For the Record - Robert Harris, Dan Brown and Conspiracy
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Nearly all the books below are so light a read that they could be blown away with just a breath of desert wind. The exception is Robert Harris' Fatherland which is very good indeed. I have added a review of his well above average historical crime drama Pompeii but the bulk of these books are conspiracy thrillers that fed simultaneously off post-9/11 paranoia about the Middle East or the barely taboo chance to disrespect organised religion and/or an interest in cashing in on the Da Vinci Code (published in 2003). Two of Dan Brown's own follow-up books are included below.
Fatherland (1991)
Robert Harris
Deservedly a thriller classic which postulates an alternative universe in which the Nazis won. Almost certainly in any 'Top 100' thriller list, somewhere alongside Len Deighton's much earlier SS-GB.
Knights of the Blood (Knights of the Blood, #1) (1993)
Scott MacMillan and Katherine Kurtz
This is cliched - Nazi vampires meet quasi-Templar vampires with LAPD cop
in the middle. But its written with some verve and, if you need a bit
of pulp fiction to get you through the night, this will do. My wife
calls it Mills & Boon for boys. That's about right. I could happily
buy the next one and sod the literati. A nice piece of pre-Da Vinci Code conspiracy lore.
Pompeii (2003)
Robert Harris
This really is rather good although it loses a star for perhaps fiddling
the reality of the effects of a pyroclastic flow in order to come out
with a crowd-pleasing result that really should not have been allowed.
However, this is a small quibble.
What we have here is a startlingly good evocation of the Roman Empire in the Bay of Naples in the first century AD - so good and so well researched that it would do no harm to have it on the syllabus of anyone studying the classics (if anyone does nowadays) at secondary school.
It is also a solid thriller but the skill lies in the almost cinematic writing and clarity of style, the sign of an educated man trained as a journalist and abandoning any attempt to be self-consciously literary for a market of introverts.
This is excellent writing for the educated element in the masses much as we might have expected a hundred years ago from the likes of Rider Haggard or Conan Doyle. The set piece of the Roman fleet under a rain of pumice is a tour de force of imagination and tight writing.
The characterisation is superb as well. He pulls off the difficult trick of presenting us with real human beings who do not know anything outside their era, who share the assumptions of that era but who have all the emotions that we might have.
With only one romantic lapse, these are people who accept the social conditions of their time much as we do ours. There is no didacticism or moralising from a twenty-first century perspective - a rare pleasure nowadays. Harris imagines what it must have been like to be Roman brilliantly.
Harris seems to specialise in fine popular writing set in history without allowing his stories to slip into the standard tropes of the historical novel. Most of his story-telling is set in the twentieth century and he has no problem with alternative history - most famously in 'Fatherland' (see above).
To have moved from territory he clearly knows well back in time two thousand years and come up with this book shows more than just the novelist and the journalist - it shows an author who could also have been, had he chosen, a very fine historian. A very good read.
What we have here is a startlingly good evocation of the Roman Empire in the Bay of Naples in the first century AD - so good and so well researched that it would do no harm to have it on the syllabus of anyone studying the classics (if anyone does nowadays) at secondary school.
It is also a solid thriller but the skill lies in the almost cinematic writing and clarity of style, the sign of an educated man trained as a journalist and abandoning any attempt to be self-consciously literary for a market of introverts.
This is excellent writing for the educated element in the masses much as we might have expected a hundred years ago from the likes of Rider Haggard or Conan Doyle. The set piece of the Roman fleet under a rain of pumice is a tour de force of imagination and tight writing.
The characterisation is superb as well. He pulls off the difficult trick of presenting us with real human beings who do not know anything outside their era, who share the assumptions of that era but who have all the emotions that we might have.
With only one romantic lapse, these are people who accept the social conditions of their time much as we do ours. There is no didacticism or moralising from a twenty-first century perspective - a rare pleasure nowadays. Harris imagines what it must have been like to be Roman brilliantly.
Harris seems to specialise in fine popular writing set in history without allowing his stories to slip into the standard tropes of the historical novel. Most of his story-telling is set in the twentieth century and he has no problem with alternative history - most famously in 'Fatherland' (see above).
To have moved from territory he clearly knows well back in time two thousand years and come up with this book shows more than just the novelist and the journalist - it shows an author who could also have been, had he chosen, a very fine historian. A very good read.
The Black Sun (Tom Kirk, #2) (2006)
James Twining
A quick read and an unmemorable thriller - basically a treasure hunt with
the usual Nazi and Russian gangster cliches and characterisation by
numbers BUT Twining writes crisply and each very short chapter (at least
in the first two thirds) ends on a cliff-hanger that demands you read
the next one until the creativity is finally overwhelmed by the formula
in or around page 366 of 575. But, if you want to be entertained and not
think, why not ...
