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Friends, this is my review of the book The Enemy by Desmond Bagley, which I read recently.. This is a book that I have had on my bookshelves for a number of years and came to light when I was moving things around. At the start of the book I could not remember the plot line so it made an enjoyable read, if slightly dated, compared to the present day, but of course correct if one assumes that the story is now historical taking place in the 1970's.
The book was written in 1977, and explores the issues and troubles related to generic engineering, and genetic warfare. The star of the book is a secret agent, Malcolm Jaggard who works for a department that is at odds with its rivals. He becomes engaged to Penny Ashton, the daughter of a successful industrialist, who has a secret past. The industrialist disappears following on from an acid attack on Penny's sister. Malcolm is tasked with the job of finding out where he has vanished to. Slowly through a series of seemingly unrelated events the story is uncovered. A bit like peeling an onion. As each layer is uncovered new mysteries are revealed, taking the story to Sweden and then Scotland. Seemingly as soon as one mystery is solved a new one or twist is revealed, right down to the last pages. Three quarters of the way through the book the story line did come back to me form my previous read, but that did not spoil the story in any way. This was book 4 week 2 fiction 4 (audio book1) non fiction 0
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Friends, this is my review of the book The Runaway Jury by John Grisham, which I read recently. I enjoy reading books by John Grisham, and this did not disappoint. In fact it pleasantly surprised me as it was a totally unexpected plot line.
The gist of the story was a court case about possible damages smoking caused, and if smoking did cause damage, then what level of fine/compensation would be awarded by the jury. The tobacco industry firms who were in the doc, employed a jury manipulation firm to manage the result of the court case so it hopefully results in a ruling in favour the tobacco industry. Lots of money being spent on dirty tricks, on both sides of the law. Of course gradually as the court case progresses not all goes to plan, both for the judge who is preceding over the largest case he has ever had and also for how the jury behaves. To say more would spoil the plot so I will not, except to say that there were twists and turns that were not expected. Also and maybe this is because in the UK we have a different jury system, it was interesting, lending to the question do people actually try and control court cases like this or was it all just fiction. What ever it was an enjoyable read and quite a page turner. So this was book 3 week 2 fiction 3, (audio book 1) non fiction 0. Friends, this is my review of the book The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, which I listened to recently as an audio book, whilst travelling. As it was over 25 hours in length, this has occurred over a number of weeks.
It is a story told by several people using their own pen and style, along with collaborating documents. This switching of viewpoints did make it quite difficult to follow at times, especially when coming back to the story line after a few days, but then it was quite quick to pick up again. So what is the long story about – in brief, artist Walter Hartright is about to embark on a new job: he'll be the drawing master for the heiress of Limmerage House, Miss Laura Fairlie and her half-sister Miss Marion Halcolme. While out for a stroll before leaving for Limmerage, he chances to meet a young woman, dressed all in white and behaving very erratically. The long novel then recounts the saga of what happens to these three ladies. Death, grand theft of money, an unhappy forced marriage and the chilling Count Fosco, are all added to the mix.The detail and description used to describe the villains all help to explain why it was such a hit when the book was written in the 1860's. It is widely regarded as one of the first and finest of the genre of sensation novels. As such I can recommend it as either an audio book, so long as you have plenty of time to listen to it, (it helped pass the time driving on long motorway journeys), or as a written novel. This was book 2 week 1 - fiction 2, (audio book 1) non fiction 0. Friends, so we start a new book list of 52 books, this is my fourth such list. I am currently re-reading some books that I have had on my bookshelves for a number of years. (Nothing like having a good sort out, you come across all sorts of things)
So this is my review of the book Airframe by Michael Crichton, which I re-read recently. Having originally read this over a decade ago, the big challenge was, could I remember the story line, and especially the key points of the plot. Though this book was written over fifteen years ago, it is still an exciting page turner, and shows the skill and quality of the writing. The story line is all about an incident that occurs when flying from Hong Kong to America. There are three fatalities and a large number of injuries, and the interior cabin is virtually destroyed. What had caused the incident, was it an issue with the plan, replaced parts, or even pilot error. The star of the book, Casey from QA, has to solve this before a sales deal collapses with China. Everything seems to work against this frantic investigation, board room infighting, union issues, TV media deadlines, and legal ambulance chasers, trying to sue. Added to this more and more work is given to her. On one hand to help her succeed on the other to try and ensure she fails, including mentoring an assistant, who seems to be up to no good. Added to this is the level of detail, that Michael gives making the story very real, and an enjoyable page turner. So this was book 1 week 1 – fiction 1, non fiction 0.  Blackberries Friends, this is my last recipe in my blackberry collection for this year, and this is one that takes a bit of time to come to fruition. It takes a fine drink to a new level of enjoyment. Ingredients
2 kg washed blackberries 1 lemon 250 g sugar 1 bottle of blended whiskey. (It can be made with a bottle of Vodka instead of whiskey if you prefer this as a drink) Method Put the blackberries in a large glass jar that can be sealed. Eg a Kilner jar, or glass sweet jar. Chop up lemon and add to mixture Add sugar Pour in the whiskey Shake up Put in a cool dark cupboard Every couple of days give it a shake After a couple of weeks, or when the sugar has completely dissolved shake then once a week It will be just about drinkable after three months but improves greatly if left for a year. It makes a fine Chr Strain through fine sieve and bottle. Drink sensibly and enjoy |
Tim Fuller
Dyslexic doodles on photography, food (growing, cooking & of course eating), faith and other fascinating things. This is a personal blog expressing my views. Archives
November 2015
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