Dead or Alive

by Tom Clancy


Like most Tom Clancy books (Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of all Fears, Debt of Honor, Executive Orders, Rainbow Six, etc) this one does a marvelous job of keeping you on the edge of your seat. It is a typical Clancy with the usual characters: Jack Ryan, his son Jack Jr., CIA agents John Clark and Ding Chavez, Dominic and Brian Caruso, and the normal supporting cast of intelligence and operative players. Like most Clancy books it will take 200 pages to set the stage for the story, 500 for it to marinate and 200 more to crescendo and conclude.
Published in 2010, Dead or Alive is the story of the US Government hunting down the international terrorist called the Emir (a thinly disguised Bin Ladin). It was written and published before Bin Laden's killing but the plot line is eerily similar to what actually occurred. In Clancy's case, the Emir is hiding in plain sight but even closer to "home" planning his next major attack on the US.
If you haven't read any Clancys I would start with Clear and Present (assuming you've seen the movie Hunt for Red October) and read the five mentioned in the opening of this posting. That is but 5 of 15 in the series but they will give you all the background you need to thoroughly enjoy Dead or Alive.


I give it a 4 of 5 rating.

Falling

by Christopher Pike

I read my first Christopher Pike book in middle school for a book report. The book was The Cold One, and it was honestly a bit above my age. Thankfully, having waited 10 plus years has given Mr. Pike (or rather Kevin McFadden) a chance to write some more books. Unfortunately, it seems that he is better known for his young adult literature, so he only has about 4 more books.

Falling is a novel centered around 2 main characters, Kelly the FBI agent and Matt the jilted lover. This book has been compared to Silence of the Lambs in some reviews, so to get us moving along the right path we'll stick with that.

The story focuses on several crimes, most importantly the serial killer the "Acid Man" and a plot to fake one's death. Mr. Pike does a great job at getting you into his characters' heads and understanding their motivation. The intense scenes were so powerful, I couldn't put the book down until I found out what was going to happen.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and greedily sped through the 400 pages. The action was fast paced, and for the most part believable. The greatest compliment I can give to the author is that he does not overextend himself. Like a monster movie that shows too much of the hokey creature, it can be easy for an author to delve too deeply into a topic which they are unfamiliar. This is a killer for me, and will often lead me to become detached an incredulous about the story.

I look forward to have the opportunity to read another book by this author and would highly recommend this to someone looking for a thriller/crime type of book.

Rating: 4/5 bunsen burners

Coming up: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl

by Stacey O'Brien


While I normally choose fiction books when picking a literature genre, a close friend gave me this book to read saying, "Just try it". I read it in 2 days. While it is a shorter book than I would have liked, it is rich with emotion and fascinating owl facts. You will often find yourself thinking, "I didn't know that!" or "Really?".


This book is a lovely memoir of O'Brien and her 19 year journey taking care of an owlet that came into her care at just 4 days old. Being a biologist and researcher, O'Brien was concise and informational with this book-she has a wealth of knowledge for you to soak up and enjoy. Her emotional connection with Wesley and their devotion to one another was one of a kind. She documents his intelligence, emotions, actions, and their close bond with vivid description. O'Brien also includes pictures of Wesley at different points throughout his life to help enhance the book. You will absolutely fall in love and be envious of their story.


My few negative criticisms of the book are minor. O'Brien is a writer who loves to detail everything, almost to a fault. She gives you not only the endearing and adorable memories, but also the gross and disgusting. Some might say it was unnecessary. While it was shocking at first just how in depth she went, she tells you everything. It is raw and very real. Take it or leave it.


If you are an animal lover of any kind, you will enjoy this book. If you do not know about or think much of birds, this will definitely change your mind. I would highly recommend it.


Rating: 4 out of 5


Up Next: Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

by Max Brooks

Let me begin by making a statement or two and saying this: I love the walking dead and almost any medium that they are present in. However, I am also very picky about my undead, in that they must have certain attributes that in the last couple of decades, most have lost. To me there is nothing scarier, more terrifying then a traditional Romero zombie. The slow and methodical shamble, the glassy lifeless look in their eyes and the unmistakable guttural moan that escapes their cracked, blood stained lips when they come across food, ie. the living, at the same time gives me goosebumps and also makes me wish that my crowbar was closer at hand.

So after reading The Zombie Survival Guide, also by Max Brooks, and finding that there was another living soul who shared my enthusiasm for this specific walking blight, needless to say I was elated. That feeling doubled after reading the preview for World War Z at the end of the Survival Guide, so much so that I pre-ordered the book on Amazon and counted the days and paced in my room till it shipped, much like a WoW player does waiting for the next expansion. (If you haven't figured it out by now, yes this is written several years after the hard copy was printed, and yes this moment is a bit of a flashback, and finally yes I do realize that the first WoW expansion didn't ship till after the book came out but I have seen WoW players pace and rant about expansions so take it easy!)

