Showing 1 - 10 of 48
Boston thriller
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 11/10/2019
» Dipping my fingers into the book bag, out came yet another by James Patterson. Can this reviewer help that the Yank is one of the most prolific writers in the business? His co-author this time around is Candice Fox. Which of them came up with this plot, I wonder?
The end is nigh
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 28/03/2019
» It has been determined that we've been around for 4.5 billion years, Earth the only habitable planet in the solar system.
Isis destroyed
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 06/09/2018
» As most of the hijackers responsible for the 9/11 outrage were Saudi Arabian, it stands to reason that the US would take the kingdom to task. Instead, Washington turned its ire on Afghanistan and Iraq. How could that be? In fact, it made sense. America is Saudi's biggest oil customer and didn't want it to stop flowing, the more than 3,000 dead at New York's Twin Towers notwithstanding.
Banks grows on you
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 17/08/2018
» It's a relief to read a crime thriller that doesn't bill itself as a psychological mystery. Frankly I'm not an armchair psychologist, much less psychiatrist. I much prefer simple -- what you see is what you get -- people to complex -- you don't know the real me.
Targeted billionaires
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/06/2018
» When a rich man meets his maker, I pause for few moments, not to mourn his life but to wonder what becomes of his wealth. Of no use to him now, is it buried with him? Like the pharaohs, he intends for it to accompany him in his next life? Is it inherited by his son? To do what with?
Good cops, bad cops
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 18/05/2018
» Few things are more disheartening than learning that those sworn to protect us from society's predators are corrupt, indeed evil themselves. Then who are the good guys, if any? Many a crime novelist raises this question without presenting a satisfactory solution.
Big city, small town
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 11/05/2018
» People are natural actors. Observe how they tell stories to their friends, passing on telephone conversations or what they saw or heard. They mimic and flap their arms for emphasis. Hoping for smiles or groans. Novelists aim to do the same with more words. Alas, only the better ones succeed. All too many try and fail.
Ace hitchhiker
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 02/03/2018
» British expatriate Lee Child has become perhaps the most respected thriller novelist in the US. His blurbs for colleagues' books send sales soaring. Jack Reacher, his literary creation, is a household name. Tom Cruise has played him in two successful movies.
Double-whammy master
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 22/02/2018
» By using fire for cooking, Homo sapiens took a step higher on the food chain. It made eating mammoths easier on the digestion. The press was another step. Print replaced cave drawings, clay pressings, stone carvings, papyrus. Books were cloth- or leather-bound.
Appeasement
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 25/01/2018
» World War I was so horrendous that it was universally believed another world war would mean Armageddon, the end of life on Earth. Imperialist conquest was one thing, but another world war had to be avoided at all cost. The way to settle conflicts was by talking, not shooting. An Austrian corporal, gassed and be-medalled, disagreed that the Great War was the War to End All Wars. Arguing that the Versailles Treaty ending it gave Germany -- his new country of citizenship -- a raw deal, he set about disclaiming it. Though talking peace, he set about arming the Third Reich.