Michael Connelly – The Closers

TYPE:    Thriller, Mystery

RATING:    7/10

REVIEW:

The Closers is a well rounded murder mystery. I must have missed Harry Bosch’s description in the earlier books as this just the second book of Connelly that I have laid hands on.

The Closers are a group of people on the fifth floor of the LAPD who work on open-unsolved cases. This usually means that they have to sift through the evidence they have,part by part, because there is only a slight chance, if any, of getting fresh evidence pertaining to cases that may be as old as two decades back.

Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird

TYPE:    Classic

RATING:    9/10

REVIEW:

This is one classic which had me addicted to it from the moment I started reading it. I especially liked the way the authoress used a small girl to be the narrator in the story.

It is amazing how she managed to get in the skin of the little girl and progressed the story through.

The book is also a great example of all the prejudices that people have against each other. It acts as an eye-opener, even at this point of time, when most of the matters that are discussed here have been taken care of to a lot of extent.

DESCRIPTION:

‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’

A lawyer’s advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this enchanting classic – a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.

Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irritationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties.

The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man’s struggle for justice.

But the weight of history will only tolerate so much …

Sidney Sheldon – Master of the Game

TYPE: Thriller

RATING: 7/10

REVIEW:

This was a book that was recommended to me as a must-read and since he read a lot too, I didn’t hesitate taking it up. Well, turns out that it wasn’t that great a choice at all.

The only book of Sheldon that I have ever liked is The Doomsday Conspiracy, which appealed to my sci-fi sense.

Master of the Game takes you through the life of Kate Blackwell, with a brief history of her father, who made it rich though it had been considered by few as ill-gotten gains. Using the diamonds that he got, he built a successful empire around him.

Kate’s childhood is spent in loving her father’s assistant, whom she has planned to marry. But things don’t go out exactly as she has planned, and from then does she start a life which involves passion, deceit, and a good amount of blackmail.

The story seems too much of a rip-off of Jeffrey Archer’s works. It stays true to my belief that all Sheldon’s novels are pretty much similar and predictable. The book seems similar to a couple of his own novels including Bloodline and The Stars Shine Down.

Though die-hard fans of Sheldon consider it as one of his greatest works, it fails to hold my attention.

DESCRIPTION:

Kate Blackwell is one of the world’s most powerful women and the daughter of a diamond prospector who struck it rich beyond his wildest dreams.

The extravagant celebrations of her ninetieth birthday include toasts from a Supreme Court judge and a telegram from the White House. But for Kate there are ghosts. Ghosts of absent friends and absent enemies. Ghosts from a life of blackmail, deceit and murder. Ghosts from an empire spawned by naked ambition.

Alistair MacLean – Fear is the Key

Fear is the Key

TYPE: Action / Adventure

RATING: 8 / 10

REVIEW:

Truly a fast-paced book that you just can’t dare keep down for the fear that you’ll miss out on something in the few seconds that it will take to continue reading it.

The mystery is so very mysterious that I finished the book in a matter of hours and was relieved to find the mystery unveiled and all the puzzle pieces fitted into place. The suspense is unnerving, and the plot keeps thickening at a regular pace; it is well nigh impossible to keep from biting your nails in anticipation of what will happen next.

Ken Follett – Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth

TYPE: Medieval – Periodic

RATING: 9/10

REVIEW:

This is a brilliantly written masterpiece of a novel I think this is one book which compares with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in giving reality to a period that may never have existed. This book brings you to the world of twelfth century England and the areas around it. It takes you through the course of one person, Tom, who sets out to build a beautiful cathedral for his wife who he lost while she was giving birth to his third child.

Considering the unfortunate circumstances that Tom was in, he conducts a decent burial, in those circumstances, in the forest and leaves the just-born child in the forest on the grave. However, guilt makes him come back to the grave but the child is no more to be seen. During the course of the story, he realizes that the kid is being well cared for in a monastery which is run by a monk, Philip.