An exciting thriller of terrorism, psychosis and high-level corruption in Italy, Hewson’s City of Fear is also a barely-veiled political expose of the infamous Gladio network that was created by the CIA’s Alan Dulles in the post-WWII period with the backing of the US and several European governments. The idea of the Gladio network was initially to have a clandestine “stay-behind” network of partisans in place should a Soviet takeover of Italy and Communist encroachment on the rest of Western Europe be attempted. However, the […]
“Perfection exacts a price, but it’s the imperfect who pay it”
Goodreads summary: “A man-made plague has swept the earth, but a small group survives, along with the green-eyed Crakers – a gentle species bio-engineered to replace humans. Toby, onetime member of the Gods Gardeners and expert in mushrooms and bees, is still in love with street-smart Zeb, who has an interesting past. The Crakers’ reluctant prophet, Snowman-the-Jimmy, is hallucinating; Amanda is in shock from a Painballer attack; and Ivory Bill yearns for the provocative Swift Fox, who is flirting with Zeb. Meanwhile, giant Pigoons and […]
Beautiful Stranger: Going Home with Moon Palace
I picked up Moon Palace on a whim while perusing a sale rack outside the door at Half-Price Books. Bookstores…. one of the few places where it’s still a good idea to go home with a stranger. In this case, an excellent idea. It’s hard for me to summarize the plot because this was such a great read, and I don’t want to spoil any discoveries along the way. Moon Palace is the memoir of Marco Stanley Fogg – known as “M.S.” or simply “Fogg.” […]
The Faults in this Book
The Fault in Our Stars is the story of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 17-year-old girl with terminal thyroid cancer, and her boyfriend, Augustus Waters. It’s a smart book without a lot of beef in the storyline. Read full review here.
It’s a very very mad world
Hassan Blasim was born in Iraq, but has lived in Finland since 2004. He has directed movies in both countries. He writes in Arabic, and the English translation of this short story collection won him some acclaim in Britain in 2010. In a way it could be said that he embodies the fears of some Europeans at the moment: multicultural, Muslim, The Other. But in terms of reviewing the book, that’s probably neither here nor there. What’s important is that
In the After
In the aftermath of an alien invasion, one girl and the child she rescues must live an entirely silent life to avoid detection. At least until they are discovered by a scientific enclave that changes everything. It was entertaining, I liked the investigation into the beginnings of dystopia, and there were some bits that were unique. Could quite easily be the far prequel to “Brave New World.” It falls into some of the same YA tropes as “Divergent” and its ilk, with the young adult […]