CIA – Cannonball Read 11

When the CIA is trying to kill you, you try to kill them back!

A Death in Sweden by Kevin Wignall

February 21, 2016 by kfishgirl 1 Comment

I love spy and conspiracy thrillers, so this was right up my alley. Plus, it was a Kindle First, so it was free! I can’t remember the main character’s name. Nevermind, I just looked it up, it’s Dan. It starts out with him finding a guy that he’s supposed to recover for his spy job. I think the job was for the CIA, but he doesn’t actually work for the CIA. I guess you could call him an independent contractor. He actually feels sad once he gets the guy, because the guy is walking his kid to school, and he has […]

2/21/2016 | Post by kfishgirl

Jack Reacher in Europe, with an unexpected twist

Personal by Lee Child

July 1, 2015 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

While I won’t claim it’s his best, or even that great, I found this latest (19th) Jack Reacher story an intriguing enough premise, a rapid page-turner (including the ballistics details which others found boring but which I enjoyed), a truly scary bad guy, and an unexpected punch-to-the-gut ending. Someone has taken a long-distance shot at the French president, but special bullet-proof glass protected him from assassination. The CIA decides, along with Europe’s top intelligence agencies, that this was just a practice run aimed at the real target: the upcoming G8 meeting of the world’s top heads of state in […]

7/1/2015 | Post by Valyruh

Tattooed corpses and Muslim fundamentalists prove a heady mix in Thailand

Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett

December 24, 2014 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

Bangkok detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep of the Royal Thai Police returns in another dramatic, action-packed, and nearly hallucinogenic plot involving tattoo artists, mutilated corpses, golden-hearted whores, hard-bitten police captains, Muslim fundamentalists, and the CIA—all of this against the backdrop of an impoverished nation dependent on drugs and the sex trade for survival and a Buddha-worshipping cop who doesn’t hesitate to bend the rules when necessity and/or his conscience dictates. A strangely brilliant and obsessive CIA operative named Mitch Turner is found murdered in the bed of his long-term lover, a beautiful Thai “bar girl” (read prostitute) named Chanya who happens […]

12/24/2014 | Post by Valyruh

The Cost of Unintended Consequences

Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson

December 16, 2014 by thewheelbarrow Leave a Comment

The premise of Blowback is very interesting. It aims to examine the role of shortsighted policy decisions made by the U.S. and the long-term, unintended consequences they created. This is another book I chose to read, rather listen to, after discovering it on the Army Chief of Staff’s recommended reading list for 2013. The book was listed of the CoS’ list under the section for broadening leaders. The list is intended to “complement materials currently used in the Army educational system and can help bridge the intervals between periods of formal instruction at Army schools. It is imperative for members […]

12/16/2014 | Post by thewheelbarrow

Another unbelievable conspiracy thriller

Face of a Killer by Robin Burcell

August 10, 2014 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

This is the first in a new series about FBI special agent and forensic artist Sydney Fitzpatrick, written by Burcell, herself an FBI-trained forensic artist. A somewhat better tale than Burcell’s The Dark Hour which I recently reviewed, this novel focuses on Fitzpatrick’s personal crisis over whether to follow up on brand-new clues about her father’s murder 20 years earlier, or to leave it alone. Of course, had she left it alone, we would have no story, so…. There is a race against time, as the convicted killer is about to be executed after 20 years on death row (!), […]

8/10/2014 | Post by Valyruh

Fast-paced conspiracy thriller — not exactly Bourne quality

The Dark Hour by Robin Burcell

July 30, 2014 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

The favorite subject of political thriller authors nowadays is high-level global conspirators buried within the US government, and The Dark Hour is unfortunately a rather cliche example. This time the conspirators, who all seem to share a disdain for the common man and an ability to use murder with impunity on behalf of their ill-defined cause, call themselves “The Network,” and they go back generations, are all wealthy, powerful, and nefarious, and guaranteed to get caught in the end. In The Dark Hour, they are planning to deploy a killer virus and knock out a bunch of political enemies at […]

7/30/2014 | Post by Valyruh

Perfect Spy Thriller

Code to Zero by Ken Follett

January 10, 2014 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

A Cold-War spy thriller, written to perfection by the master of spy thrillers. Rocket scientist Claude Lucas wakes up in a Union Station men’s room with no clue as to who he is or how he got there. He is hung over and dressed like a bum, and a fellow bum reassures him that he was on a total bender. As he tries to figure out his identity, he discovers multiple skills that suggest he is no ordinary derelict. People start following him, and little by little he pieces together a mystery with astounding implications, involving the Soviet Union, the […]

1/10/2014 | Post by Valyruh

emmalita on The Candice Millard CollectionI listened to River of Doubt a few years ago, maybe the first year I participated in Cannonball Read. It was horrific and I definitely...
narfna on Thanks, teresaelectro!Thanks! So I'm moving in a month and taking the opportunity to reorganize all of my bookshelves. It's going to be a PROJECT. I think...
teresaelectro on Thanks, teresaelectro!Yay! They look good on your shelf!
teresaelectro on Q&A with a Cannonballer: Caesar’s Wifeme too! I'd love to have a library with my name on it.
faintingviolet on Reading Plays Just Isn’t For MeOH NO. I haven't checked out either reading challenge's 2020 lineups since I'm going to be squeaking in under the wire for both Read Harder...

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