After waiting for what seemed like forever and re-reading the Survival Guide several times, a few of those while in the john, my hard cover arrived. Admittedly I was very fearful that a subject such as this, the zombie apocalypse, could ever meet my lofty expectations. However, my fears of disappointment were soon put to rest, as Max delivered on all levels and hit on issues that I hadn’t even thought to consider. Most notably of which is how the virus spreads so quickly around the world. I had always thought that the spreading of the virus would be rather simple: zombie bites human, human turns, rinse and repeat. However Max takes the whole idea of infection to a whole new level and leaves you with the realization that how the virus spreads worldwide is so much more complex. And this is just in the opening chapters of the book. Which brings me to an issue that is bound to annoy some people: chapters. Seeing as Max chose to write this as an “oral history of the zombie war”, there are no real chapters so to speak of. Instead the book is separated into sections each representing the different phases of the war, from infection to panic to resistance. Each section is then divided into interviews of various lengths with various people, which range from ordinary civilians to war criminals to soldiers and even to astronauts aboard the ISS. Now to some people that I've spoken to about the book, they find that the lack of a true main character and storyline is a problem and is the books main weakness. I on the other hand find this format to be the best, and perhaps the only, way to truly tell this story. Sure you won’t remember the name of every person that's interviewed, but that doesn't mean that they weren’t memorable, because its not so much as their name that's important as it is their story. Where were they? What did they do? How did they survive? Those are the important questions in the end and ones that Max answers repeatedly, and with truly horrifying visuals, that are really important.

Its those questions that left me wanting more. More adventures of survival; of the average joe rising to the occasion to defend his family. More views of our current society; and how it crumbles under the weight of the rotting undead foot. And most of all; I wanted more stories of how we rose up from the defiled Earth and retook what was ours, how we reclaimed our position as the dominate life form on this planet. And that's probably the greatest aspect of this book, that nagging feeling of wanting to know more. Which to me is what separates the great books from the mediocre. So overall even if your not a huge fan of the creeping death, I would still recommend this book to anyone as its just an amazing concept brought vividly to life, err death? I’m not really sure, but you get the idea. READ THIS BOOK!

And always make sure your crowbar is close at hand.

Rating: 4 out of 5 DAWG Bones

Up next: The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Reading now: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Next

by Michael Crichton

I have read a number of books by Michael Crichton and I think it is safe to say that my expectations for this novel were high. Probably too high.Next is a science fiction type novel, with some grounding in reality. I expected a book in the same vein as Jurassic Park and Terminal Man, a fictional story with strong scientific support for credibility/feasibility. However, this novel seemed to strike me as more paranoia than probability. I feel at this time there are two possibilities to consider with respect to this book. Either the author is attempting to give extreme examples to this topic to generate dialogue about where we could end up or he is writing this book about how he perceives the world and where we are heading. Regardless of what target Mr. Crichton was shooting for, I think he missed.
My second major complaint, is that the story was very confusing and hard to follow in the way that it was written. There are something like 10 main characters that are introduced and we are supposed to remember. While the chapters are short, he often will talk about the story arc of one character and wait several chapters to get back to them. Couple this with all the ancillary characters in the book, and I could never remember who he was talking about and what their problem was.
Now, despite the heavy criticism I have unloaded on this novel, I must say that I did enjoy reading it. I have always appreciated an intelligent novel and I think that everyone would agree that genetic engineering is a controversial topic. Overall it was intriguing to think about where we are going as a society and near the end of the book Mr. Crichton began to bring up some controversial (judicial) practices. These practices were then addressed by the author during the "author's note." If you are a fan of Michael Crichton, I would recommend this book, especially since we won't be getting any new novels from him any time soon.
Rating: 3/5 bunsen burners.
Coming up: Falling by Christopher Pike

Fear of the Animal Planet: The Hidden History of Animal Resistance

by Jason Hribal

I picked this book up from a local bookstore because it was under the section of “Employees Recommendations”. Due to its controversial animal topics I decided on a whim to take it home and read it. This book had the interesting premise of looking at animal liberation and the mistreatment of animal in circuses, zoos, animal theme parks, etc. 

The introduction, written by Jeffrey St. Clair, is a fascinating look at the way animals were treated after attacking humans (starting in the mid 1400s). He discusses that back then, animals were even placed on trial and hung due to their crimes and that these trials were taken seriously by courts and the people. He goes on to describe some of these trial specifics and stories in history for majority of the introduction. This section is captivating and very well written. 

As far as Hribal's book, some of the stories were fascinating and believable. Most of the stories, however, are troublesome and brutal which make it hard for anyone who loves and adores animals to read. The main point that the author is trying to get across is that animals are as emotionally and intellectually as capable to feel neglect, mistreatment, abuse, and as vengeful as any human. A premise that most, I believe, would find compelling.

While this book did have many interesting stories, there were many things that made it become discredited and "unreadable" in my eyes. The grammar and spelling were atrocious. Errors were made consistently, which in some chapters, made his points on the edge of being unintelligible. I thought this book would pick a few main stories and dive deep into reliable sources surrounding the cases, produce both sides of thinking, and come up with the conclusion supporting the main plot point. Instead this book was a list of one story after another of animal mistreatment/abuse. The author would begin a chapter with a main story about a particular animal, type a bit about it, switch to multiple smaller stories, then come back to the main story at the end of the chapter. It was the same organization in every chapter. Meanwhile, the only thing the reader has to remember the animal he was talking about originally, is it's name. This book is full of different animals and their names, did he honestly expect us to remember them ALL? 

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a quick and selective read: meaning you are willing to select certain portions of the book and disregard the rest of it (grammatical and spelling errors too!). The subject matter is thought-provoking and enthralling, but Hribal just does not deliver. I thought most of the stories were gripping and heartbreaking, but that with such a large controversial subject, there should have been much more substance and factual arguments to aid in his writing. 

Rating:  3     (out of 5)

STAY TUNED!!  

I am currently reading Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis   Review will be up soon!