The Book Sniffer

A true horror story though there is always a silver lightning at the end. Shin a North Korean born in camp 14 ; one of the harshest places in the world.

His escape and life in the camp reads to the banality of evil. to the selfishness of dictators to the cult of personality of North Korea's leaders - past and present.

Snitching is a way of life in the camp, in school and among family members. Shin Snitching caused major problems for him and affected his life later on.

When reading this book one should think like a camp resident to understand the actions of the Koreans. To the normal person those actions sounds like something from Lord of the Flies.

Recommended to anyone who wants a book that will keep him/her up at night.

I did enjoy this journey from north America to west Africa. From Canada to Nigeria. Them infamous emails telling you , that you would inherit thousand and thousands of dollars.

Laura travels to retract the invisible steps that her father took when he sent all his savings to Nigeria in a 419 scam.

A complicated 4 part novel. enjoyable in many parts and mundane in some chapters. Over 100 chapters .. in more than one setting with a cast of strong and hard headed characters.

The first book in the Jack Taylor series. The Guards aka the Garda. The Irish Police.

I loved the way of writing
for example

Three murders.
Four.
My heart being hammered
Tons of cash
Exile.

Jack is a book reader. a lover of crime fiction and thrillers. He quotes them. and he is a heavy drinker. The typical Irish man. Silent and roaring.

He gets discharged from the Guards. a 16 years old girl Sara commits suicide or was she killed and dumped in the pond. the suicide rate in Galway has risen. Is there a connection ?

Among seedy bars and bottles of drink. Guinness and Gin. Winos on the street. and the ever present eyes of God and his bishops this story unfold in the best possible way.

If one has a goal and works to get it, the universe will conspire to help him achieve it.

Harold Fry, 65, retired sales person at a brewery. He walks over 500 miles from the south of England to the North to visit a dying former coworker. A 21st century pilgrimage.

Queenie Henessey. In a hospice. Cancer ridden. Sends Harold a letter and this letter accompanied by a sense of guilt triggers Harold's Odyssey.

Maureen Fry. Married to Harold. English and proper. Life and events lead to a schism with Harold and this pilgrimage and journey may help put things in their right place.

Harold Fry, is an endearing character. You would not want to leave him after meeting him.

The writing is beautiful and poetic. An eye for details in flora and fauna.

There was a lot of minor characters. Some were there for a brief sentence or a paragraph. I wish there was less of them and more focus on Harold and his struggle to reach the end point.

Title: Claudine

Author: Barbara Palmer

Publisher: Penguin Canada

Review:

I enjoyed reading this novel and would recommend it to any one interested in this genre.

My first encounter with John Scalzi.

This DRM free ebook acts as a prequel to Scalzi's Lock In published in August 2014.

This prequel acts as an oral history; a verbal historical documentation to the discovery and quarantine of the Haden's Syndrome named after the fictional first lady who contracts it.

a flu like illness that rampages the world from one end to the other. 15% of the world population succumb to it. There are three phases of the disease.

A flu ...
Meningitis...
The lock in phase; where the mind is locked in in an inert body that breathes but can't function ..

There is a solution . I won't spoil it. Read the book.

It's short and a teaser. it's well written and a very possible scenario. Not very far fetched.

Short and enjoyable.

The story line is simple, yet elegant. a great introduction to Haruki. Way better than his last novel 1Q84. Way less repetition and unnecessary details.

Color and music are very important aspects and elements in this book. The title derives from a work of music by Liszt and the characters and secondary characters are named after colors.

It is a sort of linear novel. Narrating the year of Tazaki pilgrimage between the past.. of what happened or did not happen 16 years ago and the now.. the fears and hopes. the expectations and doubts that plague the mind of the main character.

An amazing if not better sequel to Red Dragon. It is hard not to admire and salute Hannibal Lecter. He is cunning, charming, evil and wise.

Clarice Starling. FBI trainee. gifted with a troubled past is on the mission to understand and uncover a series of killings.

A thrilling read. Better than the movie. Though one can imagine Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster Hahaha.

Would totally recommend it.

A short treaty about the history of detective fiction. P. D. James gives insight into her own novels and writing habits while giving a thorough over view about the development of the genre of detective fiction.

She discusses the golden age of this genre. the 30s of the twentieth century till late 40s. The beginning with the Moonstone or Bleak house.

Ventures into modern crime writing. the various international writers and books in translation and more important is the setting of those books.

interesting short piece of non fiction that readers of crime fiction will appreciate

Gone Girl. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy and Girl in love. Girl vanish... did the Boy cause the Girl to vanish?

Amy and Nick; two modern couple celebrating their fifth anniversary. Amy decides to play one lovely treasure hunt with her husband: not the usual treasure hunt they play every anniversary. Not the usual treasure hunt that brings back good memories; a bottle of wine, a candle lit dinner, but a treasure hunt that may make the husband the most loathed person in the area if not the country.

Amy and Nick; two different backgrounds. She; the daughter of affluent psychologists turned authors of Amazing Amy. Amazing Amy the alter ego of their own daughter who is righteous, and goody two shoes. Yet she is filled with hate. Deceit. Master Puppeteer.

Nick; the son of a family from North Carthage. A journalist. a byproduct of recession and the downfall of newspapers.

Both: master psychopaths. Charming and dangerous. Addicts to each others and parasites on each others. A complete yin and yang. Both are dark characters from the cesspool of humanity.

The novel is good. Amazing page turner and a thriller. Yet, the characterisation and development was retarded... No development in plot that makes it the IT book of 2013/ 2014.

A modern love story of twists, lies, deceit and attention. A tale of crocodile tears, back stabs. A tale of delusive narratives. 

Can't wait for the end of this book, so I can review it.