Tagged: Thriller
Mini review: “Black Wolf” by Juan Gómez-Jurado (audiobook edition)
There’s no way around it – this sequel to Red Queen and the middle book in the trilogy of the same name is a disappointment. The book is getting better reviews than the first and there are comments about a better translation (although I had no real issues with the translation of Red Queen) so it should have been a good step up. But is isn’t.
The book is not really about the Black Wolf character of the title. There is too much repetition in the text and an over-reliance on buddy-buddy policing when what it really needs is a serious core, proper character development and some good quality writing that propels the story forward. Then a lacing of dark humour can add something special.
The important stuff seems to be happening in the background. Mentor is evidently dealing with some serious shit that is going to come to light in the next book. Black Wolf does enough in the last few pages to leave you wanting to find out more; I’m hoping that the final book is worth it. I will listen to it (my first Spanish audiobook as the translation is not due out until next year) but it will have to be something truly special.
• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Red Queen” by Juan Gómez-Jurado (audiobook edition)
Mini review: “Dead in the Water” by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel (audiobook edition)
I picked this originally as it was shortlisted for the FT Business Book of the Year (2022) and it had gotten some excellent reviews.
This is an investigation into the wrecking of an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen. The ship was boarded by pirates and sabotaged – at least that was the official story. When one of the people sent to assess the ship is murdered the official story starts to unravel to reveal an attempt to pull off a huge financial fraud.
The book is very good at uncovering how the world’s shipping industry works, with particular focus on how the massive vessels and their cargoes get insured. The amounts of money involved are huge (costs counted in the millions of dollars) as are the possible risks. Shipping’s importance is largely overlooked or taken for granted by most people but without insurance the industry would come to a halt and would bring the modern global economy with it.
The epicenter of the shipping insurance industry is London and in particular Lloyds of London (https://www.lloyds.com/) so it should come as no surprise that history, traditions and unconventional working practices are the norm. There’s insurance, reassurance, interested parties galore, not to mention the financial arrangements of the ship owners who position themselves behind shell companies and tax havens.
And that is why this case is particularly intriguing. It doesn’t happen very often that a case gets to court and this amount of information becomes available.
This is a very well written book and does an excellent job of shining a light on an industry which doesn’t get a lot of mainstream attention. However, as much as I would like to say that I agree with other reviews which state that it “has the feel of a thriller” (Sunday Times) or “reads like a fast-paced thriller” (The Times) or has “a thriller-like narrative” (Financial Times) I’m afraid that I found that it got itself bogged down in the innumerable details and the many people involved. Perhaps it would have been easier to follow if I had read the book rather than listened to it but I found that I was not be able to keep track of the various names and their roles which led to periods of confusion.
It’s a real shame. I was ready for the book to blow me away and it didn’t quite do that. This is a four star book rather than a five star book. I would still recommend it to people as it is a very good story and a strong piece of journalism – just be prepared to concentrate as you get towards the end.
Also:
• BBC: The Case of the Brillante Virtuoso
• BBC: Deep Waters: The hidden world of global shipping
• BBC: Lost At Sea (a podcast about another incident at sea – recommended)
• Bloomberg (by the authors of the book):
Mini review: “The Talented Mr Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith
In this 1950’s crime thriller, the main character – Tom Ripley – is asked by a successful American to go to Italy to convince his impulsive son to return to the US and take his place in the family business.
Tom enjoys this glimpse of a lifestyle that only wealth can provide and decides he wants it for himself. We get to spend 250 pages in Tom’s head, following his thoughts, frailties and composure as his murderous ideas develop.
You shouldn’t like this person – but he is personable. His acts are despicable but you want him to succeed.
The majority of the book is spent in a state of tension as Tom’s lies get him deeper into a situation from which he can no longer escape.
And then there are the moments when, in the space of a few words, the story takes a turn and the apprehension just multiplies. So simply done, no fuss but critical, almost breathtaking.
As the story plows on and the number of pages remaining rapidly diminishes, you wonder how he can possibly get away with his crimes (he must – there are several more books in the series…). The only other book where I have gotten the same sense so successfully achieved is the masterful Day of the Jackal.
This whole story is immoral in so many ways yet ultimately so delicious.
Do not miss it.
Mini review: “The Hard Way (Jack Reacher 10)” by Lee Child (audiobook edition)
This was my summer reading this year. I was at the airport and the bookshop had lots of different Lee Child books, perhaps 15 or 20 (the series currently has 23). I looked them up on Amazon to see what the reviews were like and decided to go for Never Go Back.
Well… that was one of the few that they didn’t have so I went for The Hard Way instead.
This time the story involves Reacher helping to get back a rich man’s wife who has been kidnapped.
I don’t know about the other novels in the series but the action is not too violent and there is not a lot of swearing. I’m not adverse to either in principal but it made for easy reading.
The narration is that average American blandness you often get. The narrator can’t do an English accent, and when there is more than one English character in a scene they both sound exactly the same. Equally bad. Women don’t come off much better. The main female character should come over as mature, confident and Reacher’s equal but instead sounds like a breathless damsel in distress. The other female character suffers from the same affliction.
This was my first Jack Reacher novel and the author does a good job of keeping the story going at an acceptable pace, throwing in a few curveballs so that you want to keep reading. I’d go back for another in the series – probably Never Go Back (🙃).
Film review: Heat
I remember when this first came out in 1995 all the interest was related to the fact that this was the first time that Robert De Niro and Al Pacino had actually spent screen time together. Previously, in The Godfather Part 2 they had been in the same film but not at the same time. That momentous occasion seemed to overshadow the whole film.
I watched the film again recently – it is a masterpiece. As action films go this is intelligent and vicious. A great story, a magnificent cast. One of the best examples of the genre.
Mini review: Six Degrees of Assassination (An Audible Drama)
Audible’s first radio play is a fast-paced political thriller that takes its cues very much from current headlines – an act of terrorism has been committed: the murder in cold blood of the British Prime Minister. Suspects come from many corners of the globe and have their own motivations.
But that’s not all… relationship problems for the main characters and behind-the-scenes political power games are added to the mix. Not entirely original but they do add to the tension really well. The play is broken down into chapters which end with cliffhangers that make you want to keep listening. It made me think of I Am Pilgrim, which is basically an action film in book form, unashamedly out to take you for a rollercoaster ride.
The play is about 5 hours long. This gives the story time to develop but also imposes a deadline. Towards the end it becomes quite claustrophobic. There are shades of Day of the Jackal – a well executed race against time. Be aware that there is swearing – not gratuitous in my opinion, but frequent.
This is an excellent first step for Audible, in particular Audible.co.uk, since this is a very much a British story. They evidently see this market as worthy of decent investment. Production-wise this is as good as any drama on the BBC.
Highly recommended.
• Audible: Six Degrees of Assassination: An Audible Drama
• Audible: FREE FIRST EPISODE: Six Degrees of Assassination: An Audible Drama
• Youtube: Six Degrees of Assassination – the trailer
Spare Cycles 