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Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Killing Time
by Linda Howard
Ballantine Books, June, 2005
Hardcover, 330 pages
ISBN: 034545345X
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
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Amazon.co.uk
In 1985, the citizens of tiny Pekesville, Kentucky
bury a time capsule. Chief County Investigator Knox Davis was a boy when the
capsule was buried. In the present day, the time capsule goes missing and
dead bodies start showing up. Sherriff Davis is eager to solve the puzzle and
visits a crime scene where a man was locked in his house, stabbed with a spear of
unidentifiable material. When mysterious FBI agent
Nikita Stover shows up at the crime scene, Knox's puzzle gets more
complicated. Her ID doesn't check out, and her technology is clearly
beyond that of 2005. In fact, she is with the FBI -- in 2207. Her job is
to stop the murders and restore the time capsule to its proper place, in order
to preserve the timeline. Knox takes some convincing, but eventually
is persuaded that she's not crazy. But it looks like some of Nikita's own
colleagues are behind the murders, which makes Nikita a liability to them.
Nikita has other secrets, as well. And if she lives long enough, she might
just share them with the attractive Knox.
Linda Howard mixes romance and suspense in this tightly-written, character-driven
tale. The SF elements -- Nikita being from the future, for example -- are
written with a matter of fact style that meshes quite well with the
police procedural elements of the plot. Ms. Howard does an
insightful job of predicting what society might be like in 2207 and
what some of the big social issues are. Nikita and Knox are both fully-realized,
engaging characters that pull the reader into this very entertaining story.
The God Particle
by Richard Cox
Ballantine, May, 2005
Trade Paperback, 304 pages
ISBN: 0345462858
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
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Amazon.co.uk
Two men's lives become intertwined in a search for the
ultimate power in this cerebral, exciting speculative
thriller. Mike McNair is the chief physicist and director of the
North Texas Superconducting Super Collider, which was
privately funded by a billionaire after the government
lost interest in the project. McNair is determined to identify
the elusive Higgs boson (known as the God Particle), a field
of energy that is theorized to hold our universe together. Meanwhile
in Zurich, auto parts manufacturing executive Steve Keeley
finds his highly-ordered life thrown into chaos when he discovers
his fiancé's infidelity. The drunken spree that followed that
discovery lands him in a hospital where he is told he fell
out of a third-floor window (thrown is more like it) and that
he had brain surgery. After the surgery, Steve starts seeing
a mysterious white field all around him. As his powers increase,
he finds he can read people's thoughts and see the particles
that make up our world. Concerned he's losing his mind, Steve
asks himself: "Is insanity simply reality that no one else can see?"
When he reads about Mike McNair's research, some of what is happening to him
makes sense and he knows he has to head to Texas to find the physicist. The two
men meet up, just as McNair discovers that someone has been altering the test
results of his experiments with the super collider. Slowly, the agenda of the
shadowy figures behind the funding of the super collider begin to emerge.
Author Richard Cox combines particle theory, suspense and speculation about
the nature of God and the universe, with excellent results.
Explaining physics to readers without a scientific background
can be tricky: Cox navigates those waters with ease. By using
clever metaphors, he makes complex theories easily understandable
without sacrificing the underlying science. The atmosphere is perfectly drawn:
an air of genuine paranoia suffuses the hapless Steve Keeley, for example.
There are at least two romantic subplots, but the tale
resonates most when the focus goes back to the super collider and what secrets
it might reveal. McNair, the brilliant and somewhat
shy physicist is the most engaging character by far.
In fact, after he handled all the adventure and intrigue in The God Particle,
he really deserves a sequel all to himself.
--Claire E. White
One Shot
by Lee Child
Delacorte Press, June, 2005
Hardcover, 376 pages
ISBN: 0385336683
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
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Amazon.co.uk
Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher enjoys his anonymity. He lives
off the grid and likes it that way. But when someone from his past is
accused of being the sniper that killed six civilians in cold blood,
Reacher knows he has to get involved. When the police
arrived to arrest former military sniper James Barr, they find him at home
in a dead sleep. But his ID and prints match those found at the scene
of the crime, and the DA is ready to prosecute. But when he's interrogated,
all Barr will say is that they've got the wrong man and to "get Reacher."
Reacher arrives and agrees to help with the defense, although he
and Barr are definitely not friends. In fact, it would probably
be better for everyone if Barr was found guilty. But Reacher
has his own strict code of honor and does what he thinks is right.
So while Barr lies in a coma from a jailhouse beating, Reacher
sets on the trail to the truth.
Lee Child manipulates the pacing and storyline in expert fashion.
After the chilling opening chapter which follows the sniper's movements,
it seems clear that Barr is guilty as sin. But things are not quite so
simple. As Reacher follows the clues and his instincts,
a number of hidden players come to light. This knotty puzzle
has some amazing twists and turns, and through it all it is
Reacher who effortlessly holds the reader's attention with his
brilliant insights, his dry wit and his unique view of the world. This is
vintage Reacher; Lee Child is in top form here.
--Claire E. White
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