A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way

OK, it is summer, so of course I am reading zombie books. There are enough of these to probably dedicate a blog just to the category.

• Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry. Terrorists and their greedy western sponsors create a zombie virus to bring the USA to its knees. Joe Ledger, supercop, leads the fight against the zombie plot. Typical escapist action fare. Amazon says 4 stars, goodreads 3.91, this is high, but an entertaining airplane read.
• World War Z by Max Brooks. A grittier look at an imagined future zombie war. Of course the humans win but massive deaths, and no one left alive is untouched. Nicely structured as a series of interviews with survivors. Amazon says 4.5 stars, goodreads says 4.17, that might be rich, but this was entertaining with some emotional depth.
• Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane. No zombies, just hordes of ghosts that won’t go away in the near future. Magic has been rediscovered to control them, and our heroine finds herself in the middle of multiple intersecting plots. An attempt to kickstart a franchise, but ultimately the attempt to create a flawed heroine just didn’t do it for me. Amazon says 4.5 stars, goodreads says 4.09, but I was left a little bored.
• Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. In an 1880s steampunk alterna-Seattle, a manmade disaster has unleashed a toxic cloud of zombification. The zombies are not really the main protagonist, rather it is all the humans scrabbling to live in the transformed city. Really quite good, Amazon says 4 stars, goodreads says 3.7, this is fair, the setting and characters are good.
• Feed by Mira Grant. A group of bloggers cover a presidential campaign and uncover a treasonous plot, against the backdrop of a world dealing with a virus which is pervasive in its dormant state and breaks out occasionally in its active zombie-inducing state. I like an author who isn’t afraid to kill off central characters, some real pathos in this tale. I’d like to read the next in the series. Maybe the most interesting science of any of the books. Amazon says 4.5 stars, goodreads says 4.24, this was probably the best of the set for me.

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• 61 Hours by Lee Child. Reacher’s back and never fails to entertain. And gasp a cliffhanger, that is a new element. I hope Child pushes the character more to be honest, Reacher needs to evolve to keep my interest and to avoid replaying the same plot over and over again with ever more outlandish elements — and the crazy WWII era abandoned military facility had a little bit of shark-jumping in it. But still entertaining. Amazon says 3.5 stars, that seems fair. 
• The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind. Goodkind seems to sell a lot of books based on shelf space at the local bookstore, so I decided to try one. What an epic piece of crap. Plodding, pedantic, characterless,derivative, logically-inconsistent crap. I am stunned that books this bad get published. How does it rate 3.5 stars on Amazon? This thing deserves negative stars, it saps the life out of any book it sits next to, it is a black hole of literature.
• Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. After the Goodkind crapfest I needed something of substance, and it was great to dive into a book of complex characters slowly revealed through events. Ultimately this book is not my style, a little too much towards farce, but I can admire the writing. Amazon says 4 stars and I guess I’d agree tho I didn’t finish as it just not my taste.
• Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. A great tale of a full life on the American frontier. Death comes easy when you have worked long and given much to people. A further cleansing of the mind after that terrible Goodkind book. Amazon says 4.5 stars and I’d agree.

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• The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. Not sure why I decided to make this book my 3rd Atwood. Well written and engaging but you probably need to be very well-versed in Greek myth to fully enjoy, and I am not. Amazon says 4 stars, metacritic gives a 74, these both seem a little high to me, I’d say 3.5 stars.
• Arthur and George by Julian Barnes. A fictional retelling of the odd true story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his defense of George Edalji, who was falsely convicted of animal mutilation and other crimes. Oddly engaging although drags a bit in the middle. Amazon says 4.5 stars, metacritic gives a 79. I’d say 4 stars, this is quite a good book, I was suprised at the end to discover just how much of this story was true.
• Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd. No good deed goes unpunished — a man tries to return some papers left mistakenly at a restaurant and stumbles into a murder, is chased by the police and the cabal behind the murder, takes to the streets, is mugged, changes his identity, and very nearly loses his life. His impetuous decisions bring him to the brink and his wits eventually lead him out. Fun tale. Amazon says 3.5 stars, not listed on metacritic. I’d say 3.5 stars, I enjoyed this as much or more than the Atwood.
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. A book conservator puzzles out the history of an ancient Jewish text. The story is fleshed out with flashback chapters to the historical characters who created and preserved the text. Thankfully avoids veering off into the Dan Brown/National Treasure realm, but doesn’t quite replace silly adventure with emotional depth despite attempts to do so — ultimately the characters were a little thin. Amazon says 4 stars, not listed on metacritic, I’d say 3.5 stars — a solid and engaging tale but could have used a bit more character depth. 

