My Stack

I used to have a large stack of books waiting to be read. Now, I have a large stack of books waiting for me to BLOG! So, here goes.

I'm a huge fan of thrillers of all sorts. I just finished two by Alex Berenson, The Faithful Spy and The Ghost War. They both are current event style thrillers concerning Iraq, al Qaeda and the mess we having going in the middle east.

In Faithful Spy, Berenson introduces his main character, John Wells, who is in the midst of a ten year long infiltration of al qaeda. He's had very little contact w/his CIA handlers during this time. Consequently, the powers that be in the CIA think he may have actually crossed over to the other side. Not true but only one CIA employee actually believes John still is a valuable and true source in the post 9/11 war on terror. The book is full of intrigue and drama as Wells tries to foil a terrorist plot to release a deadly plague causing bacteria in New York City. There's a lot of murder and mayhem very reminiscent of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne spy series.

The Ghost War pretty much picks up where The Faithful Spy left off only John Wells is now back in the Satates and life is BORING. Of course, he volunteers to return to the Middle East to determine what world power is sponsoring a sudden surge in Taliban activity. What he uncovers is a plot that reaches into the highest levels of the CIA and he has to stop China and North Korea from going NUCLEAR!! Again, lots of spine tingling, last possible second only John Wells can save the world from destruction action. I really can't wait to see how John saves the US and world from the bumbling ineptitude of the CIA and other spy agencies in Berenson's next book.

Stephen King uses a little lighter hand w/the paranormal and supernatural in his newest best seller, Duma Key. It's still there along w/his scatological vulgar vocabulary which he also uses less of than usual. Duma is set in the Florida Keys where his characters are part of the wealthy Florida art scene. His "hero" is a Minnesota contractor who is involved in a terrible work site construction accident, loses his arm, chucks the building business and goes off to Florida to recoupe. There he discovers an extraordinary(of course, this is Stephen King) painting talent and meets a wealthy, ancient crone and her caretaker, a former high powered attorney, who is also escaping real life on Duma Key. As in all King's books, there's murder and weird events but what I really liked about this book was King's cast of Minnesota characters from real suburbs of the Twin Cities as well as his art related plot twists including Salvador Dali. He just spoke to native Minnesotan, Art History minoring me.

Easter Brunch is calling so more later. I've hardly gotten through half my book stack.