Sign of the Cross (Payne & Jones, #2) (2006)
Sword of God (Payne & Jones #3) (2007)
The Lost Throne (Payne &Jones #4) (2008)
Chris Kuzneski
** spoiler alert **
Although, like so many of these thrillers, Sign of the Cross falters towards
the end as everything has to get tied up without too many loose ends,
this is one of the better contributions to the conspiracy/thriller genre
in terms of straight simple story telling. It precedes Sword of
God as a Payne/Jones actioner and, although the next book in the series is better in
writing, plotting and, dare one even contemplate the term, credibility,
this is a good read, simply because Kuzneski does not try to be
over-educated to his audience.
His explanations of historic events (far from reliable but who cares) are short and to-the-point without those long boring serious passages where lesser mortals try to persuade us that they read the Vatican Library as part of their research. Kuzneski just wants to entertain us and the only things that you might need warning about is that it has its gruesome moments (but much less so than the next book) and there are many points when he would have been burned by the inquisition for blasphemy - certainly not a comfortable book for evangelicals and opus dei catholics.
Kuzneski seems blithely unaware that he is tampering with stuff that can get you killed in many countries - and his next book will do to Islam (though more charitably) what he does to Catholicism in this one. What next after that - a story about a group of Buddhist killers, 'Jews for the apocalypse' or Shinto world domination? Kuzneski has the chutzpah ...
His explanations of historic events (far from reliable but who cares) are short and to-the-point without those long boring serious passages where lesser mortals try to persuade us that they read the Vatican Library as part of their research. Kuzneski just wants to entertain us and the only things that you might need warning about is that it has its gruesome moments (but much less so than the next book) and there are many points when he would have been burned by the inquisition for blasphemy - certainly not a comfortable book for evangelicals and opus dei catholics.
Kuzneski seems blithely unaware that he is tampering with stuff that can get you killed in many countries - and his next book will do to Islam (though more charitably) what he does to Catholicism in this one. What next after that - a story about a group of Buddhist killers, 'Jews for the apocalypse' or Shinto world domination? Kuzneski has the chutzpah ...
Sword of God was surprisingly good considering it is yet another of the post-9/11surge of
books mixing Middle Eastern politics and at least the implication of
ancient secrets. Kuzneski can write without cliche when he wants
to, but when he does cliche, wow does he go to town - the 'machismo' of
the hero and his sidekick (who kept reminding me of the Lone Ranger and
Tonto for some reason) in the early chapters was just OTT.
But, despite this caveat and the usual necessary unbelievabilities which are part of this genre, this is worth reading because the investigation of the dark side of the war on terror is spot-on. Enough of interest to make it a good light read thriller, it would also make a good Denzel Washington-type movie, with a bit of tweaking. Unfortunately, because of the subject matter, this film will never be made ... read it to work out why.
But, despite this caveat and the usual necessary unbelievabilities which are part of this genre, this is worth reading because the investigation of the dark side of the war on terror is spot-on. Enough of interest to make it a good light read thriller, it would also make a good Denzel Washington-type movie, with a bit of tweaking. Unfortunately, because of the subject matter, this film will never be made ... read it to work out why.
But, oh dear ... what a disappointment The Lost Throne is. The previous
two books in the Pyne and Jones series were formulaic but
had a certain raw energy and innocent paciness that make them enjoyable.
Chapters were short and ended on a high note so you wanted to keep
turning the page even though you knew that you were just munching on
boy-chocolate.
The Lost Throne is formula without the energy, too long
and leisurely, with dull plot McGuffins, hackneyed characterisation and
an excessive use of cut-and-paste wiki-description of the sites (a fault
of the first books, overlooked by the fact that things actually
happened faster in the scenery). Halfway, I was dying for one of the
heroes to make a pass at the Barbie-blonde Alison just to relieve the
tedium. Here's a tip to the author. Get a new Editor, someone
prepared to do one of two things - either cut the book by a quarter and
keep to the formula or able to stand up to you and say the formula is no
longer working. Penguin are getting lazy and are doing a disservice to
their author.
One of the interesting aspects of the two previous two books was a totally politically incorrect and wonderfully naive approach to Catholicism in the first book and Islam in the second. I yearned for a first strike at Tibetan Buddhism or Judaism (and outrage in California or a court case in Germany), but instead we get a half-hearted false reading of the Orthodox Church and of Heinrich Schliemann's archaology and a reading of Spartan culture straight out of a dumbing down of '300'. Ouch! Not recommended even if you expect to be bored on a long journey. Shame though - the first two in the series were mad, rollicking adventures. This third (fourth in the series( suggests that there should not be another.
