'The Tourist' by Olen Steinhauer

The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer (4.0)

After reading this very enjoyable spy thriller, I realized it was not the basis for the Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie movie.  It definitely had some similarities, though more in location (Venice) and not in plot.  The book was far better.  It follows a ‘Tourist’, the name for a black ops CIA agent stationed abroad, while he is an active Tourist and afterward as he gets enmeshed in a game of espionage involving all his co-workers, bosses and even family members.  Throughout the book, you know that he has his own secrets, but you don’t know enough to rule out the worst.  I’m glad that the author didn’t go with the easy outs.  He kept the main character likeable, yet troubled and not entirely a prefect CIA agent.  I also liked that some chapters were told from the other characters’ point of view, a complication that made twists in the story harder to discern. Sometimes the energy of the book made me read too fast and I had to go back to catch the details – the sure sign of a good plot.  Since the book jacket said the movie rights had been bought with George Clooney in mind, I am going to assume the title will be changed so as not to be confused with the Depp/Jolie movie. 

'Inheritance' by Christopher Paolini

Inheritance, Christopher Paolini (3.0)

For those familiar with Paolini’s Inheritance series, this is the fourth and last book. It included a long summary of the preceding books (which I did enjoy as it has been some time since I had read the earlier novels). While I found the ending to be thoughtful and complete, I thought the book was too long.  It was full of lengthy descriptions and what I would describe as periods of waiting. After about 50% of the book, the action started to speed up, though I still felt more was added to each mini-drama to extend the story. For some reason I particularly disliked the long and painful torture sequences of Nasuada. I understood the purpose, but felt it was a puzzle piece that did not fit. Paolini has some unique concepts (the dragon Eldunari, the rider/dragon construct), but many feel borrowed. The elves, dwarves, even the Krulls feel very ‘Lord of the Rings’-ish. I appreciate what he has done, particularly given his age and in the absence of good fantasy/Sci-Fi books, but I can’t help but ask for more maturity now that he’s an accomplished writer. In my opinion the first book, ‘Eragon’, was the best and the others have all fallen short of expectations. If you have read the other books in the series – and you have some time (850 pages!), you should read this one in order to close out the story, but I’m afraid I was a bit disappointed.

'Sealab' by Ben Hellwarth

Sealab, Ben Hellwarth (3.0)

This book was advertised as ‘The Right Stuff’ for ocean exploration. I understand the analogy and it is somewhat accurate, though it implies a drama that was missing from the retelling of the attempts to establish a residence on the ocean shelf – 300 to 1000 ft below the sea.  As Mr. Hellwarth explains, while the Apollo missions enjoyed both money from the government and attention from the world, the Sealab projects had little support on either front.  The most surprising thing to me was how precarious the situation was to the ‘aquanauts’ with every addition atmosphere of pressure they experienced.  It cam across as much more dynamic details, it was an eye opener with regards to the types of dangers encountered as we explored the depths of the oceans.  It also pointed out that Jacques Cousteau was quite a showman, but didn’t achieve many of the records for depth of length of time at these depths.  There was also a very interesting story at the end of how some of the experience and knowledge gained by the aquanauts was used to do some spying during the cold war. 

'Faith' by Jennifer Haigh

Faith, Jennifer Haigh (3.5)

This book was very interesting and fast paced.  It is the story of an Irish family in Boston that is central in one of the sadly frequent pedophile priest stories.  It is told from the priest’s sister’s point of view as she moves through the past to understand the present.  While I thought it would be a very sad story, I came away feeling it was not.  I think Ms. Haigh has made characters that are believable, but not morose.  And oddly, it does not become a condemnation of the Catholic Church, which would have been too easy.  I liked that the characters were complex and that the story went in unexpected directions while remaining believable.  I applaud her ability to make a very good story out of a difficult subject.