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• Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn. Well regarded YA novel, tells the tale of a young man from humble beginnings who with the help of several mentors discovers his magical powers and rises to great heights. Well worn territory but nicely told. Amazon says 4.5 stars, that might be a little rich, I’d say 4, but it is a quality tale.
• All Other Nights by Dara Horn. A ripsnorter of a tale. A young Jewish Northern spy during the Civil War wrestles with his duty to country, his family, himself. Makes a lot of poor decisions along the way but an element of redemption at the end. Amazon says 4 stars, that seems good, tho I could even inch a little higher; while the setting is familiar, the character is unique.
• American Rust by Phillip Meyer. Life in the rust belt sucks, there are few ways out. Somehow two young men turn a tragedy into an escape for themselves, but not without a lot of trials. Amazon says 4 stars, I might stop at 3.5. It is a good story and gives much to think about, but, well, it is a little bit of a downer at times.
• The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. A trendy story, Amazon gives 4.5 stars. It is a very interesting story, doesn’t follow the typical novel structure as it weaves and bobs over 30-40 years of the operation of a newspaper seen through the eyes of different people, all with their own personal issues. But it hung together for me and ultimately was a rewarding tale.

While not the major element of the last two books, they both had themes of parent/child estrangement. And they both leave you feeling that there is no worse hell than being estranged from your child, particularly when the estrangement is largely of your own making. And the best way to become estranged is to make the relationship about you, instead of about your child. Good lessons.

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• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Total downer, post-apocalyptic story narrated by a teenage survivor. Really drug me down, kudos to the author for really establishing the tone. Amazon gives 4 stars, I agree.
• Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright. The Greek gods are at war and it is spilling over onto Earth. Not a new idea, somewhat entertaining but lacks the mortal/immortal conflict that is at the heart of many of these stories. Amazon says 3.5 stars, that seems a little rich, but there is something that kept me engaged all the way thru.
• Altar of Eden by James Rollins. If you like Crichtonesque pseudo-science formulaic thrillers, then this is for you. Unfortunately I don’t like Crichton and this is a weak attempt at the form with depthless predictable characters. Amazon has a bunch of breathless 4 star reviews, I give this a 1 star. Didn’t bother to finish.
• Alexandria by Lindsey Davis. A very nice mystery set in Roman Alexandria. Very breezy modern tone, really brings the era to life. Enjoyable. Amazon says 4 stars, agreed. 

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• Caught by Harlan Coben. I love Coben and this book is ok but felt a little choppy. Some side characters introduced and discarded just to service the plot, and the ending felt a little scattered as if Coben toyed with multiple endings. Not his best. I’d say 3 stars. The Coben fanboys on Amazon give it 4.5 stars, they need to get out more.
• The First Rule by Robert Crais. Solid Joe Pike tale about Eastern European crime gangs in LA. Believable plot twists, much more compelling than the Coben above. I give it 3.5 stars, Amazon says 4.
• The Fourth Assassin by Matt Beynon Rees. A Palestinian visitor to the US is entangled in politics, crimes, and murders involving Palestinian emigres in NY. No idea how accurate the depiction of the Palestinian community is, but I found it engaging. Some of the plot leaps were a little unrealistic — I am not convinced NYPD cops would overlook a beheading in exchange for some information on a murder plot — but still good. 3.5 stars from me, Amazon says 4. 

Tags: Books