One of the interesting aspects of the two previous two books was a totally politically incorrect and wonderfully naive approach to Catholicism in the first book and Islam in the second. I yearned for a first strike at Tibetan Buddhism or Judaism (and outrage in California or a court case in Germany), but instead we get a half-hearted false reading of the Orthodox Church and of Heinrich Schliemann's archaology and a reading of Spartan culture straight out of a dumbing down of '300'. Ouch! Not recommended even if you expect to be bored on a long journey. Shame though - the first two in the series were mad, rollicking adventures. This third (fourth in the series( suggests that there should not be another.
The Alexandria Link (Cotton Malone, #2) (2007)
Steve Berry
Unfortunately, this was rather pedestrian - OK for a flight or a long
train journey but not remarkable. Another in this odd new genre mixing Middle
Eastern politics and Da Vinci code-type plots and mysteries.
It has
the most irritating female supporting character that I have ever come
across in a thriller - I would have pushed her out of the plane myself
if I had been there (see book) - whose depiction proves that Berry could have done better by avoiding plots by number and working on character.
The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3) (2009)
Dan Brown
Complete nonsense, of course, but a good entertaining read with moments
of real horror, some genuine surprises and some decent characterisation
although Robert Langdon himself remains, ironically, deliberately or
because of a lack of imagination on Brown's part, a dull cypher.
It is as formulaic as the previous two books in the series - fast-paced, fixed to specific locations, written to make sure you turn the page and making use of sufficient learning to give you the illusion that you are learning something (far less than you think, of course).
This one is about Freemasonry, the East Coast elite, the topography of Washington DC, the CIA and something called the Noetic Sciences (which is really gobbledygook for the claims of esoteric primordialists) - but little more can be said now if the fun is not be spoiled for others.
Personally I could have done without the last 50 pages in a book of around 670 but I can't say why for fear of ruining the fun of the preceding 620 which do come to a satisfactory conclusion of sorts. In a way, it is a shame I can't analyse it further for fear of spoilers but there you are. Enjoy!
It is as formulaic as the previous two books in the series - fast-paced, fixed to specific locations, written to make sure you turn the page and making use of sufficient learning to give you the illusion that you are learning something (far less than you think, of course).
This one is about Freemasonry, the East Coast elite, the topography of Washington DC, the CIA and something called the Noetic Sciences (which is really gobbledygook for the claims of esoteric primordialists) - but little more can be said now if the fun is not be spoiled for others.
Personally I could have done without the last 50 pages in a book of around 670 but I can't say why for fear of ruining the fun of the preceding 620 which do come to a satisfactory conclusion of sorts. In a way, it is a shame I can't analyse it further for fear of spoilers but there you are. Enjoy!
Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) (2017)
Dan Brown
This is yet another formulaic Dan Brown potboiler but I am reluctant to
dismiss it completely. It rattles along with its nonsense at a good pace
and his formula is a good one. While its structure is predictable, its
content does sometimes surprise.
Brown is good at taking some popular cultural meme and filling it out to make the reader feel as if he is engaged in some deep intellectual exercise when he is engaged in anything but. This time his interest is in the old religion versus science debate, AI and our alleged transhumanist future.
There are the usual gobbets of cultural information where you might have small slabs of nerdy technological detail on guns, cars and aircraft in a more conventional formulaic thriller. Barcelona's tourist authority must be slavering at the possible effects on the local economy of a film version.
Is Dan Brown subversive? No, not really. He is not very tough on religion and his view of society remains conservative and comforting. The ideas might be a bit of a thrill to the intellectually shy but not to any front-line fighters in the culture and science wars.
It is all quite enjoyable and an easy read but I would not call it 'unputdownable'. It just whiles away the time, eases stress and its story is probably going to be forgotten before too long. But there is no malice in it. It is there to make money and entertain and it seems to do both competently.
Brown is good at taking some popular cultural meme and filling it out to make the reader feel as if he is engaged in some deep intellectual exercise when he is engaged in anything but. This time his interest is in the old religion versus science debate, AI and our alleged transhumanist future.
There are the usual gobbets of cultural information where you might have small slabs of nerdy technological detail on guns, cars and aircraft in a more conventional formulaic thriller. Barcelona's tourist authority must be slavering at the possible effects on the local economy of a film version.
Is Dan Brown subversive? No, not really. He is not very tough on religion and his view of society remains conservative and comforting. The ideas might be a bit of a thrill to the intellectually shy but not to any front-line fighters in the culture and science wars.
It is all quite enjoyable and an easy read but I would not call it 'unputdownable'. It just whiles away the time, eases stress and its story is probably going to be forgotten before too long. But there is no malice in it. It is there to make money and entertain and it seems to do both competently.
Ancient Rome
Chris Kuzneski
Conspiracy Thriller
Crime
Dan Brown
Historical Novel
Middle East
Nazis
Popular Literature
Religion
Robert Harris
Science
Thriller
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