I will take book recommendations from anyone I just won’t always actually read the book if it doesn’t look like my cup of tea. I’ve adjusted that for this year’s challenge to try a couple of new things which is why I bought this without looking at it. While chatting to my decorator, at an appropriate distance, he mentioned Nelson DeMille, so a bit of googling later I had the first in the John Corey series.
Written in 1997 it’s a cross between Tom Clancy and Lee Child. It’s a dense text featuring a character that seems to revel in his misogynistic outlook. It took me a long time to get into, and I’d find myself reading for half an hour and only covering 20 pages or so which is far slower than I would normally read. At many points I almost gave up reading as I just didn’t seem to be making any headway, but the central mystery of the book was enough to keep me going.
Set on Long Island and the actual Plum Island, which is apparently an Animal Disease Centre for research, there were aspects of the story that were oddly prescient. Central to the murder mystery was the theory that the dead scientists had allowed a dangerous virus to escape, although it then drifted towards pirate treasure. Since I like to read for escapism, it may have been this story thread that actually kept me reading, rather than the escaped virus which just hits too close to home.
This book would have been perfect for the summer holiday that I’m not going to be able to take this year. Pick it up in the airport, read it and move on. I’ve got the second book in the series to read as well, and I think I shall just get on with that rather than saving it for the holiday I’m planning next year.
