So I read a book...

Anonymous

Just finished reading I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.

Absolutely loved it. Anyone read it and can recommend anything similar?

The top 2 reviews on Amazon sum it up very well:
"Reads like the book of the film, as a Bourne/Bond/Reacher cross."

pesky_jones

About half way through and also loving it, so far.

Monkeypump

I read it late last year, and enjoyed it. I did think the end was a bit of an anti-climax though (sorry Pesky!).

I've struggled to find anything that looks interesting over the last few months, so welcome any recommendations.

Currently trying the Hunger Games books, but can't say they're blowing me away.

Anonymous

I read a few Philip Kerr novels which I enjoyed, but don't like history that much. Prague Fatale was very good.

Robert Ludlum doesn't have enough intrigue, more of a thriller, but not too bad.

I really enjoyed the depth of I Am Pilgrim in both the plotlines and how they got interwoven at the end

Monkeypump

For a complete change of pace, I really enjoyed the Charlie Owen Horse's A**e books.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Horses-Arse-Cha ... 0755336844

city_boy

Just finished Sacrifice by Paul Finch and would recommend to anyone who likes a Brit cop action thriller!

I've read 3 of his books based on the character DS Heckenberg. The Killing Club and then Stalkers (which was the wrong way round as TKC is actually the sequel to Stalkers).

Finch has a tendency to go into a bit too much trivial detail (for me) sometimes but he builds the story well and I've found all three books to be decent page turners!

RDW

I really like Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko books. He's been writing these since the 80s, where Renko starts out as a Soviet era police detective ('Gorky Park'). The books have followed the political upheavals of the times, with Renko now an investigator in Putin's Russia (I haven't yet read all 8 books). Lots of murders and intrigue, atmospheric and unusual settings (Moscow in winter, a factory ship in the Bering sea, Havana, the Chernobyl exclusion zone), and excellent writing.

capt_slog

At the moment I'm reading War and Peace.

According to the Kindle, I'm 50% of the way through but these percentages are going very slowly and I'm very aware of all the introductory stuff I skipped that made up some of that 50%. 'Bloody slow' is my critique at present.

seanoconn

Capt Slog wrote:

At the moment I'm reading War and Peace.

According to the Kindle, I'm 50% of the way through but these percentages are going very slowly and I'm very aware of all the introductory stuff I skipped that made up some of that 50%. 'Bloody slow' is my critique at present.

Only 722 pages to go!

bompington

Capt Slog wrote:

At the moment I'm reading War and Peace.

According to the Kindle, I'm 50% of the way through but these percentages are going very slowly and I'm very aware of all the introductory stuff I skipped that made up some of that 50%. 'Bloody slow' is my critique at present.

I have a useful text file with the entire content of W&P, less punctuation etc. - I use it for teaching programming, to play text searching/sorting games and such like. Much less time-wasting to get a computer to read it for you.

You see was all Natasha managed to utter to her everything seemed funny She leaned against her mother and burst into such a loud ringing fit of laughter that even the prim visitor could not help joining in Now then go away and take your monstrosity with you said the mother pushing away her daughter with pretended sternness and turning to the visitor she added She is my youngest girl Natasha raising her face for a moment from her mother s mantilla glanced up at her through tears of laughter and again hid her face The visitor compelled to look on at this family scene thought it necessary to take some part in it Tell me my dear said she to Natasha is Mimi a relation of yours A daughter I suppose Natasha did not like the visitor s tone of condescension to childish things She did not reply but looked at her seriously Meanwhile the younger generation Boris the officer Anna Mikhdylovna s son Nicholas the undergraduate the count s eldest son Sonya the count s fifteen-year-old niece and little Petya his youngest boy had all settled down in the drawing room and were obviously trying to restrain within the bounds of decorum the excitement and mirth that shone in all their faces Evidently in the back rooms from which they had dashed out so impetuously the conversation had been more amusing than the drawing-room talk of society scandals the weather and Countess Apraksina Now and then they glanced at one another hardly able to suppress their laughter The two young men the student and the officer friends from childhood were of the same age and both handsome fellows though not alike Boris was tall and fair and his calm and handsome face had regular delicate features Nicholas was short with curly hair and an open expression Dark hairs were already showing on his upper lip and his whole face expressed impetuosity and enthusiasm

sheffsimon

Currently 3/4 of the way through The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, very good, very readable with a good smattering of science too.

I'm trying to alternate between serious writing and trashy thrillers this year, got the latest Stella Rimington book lined up next...

graham.

Capt Slog wrote:

At the moment I'm reading War and Peace.

According to the Kindle, I'm 50% of the way through but these percentages are going very slowly and I'm very aware of all the introductory stuff I skipped that made up some of that 50%. 'Bloody slow' is my critique at present.

An adaptation was on Radio 4 all day New Years Day. (You probably know this.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04wz7q ... des/player

rc856

With all the zombie post apocalypse type stuff last year, I was told about a series of books called
The Remaining by DJ Molles.

Thoroughly recommend them if you like that kind of stuff.

Best thing is that the first 4 or 5 books are about £3 each on Kindle.

mr_goo

Just finished 'Lamentation' by CJ Sansom. Brilliant read if you like historic novels set in Henry VIII Tudor England. Easily better than that tripe 'Wolf Hall' that the overstuffed Jabba Hilary Mantel has churned out. I always steer clear of books that win literary awards.

