBI sting on the mob (how he got involved in the mob is a drawn out affair that I cant be bothered full in, and adds nothing to the story), and he is also seeing a shrink as he is having trouble dealing with his roll in his friends death and his dead mate is haunting him.  Yep, you read the correctly.  His shrink is an expert in PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder, knows he in protection but doesnt know the ins and outs.  She, the shrink, also has other patients all with different PTSD afflictions.  The novel progresses and unravels a story of human drug testing, double agents, rival companies, killings and a cross country chase.  After seeing what he thinks is the shrink blown to bits in a bombing, the "hero" Miles is determined to find out who and why.  This leads him to 2 other PTSD sufferers, the first being a soldier fresh back from Afghanistan and the second being a female reality TV show winner who's boyfriend was killed by a crazed fan whilst she watched.  These 3, along with a cast of others including an ex-FBI killer for hire who's daughter suffers from PTSD, various agents from the rival buyers/pharmaceutical firms and the dead shrinks husband try to find the truth and also help themselves out by getting the drug on trial a proper trail and release.

It's not a bad read by any stretch, but it's hardly up there with the great books of our time.  If it were a film, it would be a Van Damme thriller that stalled in the cinema, was released on DVD and is now shown on repeat on Channel 5.  Good enough to keep you entertained for a few hours, but wont change your life.  The writing is good, the pace nice; but the characters are flat and the ending so trite it makes you feel a little uneasy (the hero and the girl get together on the last page.... original!)  In fact, you dont actually like the characters you are meant to like, and at one point you actually want Miles to be put out of his misery!

If you see it cheap and have a long haul flight, then by all means get it and read it.  Or go for one of the many other books in this mould.

[Books] Frederick Forsyth - The Avenger.

I've been a reader of Frederick Forsyth books since I stole borrowed a copy of "The Dogs Of War" from my Dad last summer.  I always assumed this style of crime/spy/thriller novel wouldn't be my cup of tea at all, but his novels have a flow, feeling and style that really work for me.  I find them very readable.  After devouring "The Dogs Of War" [which, by the way is excellent and ranks up there amongst the best books I've read. Classic] I quickly read "The Day Of The Jackal", another cracker of a read and usually rated as his best book.  The atmosphere he presented was awesome.  The last book I read of his was "Icon" in October last year, one of his more modern novels [1996] which also provided some good reading too and from a work meeting in Leeds.

Anyway, so I got a triple-pack of his books for Christmas but I've been rather slow at reading them - so I grabbed "The Avenger" when packing my stuff for Mallorca in the hope that I would get some downtime to read.  In the end, it turned out the DVD player in the villa was broken, so gave us plenty of time to read in the evening once the boys had gone to bed.

"The Avenger" is typical Forsyth, in so much as it contains his trademark system of interweaving stories, reaches back to history, mixing fact and fiction and a hero who is ex or current military or secret service.  In "Avenger", the eponymous protagonist is ex-US Military and the story managed to link various world conflicts including World War 2, Vietnam, The Balkans Wars, the Soviet Afghan invasion and the current 'War on Terror'; using characters from each to paint different points of view and have them all combine in the finale. I wont write any spoilers here as I don't like reviews that do that, so I also don't recommend reading the information on this book on Wikipedia as it does spoil some of the plot twists somewhat.  

The basic premise of the book, without spoiling it, is that a young American is killed whilst employed as an aide working in the Balkans.  Through a series of linked stories, the boy's Grandfather manages to call in some help from old friends and recruits the title character to help "render" the killer to American soil where he can be tried for his crime.  What hinders this is the facts the killer is already known to both the FBI and the CIA and is currently missing from all intelligence databases.

Despite good opening few chapters, the books does slow down a bit in the middle section, and FF does get himself too muddied in his endless lists of real life facts used to back up his fantasy at some points, which tends to dull the reading a tad.  The start and finish are good though; the character introductions are nicely paced and you don't get lost trying to remember which group of people you are reading about. The finale of the book works well and the speed picks up at the right time.  It's annoying that a couple of new characters are thrown into the mix in the final few chapters, meaning that you don't have a character background on them, very odd bearing in mind there would have been no reason for one of the other characters to take the place of them without altering the story at all.  I had guess the final plot twist about three quarters into the novel, but that doesn't spoil the ending at all.

The book leaves you with a poser of sorts, leaving you asking yourself the great dichotomy about whether it is allowable to let the actions of a few go unpunished, no matter how abhorrent those actions, if the perceived benefit is the betterment of society and the hopeful saved lives of thousands.