R Digest Book

Condition A

Condensed Books:
Tom Clancy - Without Remorse

Review refers to full version:
Time to piss off a lot of people, but I've read my share of Clancy and I gotta tell you this: He's not a very good writer!!! Oh my gawd!! Someone catch the lady who just fainted. Clancy is a great researcher, which is clear in any of his books. But...that doesn't make up for transparent characters and gratuitous plot manipulations. Now . . . I loved Clear and Present Danger and Red Storm Rising, Patriot Games was okay and Hunt For Red October was straight-out boring in most parts, but I read Without Remorse when it first came out and I had hoped that Clancy had taken a Creative Writing course in his spare time between reading technical manuals for Typhoon-class submarines and interviews with the CIA. There is a different voice to Without Remorse. Its straight-forward, kick-ass reading. Reads like an early Metallica song. This is the evolution of Mr. Clark, Clancy's spook character. Vietnam-era. Someone f*cks around with a girl he cares about and all hell breaks loose. This is, hands down, the best Clancy book I have ever read. It's like his version of Diry Harry. Great. Too bad he will probably never duplicate its sheer exuberance. Oh well. Read it! It rox!

Mary E Pearce - The Old House At Railes

Review refers to full version:
Set in the Cotswolds in the mid-19th century, Pearce's ( The Apple Tree Saga ; The Two Farms ) new historical romance proceeds largely according to genre convention. Martin Cox, a stonemason's son living in poverty, unexpectedly is offered an education by the well-to-do Tarrants at their manor, Newton Railes. The relationship between Cox and the Tarrants is eventually reversed, however, and they accept his financial help. Romantic tension between Cox and one of the Tarrants' daughters, Kate, who is married to a (temporarily) wealthy clothier, endures through the narrative, as does the problem of the ownership of the manor. Pearce favors highly descriptive prose about domestic settings and situations--such as in the many scenes centered around afternoon tea--and she often writes lively dialogue, particularly between male characters. What ultimately disrupts these thematic and stylistic continuities is a TV-like shifting point of view in the numerous fragments that make up chapters. The fact that practically none of Cox's internal thoughts are revealed keeps him psychologically remote from the reader, but the plot tugs on the heartstrings, and Pearce's fans will enjoy

Dick Francis - Decider

Review refers to full version:
Dick Francis knows horses, but in this deeply satisfying novel of intrigue, he shows that he also has a handle on architecture, construction, even crowd control. Narrator Lee Morris, 35, is an architect/builder specializing in restoring "ruins" like his own splendid barn house inhabited by his six sons and his lovely, but increasingly remote, wife. He is also one of few shareholders in Stratton Park racecourse, ownership of which is being hotly contested by the heirs of Lord Stratton. Lee's mother had married and quickly divorced the baron's vicious son Keith. Since part of her divorce settlement included the racecourse stock, Lee (accompanied by his five eldest sons) attends a shareholders meeting. With few exceptions the Strattons are a very nasty crew--cheats, blackmailers, just plain vicious--and during the course of the fight over selling or restoring the track, Lee is beaten, nearly blown up and finally forced to race to save his sons at the excruciating climax. Francis's deft plotting and sharp characterization are, as usual, on the mark: both Lee and his progeny are realistic and appealing.

A.E. Hotchner - King of the Hill

Review refers to full version:
Coming of Age autobiography of Hotchner as a 12 year old boy in St. Louis during the depression. Great, sad stories told perfectly. If you like this - read Bad Boy by Jim Thompson & Bound For Glory by Woody Guthrie - both take place at the same time & are equally adventuresome & sad.