Book Post # 3

Here we are again, then - five more books from my collection, reviewed briefly for you.

11.  Sad Wind from the Sea by Jack Higgins

With Jack Higgins'  fan following firmly established, his publishers have decided to dig into his archives and fish out all the manuscripts earlier published under his other pseudonyms, Harry Patterson and James Graham. And so it is with this book - we are informed that this was actually the first Jack Higgins novel. Readable enough, but it lacks the style and depth of storytelling that characterised later books. It’s not difficult to work out why Higgins wrote under so many different names.

12.  Absolute Power by David Baldacci

After reading thousands of fiction novels over a 30-year period, it was refreshing to find, after a very long time, an author whose style is so racy that his books are quite impossible to put down. I did 1100 pages (two novels) in less than a week, and I'm looking for more. Definitely recommended as a stressbuster - whether on flights, late at night, waiting for interviews :-), or in the car on the way to work

13.  I, Lucifer by Peter O’Donnell

Peter O'Donnell can be alarmingly addictive. A writer with an uncommonly slick turn of phrase, a perpetually present sense of wry humour, a great storyteller and resoundingly original......you don't get villains like these in any action novel, nor do you get such detailed research in what appears to be an ordinary set of action stories woven around one character. I know a surprisingly large number of people who are Modesty Blaise fans and quite proud to admit it. That perhaps explains why Crossword  Bookstore has put on sale a retrospective, the entire set of novels, which has made these books available on Indian shelves after a very long time.

You can say it's not your type of read - but you won't say you dislike it. Guaranteed

14.  How to be a Brit by George Mikes

No, it’s not pronounced like "bikes" – this author is Hungarian, so you need to say "Mikesh".

"How to be an alien" is George Mikes' definitive work, and this one isn't all that far behind. I read this 10 years before I actually went to England; read it twice while I was there; and I've just finished reading it once again, chortling every few pages. Whether or not you’ve met and interacted  with a Brit, this is a hilarious read

15.  Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler

With Cussler, you get two for the price of one, with each book - a great deal of maritime history and oceanographic lore, along with a cracking good story. This one is not among his best, but is still a good read. I'm actually just finished reading it for the fourth time, over an 8-year period.