Philip Kerr is also a good read. I think you have to like the main character to enjoy a book and Kerr's main protagonist is Bernie Gunther a police detective in Nazi Germany.

I have read quite lot of the early Jack Reacher series, but found that Lee Child has started to become too formulaic in his writing. Probably the price of success and his publishers demand for at least one book a year.

pinno

I recommend 'The Third policeman' by Flann O'Brien, coridor dan.

ballysmate

How about the Koran... a ripping good yarn?

pinno

Ballysmate wrote:

How about the Koran... a ripping good yarn?

Just like the bible, printed for years mistakenly without the last page:

"This book is entirely fictitious and any references to persons living or dead is purely coincidental..."

ballysmate

pinarello001 wrote:

Ballysmate wrote:

How about the Koran... a ripping good yarn?

Just like the bible, printed for years mistakenly without the last page:

"This book is entirely fictitious and any references to persons living or dead is purely coincidental..."

Amen to that!

Anonymous

Yeah I think I mentions Philip Kerr. Prague fatale was excellent with a good ending as well, which often lets the genre down. I've just been recommended 2 brothers by Ben Elton so may get a copy of that and see how i go. Also Goldfinch and also, the book by jk Rowlings pseudonym. We shall see.

It think Henry VIII is too far back for me

RDW

Mr Goo wrote:

Just finished 'Lamentation' by CJ Sansom. Brilliant read if you like historic novels set in Henry VIII Tudor England. Easily better than that tripe 'Wolf Hall' that the overstuffed Jabba Hilary Mantel has churned out. I always steer clear of books that win literary awards.

Philip Kerr is also a good read. I think you have to like the main character to enjoy a book and Kerr's main protagonist is Bernie Gunther a police detective in Nazi Germany.

Wolf Hall and its sequel really seem to divide readers. I think a lot of people expect they're going to be tackling a straightforward historical novel, and it's a long way from that. If you do connect with it, pretty much anything else set in that period is going to seem like cardboard afterwards. Best thing I've read in ages.

Philip Kerr does look good - the Berlin Noir collection is waiting on my shelf.

verylonglegs

I've gone through all the Bernie Gunther books in the last couple of months, they really hit the spot for me. I really enjoyed the historical perspective and also Kerr's writing style, he has a really good turn of phrase or should I say the main character does.

I do tend to enjoy books more when they stimulate my mind in terms of past events and what society was like as well as the plot. Another example that springs to mind is William Boyd's An Ice-Cream War, until I read it I had no idea there was an African theatre in the First World War.

Have also read some of the mentioned Renko books, have been meaning to revisit that series for a while.

BelgianBeerGeek

pinarello001 wrote:

I recommend 'The Third policeman' by Flann O'Brien, coridor dan.

+1 - superb book.

Just finished "Angelas Ashes" by Frank McCourt, his memoir about his childhood in 1930's Limerick. It had been lying around for ages and I didn't think I'd like it. By turns harrowing and very funny, it was a real page-turner. A long time since I have read a book I found difficult to put down.

Anonymous

pinarello001 wrote:

I recommend 'The Third policeman' by Flann O'Brien, coridor dan.

Just googled this. Explains a lot...

mr_goo

coriordan wrote:

Yeah I think I mentions Philip Kerr. Prague fatale was excellent with a good ending as well, which often lets the genre down. I've just been recommended 2 brothers by Ben Elton so may get a copy of that and see how i go. Also Goldfinch and also, the book by jk Rowlings pseudonym. We shall see.

It think Henry VIII is too far back for me

2 Brothers is a fine book. You will enjoy.

mr_goo

verylonglegs wrote:

I've gone through all the Bernie Gunther books in the last couple of months, they really hit the spot for me. I really enjoyed the historical perspective and also Kerr's writing style, he has a really good turn of phrase or should I say the main character does.

I do tend to enjoy books more when they stimulate my mind in terms of past events and what society was like as well as the plot. Another example that springs to mind is William Boyd's An Ice-Cream War, until I read it I had no idea there was an African theatre in the First World War.

Have also read some of the mentioned Renko books, have been meaning to revisit that series for a while.

+1 for William Boyd. A Good Man in Africa is excellent in its human observation, humour and insight into colonial/embassy life in Africa.

bianchimoon

Joseph Hellers catch 22 a classic

coulddobetter

Jo Nesbo , now read all the Harry Hole books. Excellent plotting and a brilliantly flawed lead character.

solosuperia

As it is 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo I thought I would recommend this:-
The Battle: The Definitive History of the Battle of Waterloo
by Alessandro Barbero and John Cullen.
First and foremost I usually find any history book starts to bore with its endless presentation of facts and figures.
I know this is its raison d'etre is but............
This book reads like a novel, shock horror! Also it is written by an italian, so no national bias.
It was recommened to me by a history buff who said factually it is correct, except where some of the army are referred to as fusiliers, when they were infantry.
As I say a good read, not heavyweight at all and some interesting insights from the British perspective emerge.
5 stars or whatever.

Anonymous

Ooh. Jo nesbo. Forgot about her.

Bought the Russian detective one from the 80s and hopefully that'll have me hooked on the series

meanredspider

coriordan wrote:

Ooh. Jo nesbo. Forgot about her.

That's one ugly woman - she looks exactly like a bloke

Anonymous

This just arrived:



Hopefully that's book one...